I wanna learn how to play accoustic guitar and am thinking about buying one a book or 2, but how hard is it or would it be better getting a tutor??

we have 5 guitars and a bass and i still dont know how to play ,

Get somebody to show you a three chord pattern: G,C,and D...that's "Mr Tambourine Man." Play it over and over for a week until you can change chords reflexively. Play it like you're digging a ditch. If you want to minimize sore fingers,get a classical type with nylon strings. Thats all Willie Nelson plays,y'know.Good Luck!

I'd get a tutor, you could teach yourself. If you teach yourself, then get the very basics and learn TAB, and then just teach yourself songs of the internet. Everything else will come by itself.

A tutor can show you when things are going wrong. I wouldnt have learnt without a tutor.

Get a tutor or better yet have a friend show you, saves money.

I taught myself! Im not brilliant but i can play some solos and most pop/rock songs i come across. I've been playing for under two years off and on. Playing guitar is basically all about dedication it really is a case of spending enough time practising. Obviously if you wanna progress to a really high level you may well need tutoring but if you've got the discipline to practice then go out and get one. At times when learning, certain chords and shapes will appear physically impossible but its at these times when you need to keep goin at it and you'll eventually reap the rewards.... As they say! Best off getting one a beginner book to guide you and having a mate who plays helps!

If you have some knowledge of the theory it's very easy after some practice to teach guitar to yourself. I still say mess around, learn independantly, develop your own style, and THEN get a tutor to help you explode into the many different possible routes the guitar can take you.

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it all depends on what you want to accomplish with the instrument...

if all you want to do is play simple folky strum-a-long songs then you can probably learn it on your own with a few books and a little help from any friend who already knows how to play...

if you're wanting to pull off something more extensive (classical / flamenco / leo kottke style fingerpicking) you might want to consider getting a tutor...

learning on your own is a good and cheap way to develop technique but it doesn't necessarily teach you how to play music... i'd been playing guitar for 5 years before i reached that point... i could play along to lots of cds (i used to pull off a mean voodoo chile) but i never really played my own stuff... then one night i was jamming with some friends and this guy came down and we started playing the mountain song by jane's addiction... but he wasn't playing it 'right' so being a bit of a bastard i figured if he wasn't going to play it right neither would i... and we launched we just played... and that was it my first musical orgasm

but it all depends on what you want in the end... there's nothing wrong with being the guy who onlly knows how to play lots of simple songs on an acoustic around a campfire (it'll get you chicks too hehehe)