I want to buy a guitar...

I said it was one of the easiest instrument. Learning basic music is extremely simple with the right instruction or seemingly impossible if you have no clue where to begin.

bump

Start with a nylon string guitar, theyre cheap and easy to play, and if you end up quitting youll have only wasted a couple hundred bucks

>be able to hear a nice melody or tune and start playing it immediately on the guitar by ear fingerstyle
Be realistic. I am a songwriter, been playing for 10 years, have a decent ear (not absolute, of course) and I still cannot do that, or at least not immediately. It does require a lot of effort.
At least make it to the barre chords...

Damn

Guitar is easy man, don't know what the other anons are talking about. It's not absolutely easy but you should be fairly good at it after a year if you're diligent. If you want to be able to improvise I'd suggest you avoid using tabs so you don't end up thinking in numbers/patterns and learn to see the bigger picture, you should also study some theory to be confident on what you're doing. I didn't think I was particularly good with my ear but it sure as he'll didn't take more than a year to play by ear most of the stuff I liked. You can try toned ear and practice intervals so you get better at figuring out melodies. Good luck.

1. Learn your major intervals (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc). An interval is the measurement of distance between two notes. On a guitar, you can play an interval the same no matter what fret you're using (unless it's using the two highest strings, but all you have to do is adjust by a half step). For example, if you want to play a third then it's always going to be three whole steps away from your root note. A half step is moving one fret and a whole step is moving two frets.

2. Learn your scales. A scale is just a consistent pattern of intervals. For example, the major scale consists of the intervals 1 (root), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (octave). If you want to play other scales, you just modify the intervals. For example, a harmonic minor scale is the exact same as the major scale, except you flat the 3rd and 6th intervals (move them a half-step lower).

3. Learn how to construct triads and then chords. These are just intervals put together. For example, in a major triad, you will play your Root (1st note), A third and a fifth. If you want to make it a chord, you can just double up on certain notes. The most basic major chord is played with Root, 3rd, 5th and then octave (your root but on a higher or lower string).

4. From there, you should be able to start picking out pairs of notes when you hear them. You just have to hear the tonal distance between one note and the next (an interval) in order to determine what is being played. You'll know what a minor third or a major third sounds like etc.

5. From here, you'll learn the chord progression of scales. This is based on non-deviating notes of the scale. For example, in a major scale chord progression, it will look like this Root (major chord), Second (minor chord), Third (minor chord), Fourth (major), Fifth (major), Sixth (minor), Seventh (minor), Eighth/Octave (major).

part 2 incoming

This may seem like a lot and my explanation is just a quick overview without many examples to help you understand, but it's extremely simple once you get it and you don't need to learn how to read music to understand it. The vast majority of songs can be with the major scale. For example, most songs follow a pattern of 1-4-5 (I-IV-V) chord progressions. That means you play a chord starting on your root note (major chord), then a chord based on your root's 4th interval (major chord) and then a chord based on your root's 5th interval (major chord).

Or you can just look up tabs for your favorite songs and have no idea what you're doing but just be told where to put your fingers lol. I actually suggest you do both, because if you're studying intervals and copying songs from tabs, then you'll hopefully start seeing how the songs are constructed. Getting a teacher will really speed up this process, so consider that since it will save you years of heartache. The guitar is one of the easiest instruments to play, so just put in the work and you'll be okay to play layman's music.

Thanks guys. I just find it so confusing that half the people say it’s really difficult and the other half it’s really easy. I guess I’ll just have to pick it up and see for myself.

Music can seem like some mystic art if you have no idea where to start, but with the right instruction you'll realize the basics are very simple. Like this guy may have been playing for 10 years but he probably could have been at his current level in 1 if he had a teacher or some direction.

I remember when I started learning to play. It wasn't easy, but well worth it.

They say it takes abo it 20 hours of practice to learn something where you know it.

So.eone mentioned Justin guitar, I learned a lot from him... There's also anorher guy on youtube. Can't think of his name but he wears a fedora and he's really good.

It can be relatively easy IF you put a lot of practice into reaching your goals on the instrument and recognize that it will be a journey several years long.

Boy, you just went college level and this man isn't even in kindergarten yet.

Those are literally the basics. It seems more complicated in explanation than if someone were to just physically show you.

I'm just messing with you. I've been trying for years to get all that in my head, but it just hasn't fully clicked, yet.

Yeah start with normie ass chords first. You’re going to get realy frustrated if you go straight into fingerstyle since your hands dont have that flexibility yet and they’re not gonna do what you want. They’ll just be all jagged and gnarled and fingers too close together to be able to reach separate notes/frets