Guitar tips/suggestions?

[AmadeusMaxwell]

So, I've been wanting to learn how to play for a long time, so on my lunch break today I went and bought a guitar. I really practically know nothing about playing any musical instrument...what notes are what or how to play them. After I get off of work I'll probably spend half the night trying to figure out if it's tuned/how to tune it.

Anyone have any tips or suggestions for a beginner? Even a website you might find useful would be appreciated; just wondering if any of you might know something I might not find through random googling.

[Zog]

There is a wealth of instructional media for guitar. It just depends on how you learn best. If you are the kind of guy who can sit down with a book and crank through it, check with your local guitar store. They should also have DVDs as well.
When I used to teach, I would suggest that my students find a TAB book of music that they enjoy and start working on those songs (slowly). It is a bit boring to play first position chords over and over and over again (useful though, for muscle memory). Basically ...find something that will make it fun for you. Private instruction is a plus if you can find an instruction you click with.

As far as tips ...don't overdo it to start. If you play for extended periods of time without callouses and a fair amount of muscle tone in your forearms, you will cause yourself exceptional pain ...and that could keep you from playing again soon. Also, keep it fun. If you are working scales until your brain bleeds and you get sick of it ...play a song you like.

[AmadeusMaxwell]

When I used to teach, I would suggest that my students find a TAB book of music that they enjoy and start working on those songs (slowly). It is a bit boring to play first position chords over and over and over again (useful though, for muscle memory). Basically ...find something that will make it fun for you.

I think muscle memory is probably going to be how I try to learn, just looking at how to play the different chords in a pattern and repeating them until I can't stand it any longer. When I was a teenager I had a keyboard that showed what keys to press for songs, but I never learned what notes the keys represented, I could play about a dozen different songs but didn't understand the slightlest thing about notes; so I think I'm going to just try to commit to memory the different chords and replicate them as needed?

Thankey Zog.