i am teaching myself to play the guitar, im having trouble...i know how to read tabs and music..ive been playing the oboe for almost 8 years so i know A LOT about music, i jsut seem to have difficulty learning chords and such...if anyone had tips or can help me...or just wants to chat my AIM is Chrystie4067 and my email(only is necessary) is Chrystie4067@yahoo.com

THANK YOU!!!,
Chrystie

don`t bother learning chords yet unless they are part of a song, focus more on learning alternate picking well and increasing pick speed while not messing up. To get a better feel for chords, take a song with plenty of chords and learn to play the section with the chords. Make SURE the song isn`t all chords. Metallica`s Fade to Black`s clean middle section (verse i think) works well.

I disagree. The more chords you know, the more types of music you can play. Left hand technique and right hand technique are two different issues and neither should be ignored.

I use Progressive Rhythm Guitar by Gary Turner and Brenton White (Koala press) for my students 2ne level in rhythm, but it is written to be accesible to real beginners. It is not a perfect book (I don`t like their fingering of the A chord), but there is so much great stuff in there that it will open up new world to you by the time you are done.

Also check out Guitarnoise.com for lots of help and songs.

For a complete course (notes, songs, rock and assorted styles) , I like Belwin`s 21st Century Guitar Library (Warner Bros. Publishing) by Aaron Stang. Guitar Method 1 ( also Song Trax 1 and Rockshop 1) should be easy for you with your music background, but if you start from the beginning you won`t have any gaps.

Best wishes!