When I started playing in 1997 or '98, I asked a friend who served as my inspiration, "How long will it take for me to get good at this thing?"

He thought about it and deadpanned, "...about 10 years and you won't completely suck."

With that inspirational speech, I set upon my own musical journey into non-suckdom. It's been 11 years now, and I have only one thing to say to my friend -- "you were right."

A Real Good Fake
II would like to reccommend a guitar fake book that I have been learning songs from over the past year or so. It has a ton of songs and a lot of good, simplified versions that allow for strumming fat chords and even picking some tunes that do not require Clapton-like skills.

It's VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Rock n' Roll. It was $25 when I bought it, but I think Amazon has it for like $19 now.. Some of the tunes I like include a very easy version of Hotel California, American Pie, Bohemian Rhapsody (easier to pick than you would think), All Along the Watchtower (Dylan version) and For What It's Worth.