Current Events > I've had a guitar for 6 years and I still don't know how to play it.

(+) Yeah! (+)

I think I want to take lessons but I'm too lazy. How should I get started?
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@butthole666
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Ive had a piano for 12 years and I still don't know how to play it
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Taking in person lessons depends on the teacher, use free resources online to get going
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Scotty_Rogers posted...

Ive had a piano for 12 years and I still don't know how to play it

I can teach you bro
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Also after 6 years of not being played your guitar will def need a setup to be playable so get that taken care of
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I took piano classes in high school

I actually had all As at one point ... Except in bitch ass piano SMH I failed that class

Never again
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Justinguitar is a pretty good resource for beginner/intermediate. To start, you'll probably want to learn the basic major/minor chord shapes and get a real basic understanding of where the notes are and how chords fit in a key and stuff like that. I dunno I'm no expert. The best advice I think I can give is to never give up on anything for it being physically impossible. Nothing is ever physically impossible. It took me like a year to get barre chords down and before I did there was seemingly no explanation for why I couldn't play them. I still don't know, but I can play them now. You just need to practice.
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Start with some basic riffs.

Smoke on the Water
Enter Sandman
Breaking the Law
etc...

Mostly it comes down to repetition. Go as slow as you can while learning a song. Then once you have it memorized, with enough repetition the speed comes naturally. Take your time, though. If you can learn one song a day that's actually pretty good.
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For beginner stuff, you should just focus on chords, scales, strumming, and even some easy songs. Chords and scales are the easy part. You can google them and find all the correct fingerings. For strumming, use a metronome and try to keep in time. Put it at a speed you feel comfortable with. Practice strumming only using down strokes, and then try it using alternating strokes. It's all about repetition. You're not going to learn full songs right away and it's going to take a while. But the more time you put into actually sitting down and practicing, the better you'll get.
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I know there's an app called Yousician that sort of teaches you how to play. I've never actually used it myself, but a friend of mine is constantly talking about how awesome it is.

I learnt a lot from playing Rocksmith, so you could go that route too.
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Rocksmith. The value you get from it is insane.
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Upon pulling my guitar out, I also forgot that I have to fix my lower e string. I was trying to tune it and it broke...
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Kitt posted...

Upon pulling my guitar out, I also forgot that I have to fix my lower e string. I was trying to tune it and it broke...

You'll probably wanna change the others after this long

I'll second justinguitar though as far as learning. It's a good, simple introduction
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I got my first guitar in the fifth grade and I hated it. I wanted drums. Dropped it for two years, and in the 7th grade started jamming Sabbath and other riff driven bands. Inspired me to learn. When I hit high school I was in multiple death metal bands/alt rock bands. Now I can do most technical shit (sweep arpeggios, tapping, etc.). Never took any traditional lessons besides orchestra for violin. You don't need lessons if you make a plan for yourself and commit to playing. Some people do benefit from traditional lessons though, it's just not necessary with all of the resources we have now.

I'm more of a psych/indie rock dude now so all of those techniques are lost on me, but it all really depends on what you want out of playing. I can jam a chord progression and a nice riff in a 2 minute jam sesh. Learning the instrument is a lot easier than becoming a song writer.
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Be careful not to break a G string while fingering A minor.