Ok guys thi is a matter of life and death... I now have the option
to take guitar from a guy that I know... Im am self taught TO THIS POINT!
Now I dont think I can get much farther just self taught  especially since Im
writting now so I know I should get lessons but I want to say Im self taught
and that I worked at all day and all night (cause basically I do) and just ran through
junk and got good technice but what is better self tuaght or faster and easier learning?

personally, I don't think it matters if you're self-taught or not.  I have never heard that it's better or worse, what DOES matter is the end result - being the best player you can be.

Yeah... what she said!

Actually no - don't necessarily agree.  I'm self taught; started playing when I was about 13, which was many years ago now.  Over the last 10 years I've not exactly regretted having no lessons, but have thought how useful it would have been; especially for learning the various scale types and positions.  I've done my best over the years, but even now I think about maybe going to a guitar teacher to see if they could give me a kick up the back-side and show me a couple of bits to improve my playing.

Do I ramble on.... I think I do!

So my advice is to not be bothered about the kudos of being able to say that you're self taught.  Go out there and learn from someone that can show you how to do it right from the start!

Good luck

i myself have never paid for a lesson. my brother taught me a few things and the rest i got from tabs, books and myself.

i would not pass up lessons tho. i think the important thing to get from lessons is musical theory. a dreaded word for me and im sure many other guitarists, but invaluable. This is SO much easier if someone teaches you this, you just dont get the motivation if the information is sitting in front of you in a book.

Lessons may also give you little tips and playing pointers (which you can pick up just from watching the methods of guitarists on stage) but over time youll develop your own style.

Ian

I believe the more tools in a box the more you can fix.I also think you should at least get some basics down!!!

A! to learn the language of love, or is that 'Life and Death' lol : you can learn how to speak but not necessarily learn how to write. Get educated and you will know how to write and how to speak properly, learn another language and you'll broaden your vocabulary, being able to express your self in many different ways.

I play guitar, I don't read notes, I learned a long time ago not to regret but I can pass on a bit of advice, take the lessons, that's why you're there and that's why they are there.

ok guys thanks for all our advice
Monday at 2:30 I have my first lesson
from a guy named Nick Mitchell. The
lead guitarist in my band takes from
him and has taken from him for about
a year now I have been to a group class
with him and love his style I can't
wait to start guys for the past year and a
half I've just been wondering through
the dark but now, maybe he can turn
the light on for me!!!!

at first it will seem frustrating but .....Stick with it.......when you get to the point of being able to read music and tab
you can get songs down faster and easier... plus if you here a song you like you can always check to see if one of the websites has the music and learn it...I mean the real hard stuff that seems impossible to pick out by ear.

You will become a better player. your knowledge of music and the guitar will increase, your abilities will jump up beyond people that don't take lessons....what i mean by this   ie I have played in bands with musicians that didn't read or know music very well...when trying to transpose a song (move to a different key) they couldn't do it very quickly took up time that could have been spent elsewhere ..if they knew there instruments and music better it would have been know big deal ... I've been to jams where we transposed songs on the fly.

You will learn proper picking techniques. timing, different meters, different music styles.  crap loads of stuff
I know guys who are self taught and only a couple of them now any of this (they learned it off of cd and books but they are the exception).

So good luck and stick with it it will be well worth it.
P.S I've been playing for years and I still take lessons trying to improve my classical playing.