The Things No One Tells You About Learning the Guitar

At the ripe old age of 20 years old, I decided that it was time to learn how to play the guitar. It was a cool instrument and it was easier than trying to relearn how to play the piano. 

So here I am, practically a dinosaur trying to learn how to play an instrument that everyone says is pretty easy to pick up. Well, I'm not calling those people liars, but they definitely left out a few things about the whole process.

1. You fingers don't like to move the way you want them to. At first, you fingers think that you're trying to contort them into some God-forsaken positions and cramp up in protest. It takes a lot of coaxing and time to get them to feel comfortable in their own tiny little bodies, let alone build up the strength to be able to push down on the strings.
   
2. Your fingers will hurt and possibly bleed. Maybe this was just me, but I though the finger cramps would be the worst of it. When Taylor Swift said that she would play until her fingers bled, I figured she was exaggerating. She was not. Your fingers have to build up those stupid callouses before they can play without feeling like you're going to rip right through the skin.
   
3. Strumming is hard. It takes a while to learn how to listen for strumming patterns. I still don't know how to strum up, so I stick to songs that don't make me learn. 
   
4. Tabs are Satan's sheet music. There's numbers and lines and strings and... They're supposed to teach you how to play cool guitar solos the "easy" way, but how if you don't even know what they're saying?!
   
5. You can play chords ten different ways. When one of my friends told me that the way I play an F chord is not the way he prefers to play it, I was obviously confused. Turn out you can play one chord is multiple and completely different ways. Sure it makes sense, but I don't think I'll be making my way down that neck for a while.
   

Despite the pain and the difficulties, it's still worth the trouble. As soon as I stop sucking, I'll let you know if I become an internationally renowned guitarist. Give me a few months.