Starting out:

I have played guitar for over 30 years, since I was 9 or 10. I first learnt some songs from a paperback guitar tutor book that my mum bought. She was a teacher and a piano player and she thought that she would learn the guitar to teach school children songs in class (a guitar being quite a bit more portable than a piano). However, having bought a guitar from a friend (a Framus f-hole), my mum never got over the sore finger stage of playing and gave up. I got the guitar & tutor book for free and started learning "On top of old smoky". That was me hooked. I saved up and bought a Beatles songbook and, quite a bit later on, a better guitar. After a while, I could figure out the chords for songs by listening to them repeatedly on my record player. The Beatles' Get Back was the first song that I managed to get all the guitar parts figured out by ear. I was about 11 or 12. Over the years, I have always had guitars at home & find playing a great way to relax.