I have played off and on for about 12 years. First and foremost, unless you can read music, stay away from books (except maybe chord charts). If you can listen to music and play along with it or someone else playing, your playing will excel in leaps and bounds. That said, develop your ear. And by the way, the ovation is an excellent choice for a beginner or intermediate. I sold off all my good guitars for hunting. (DUMB) I had a SRV Stratocaster and 2 or 3 Ibanez Electrics. That is an extremely easy guitar to learn on(Ibanez) because of the flat Wizard neck. That guitar will scream.. Now... Let's get back to Bowhunting.

LT