Play Guitar For Fun Or Fame

When it comes right down to it, why do you want to play guitar? Is it to look cool and be a rock star? Is to get girls or impress the guys? Is it to make millions of dollars with hit records? Your motive will be the key to your success in learning to play.
I started out wanting to look cool. Way back in the Sixties I would look at guitar players like Brian Jones from the Rolling Stones, Roger McGuinn from the Byrds, Paul Kantner from The Jefferson Airplane and of course John Lennon from the Beatles. And then in the Seventies it was rockers like Peter Frampton, Jimmy Page, Lindsey Buckingham and others who inspired my image of the cool rock guitar star. But all that fantasy didn't make me a great guitar player. At some point I had to get serious and really learn how to play the guitar. It wasn't as easy as my favorite rock stars made it look. What I found though was that I had a creative passion deep inside me that took me beyond rock star fantasy. I had the creative burn to make music going on inside me. And when I finally learned how to play, that creative river was released.
Don't wait for a desperate moment to decide to learn how to play. I had joined a band when I was in college as the lead singer. At that time I hadn't learned how to play the guitar yet. I was going to be the next Mick Jagger. Unfortunately Steven Tyler beat me to it. But at that time I relied on the guitar player in our band to come up with the riffs and the melodies and I'd just write the lyrics. That was OK until he quit the band. I was devastated. And that's what drove me to get a guitar and learn how to play. But you don't have to wait for your desperate moment to decide to learn to play.
If you have the passion to create music deep inside of you, then act on it. It doesn't matter if you ever become famous and sell a million records. The sheer joy of playing music is priceless. It is impossible to describe what it's like to be in the song riding the melody effortlessly with your instrument. And if you never pursue it and find out for yourself, you'll regret it. Make up your mind to take on the challenge. It will take work and discipline. But once you get started you will soon make progress. The music that is inside of you will start to flow.
So how do you get started. Here are two simple tips to help you get started. First, get yourself a good acoustic six string guitar. This is where you learn the basics. You can move on to the electric guitar later. Second, get yourself some good instruction.