I bought my first guitar when I was 29 years old. There was a Christmas sale at the music store, and on a whim I decided to give it a try. I spent six months trying to teach myself without much success, but as soon as I got a teacher the process of learning went much faster. I started strumming and singing my favorite songs, and I also started learning how to play simple tab arrangements. I even learned how to read notes.
One of the reasons I wanted to learn to play guitar was so I could play around the campfire. I've had the opportunity to play church and popular songs at several ward events and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. A capella singing is nice, but accompanied singing is nicer -- especially with songs that aren't 100% familiar to the audience.
The guitar is an incredibly versatile instrument. I can play soft or loud, reverently or with energy. I can vary tone and color and speed and I have a variety of instrument choices (electric, acoustic, classical, etc.) It's a very affordable instrument that doesn't take up much space, and thus can work in a dorm or apartment situation. Minimal maintenance is required, and it works well for a large variety of musical tastes and styles. It also doesn't require extensive knowledge of music notation to be able to start playing well, as tab and chords are both picture-based rather than abstract like standard notation.
When I first released "Easy LDS Fingerstyle Guitar Hymns," I noticed that some of my newer students struggled a little with the material. So I decided to create a book to help improve my students' tab skills one step at a time. The book is called "Fingerstyle Fun: 50 Progressive Guitar Solos for Beginners," and it is available -- along with my basic guitar course for beginners - at http://www.serenitymusicschool.com
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