Before we proceed I'd like you to think for a second that you're in the presence of folks from another country/culture..

Now, what if you just blabbered out a few words in their native tongue? They'd probably just look at you sympathetically and smile - right? In the same way, if you want to gain the respect of real musicians (or even regular folk for that matter), then you must be able to "speak" this language well.

Remember, even everyone that can't play music will still be able to tell if you can play music. Don't you agree that a bad musician is just about the worst thing? Therefore I think you should make it your ambition to not just learn a few chords or scales, but to understand the very ins-and-outs of this language.

It's not hard. As I've already mentioned on the CoolChops website, you can understand this even if you don't have access to a piano or guitar - it's just like (really simple) math.

A small word of caution to help along on your journey...It will take a little time to develop an ear for new sounds, and it'll also take time to develop the right mechanics that will enable you to play these "things that you hear in your head" - therefore there are no shortcuts.

I don't need to tell you this because you already know that all the greats didn't just learn their instruments in a single day (except Robert Johnson of course).

Oh I almost forgot to mention the classiest way for you to prolong this agony that we call "learning to play an instrument". Are you ready?

Learn to play a couple of famous tunes/songs!

This most definitely is a waste of time. It will actually harm you more than it will help you (in the sense that it will influence your future compositions). Not that there's anything wrong with being influenced by good music...but if all you listen to is bad music, then you're going to be influenced by that (which is fine if you choose to play alone).

But if you choose to play these compositions for other people, then they most likely will not be as well received because...

1. folks have probably  heard stuff like this before
2. you've just a new spin on old stuff.

If you want to start clean, then this is your book. Its your tool and it will help you bring out what's inside of you.

Hey, funny story...for some reason I'm reminded of when I was little and used to worry that someday all the melodies will be taken and then no new songs would ever be written again! Isn't that scary?

Anyways, let's begin...