Has anyone ever learned guitar on their own?  

It's almost easier to teach yourself if you already have a little music training.

I played for almost 20 years before I lost part of a finger and had to stop, and I never paid for a single lesson.

If you aren't tone deaf, buy some training books or look at some online lessons. If you teach yourself the 8 major chords, you'll be able to play thousands of songs...

I had like 2 sessions for my guitar lesson when I was 10 years old. My instructor had to leave because he'll be transferring in a different branch. Since then, I never took guitar lessons anymore. I studied on my own and even had a band back in high school. You just need to know all the possible chords. To practice, choose a song and play with it :) I do that every day before, and it worked :) I'm 22 now and I'm still playing the guitar whenever I feel like it :)

Hi csorrels.Well I learnt some lessons of piano online.I had a guitar as well at my house.For the first two years I just used to use it like a toy.Played it whenever I wanted to,in whichever way I wanted to.But I got the sense of music on which part of fret sounds how?And now I learnt some chords.So I can play guitar decent enough.But my favorite is piano.I am still learning it.Anyways have a nice day ..

--Shames--

I just started learning to play a guitar myself. I bought my first guitar just about 8 months ago. I also look to the internet for some free lessons. Now, I'm only able to play some songs like More Than Words (Extreme), Aubrey, If, Diary (Bread), My Body is a Wonderland (John Mayer) simple songs like that. I learned these songs through watching some free tutorials from youtube.

I always wanted to be able to play a guitar since I was little but never had a chance. The truth is I still don't have much time learning to play it I just made a decision to learn it. I never took any type of music lesson when I was young so basically I'm illiterate when it comes to reading music. But I guess you don't need to be able to read music to play a guitar. Most rock stars aren't either. I'm only able to read guitar tabs. There are tons of guitar tabs of any song on the Internet all you need to do is just look for it using a search engine.

For the basic guitar lesson, I picked up beginner books like Guitar for dummies and Complete Idiot's guide to playing a guitar. But I guess if you are really serious about learning a guitar and you want make a steady progress in learning it you should probably get a tutor.

One more thing, if you are just starting to play a guitar for the first time your fretting fingers is going to hurt really really bad. Don't give up though. Just give it a rest and start practicing again. Once you've developed some calluses on your fingers you'll never feel the hurt again.

I'm a music teacher, and I can tell you that when I have students who have tried to learn on their own, I usually have a hard time to unteach them bad habits. It might be worth it for you to take 4 lessons, and then go off on your own. You will learn how to hold the guitar properly, basic chords, where the notes are on the guitar, etc.
You also have to tell the teacher that this is what you want and if the teacher is worth his/her salt, will accept what you need and teach accordingly. I wish you good luck in your guitar playing.

With your musical background, interest, and guitar books, yes, you can do it. Just get hold of a guitar and start strumming, making your fingers get used to the strings. I am sure you can do it very quickly. I learned how to play the guitar when I was in high school but I could only do those with very simple chords. My fingers have difficulty doing the difficult ones. But with you, I am sure that learning to play the guitar would be just a piece of cake.

Well on youtube you can learn to play guitar for free, plus you'll learn how to play simple songs as well. That's how I learned to play a lot of different piano songs. Plus on youtube its like having 20 different teachers.

I have.

I learned it all by myself. The thing is, if you really want to learn something, you'll strive for it. And I did.

Mind you, I am a left-handed guy and I learned to play the guitar with the normal right-hand guitar. Isn't that fascinating?

I did learn on my own. I learned it from song books. At first I find it really hard. But I was really into guitar playing that time so I practiced really hard. I was just like 8 years old when I played a guitar. Internet during that time was not a hit in my country and we cant afford one. Good thing song books are there! Happy mylotting!

Many have tried to take up Guitar lessons by their own. I do not know how many have succeeded in that. Its all about passion and dedication towards Music. I'm also learning guitar by myself. I have a friend who is an excellent keyboardist and he has also learned guitar for some years. I always seek advise from him about ....chord progressions,strumming patterns and all. I believe you also can surely learn guitar by yourself with practice, determination and patience. When you learn by your self,you will be having some drawbacks, if you try to overcome that ,then it would be ok.

Try to learn about life of legendary musicians like Beethoven , Yanni (who is a self learnt Pianist).... Yanni is like god to me.
His live concerts are very inspirational.

Another thing from my knowledge is that never try to use any shortcuts for learning chords at the initial stage.Know the notes you are learning. There is a software called GUITAR POWER, google it and think you can download a free trail version for 30 days or something.
And never hesitate to ask or learn from your musician friends and teachers.


Last thing is that, Guitar is never as easy as learning keyboard. your fingers should be diplomatic with the strings ,..which will take some time. and never stop with the knowledge you have acquired... reasearch it and try the new.