Hi everyone. I'm considering learning guitar recently but dont know how. several years back I actually did try to learn but give up cos I found i could learn very little from the tuition center. I also tried to teach myself but it seemed inefficient and not systematic. Back then I was busy so I quit learning.
So can anyone share some experience how you learnt to play and give some suggestion? I'm not to be an expert I have work I cant afford the time and energy. I just want to play some melodies or riffs. Tons of thanks.

Get someone competent to teach you one-on-one, you know like a guitar teacher....that's what I did and now I'm pretty damn good on guitar. On the other hand if you're too cheap to pay for something like that and wanna learn all by yourself, the internet is your friend

First try to figure out how to play some really simple music like Smoke On The Water or Paranoid then work your way up from there

I'm not an expert either, but it is possible to teach yourself with a book, the Internet and sites like youtube and ultimate-guitar.com both for lessons and tabs and some common sense. I use two approaches at the same time, techniques/exercises and songs. If all you're doing is trying to learn scales and memorize stuff, you're going to be bored out of your mind before you learn anything. Practice everyday starting with some exercises and then play songs. Watch covers of your favorite songs on youtube, then check out the tabs, starting with easy songs of course. If you get to a point were you don't know where to go, get a lesson.

It would be best to get a teacher who can work with you one on one, but I taught myself just by reading books and looking online. Anything and everything related to guitar techniques and music theory can easily be found with a Google search. However I think you'll progress faster and have a better idea of what to work on if you get a teacher. After the first 6 months or so you'll progress much faster, so it's important to just stick with it.

Find a teacher who will start by showing you something simple, that you will like. That's what I had.

At first, I tried to learn theory and music reading, and I just got bored. But then I found a teacher at a local music store, and he had me put away the books and showed me a couple songs that were popular at the time, and easy to play. That's when it clicked for me, and I was hooked. I've been playing ever since.....30 years and counting.

Eventually I did go back and learn some theory, and even some music reading. But to me, you should try to connect with the instrument on a personal level first, and that's SONGS.

Just my opinion. Good luck!

I just started playing a few days ago (at only a few minutes a day though), what should I play/train at right during the beginning?

Right now I'm trying to play the first riff to Sleep - Dragonaut, which is:


The good part about it is that it's obvious where the fingers are supposed to be (you only use the index and ring finger): otherwise that's the main problem I've had when trying to play simple riffs. Mostly I have no idea which finger is supposed to go where, and what special things I might need to do with the rest of the fingers. Maybe there are some videos out there that shows in great detail how to play some simple riffs?

I learned almost entirely by myself. I'm still not the best guitarist around (only been playing for about 14 months) and I can't shred or sweep pick, but I can play some pretty speedy thrash songs at the level I'm at right now.

I had no help from anyone in person and used virtually nothing on youtube. The only 'external' help I had was looking at tabs online until I got to the point where I could play a song by ear. Tabs helped me understand how certain sounds are made (like a palm muted 3rd string, an alternation between muted and muted 6th string, etc), certain techniques to use (a 3-4-5 string power chord muting the 6th string with your index finger, string skipping, etc) and generally what the best way to play certain riffs are (switch strings as opposed to sliding, etc)

You could try doing what I did, but know that I was EXTREMELY driven to learning how to play so I needed no push. Also, I'm a drummer so rhythm, patterns, and strum speed in general haven't been a big problem for me.

Finger placement is somewhat intuitive, by looking where to go next you sort of decide which fingers to put where, so that you can easily continue playing the rest of the song. What do to with the other fingers- nothing really. In some cases you'll have to use fingers, even the active ones, to mute the upper strings while you're playing.

Pick a riff that you like, look a video on youtube, but search for lesson or cover of that song. Some folks are good about explaining things, or even just by looking at a cover you get a sense of what they doing and how.

Like I mentioned before, take a look at

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/

there's a beginners section on the left menu

Just keep at it. I'm 100% self taught and I've been playing for 7 years now, but I only play for personal enjoyment. I don't consider myself very good at all, but I can play most metal music pretty easily, except for difficult solos or songs from particularly technical bands. Most metal music isn't very hard on guitar (aside from the solos). I'm also a left hander playing a right handed guitar, so that may effect my learning speed, but honestly I'd never practice more than an hour per day, a few times per week. I just do it for enjoyment. It's fun learning songs via tab (or attempting to learn how to play by ear, which I've been practicing for many years and can do extremely well now), and then advancing to harder songs. Right now I'm working on Techkinox Wormhole from the new Wormed album. It's going to take me awhile...