actually the biggest challenge is overcoming the self-defeatist attitude you present. everyone has to get over the hump of being a beginner. stop thinking you 'can't' do something just because you're still relatively inexperienced or lack the patronizing nod of a 'real' teacher.

sooooo true

Exactly!

I went to classical piano lessons when I was a child, but then grew out of them and started to teach myself more jazzy, contemporary stuff. I then taught myself to play guitar.

There is nothing wrong with being self-taught. So many amazing musicians are self-taught. But I also think sometimes having that extra knowledge of music theory is a big help.

no it totally is, especially when you start to write your own stuff. my cousin is self taught on guitar and finds himself with a lot of restraints when writing music, theory is not necessary but a HUGE help

I took lessons to learn my first instrument, Trombone (ftw), and I taught myself drums and a little piano. I want to learn guitar, but mostly so I can just write for guitar.

I have a guitar and tried to play it self taught, but I've never been able to do much of anything with it.

well look up some guitar lessons on the net, that's how i started. if you're just trying to learn just through straight playing, you won't really get anywhere with it.

also, learn to read tabs. i have a friend who is completely self taught and is realy good. all she did was start learning simple songs she liked on ultimate-guitar.

eh, honestly, while tabs can be easier to learn from sometimes, you shouldn't really depend on it alot when trying to learn a song. you should first try some ear training, cause it'll help with seeing subtle differences in music and being able to tell if you're playing correctly or in tune. hell, even learning how to read sheet music can be more beneficial, because it shows you things like tempo that tabs can't really show and if you're ever in a situation of teaching a song to instruments like piano or trumpet, it allows for better communication in how everything goes.

also, LEARN MUSIC THEORY. like the person above said, it helps you greatly if you want to write songs and with music in general