u/knockonthed00r

i've been considering learning guitar for a very long time, i've been intrigued by it even longer. my family is pretty musical (my mom plays guitar, my dads plays the drums, my grandpa played harmonica, and i do too), and i've been listening to a lot of folk music as of late (which obviously has a lot of acoustic guitar), and i've decided that i need to learn guitar. i don't care when, but it has to happen. and now is a better time than ever for me. i have quite a bit of free time, and will have that free time for the next 3 or so years (i do online school and don't have to worry about all of that) even with a job

so, i have a few questions.

1. is it possible to learn guitar on one's own? as in using online resources and just figuring it out as i go. how much harder is it than traditional lessons?

2. what are good, relatively cheap (as in less than like 400 usd) guitars? also, is it more ideal to order a guitar online or buy one in person?

3. kind of building off of the last question (at least to me haha), is there any difference buying a used guitar vs. a new guitar? if so, which is better?

4. does the type of pick you use matter? if so, what are yall's reccomendations?

5. how long did it take to get the basics down? im just curious :D

thank you all for taking some time to read this , and thank you for whatever advice i might get!

I havent seen my dog since Janurary. I am 15 and I've been unable to see her since she lives with my dad and he lives a while away and his car is broken down and all that jazz. Lilja- my dog- is my best friend. She's always gravitated towards me. I'm the only one of us that can really handle her energy, all that jazz.

I don't even like dogs. But I love Lilja with all my heart. She's like a child to me.

My biggest fear is her forgetting me and moving on or whatever. I don't think I could live in a world where we weren't bonded. I know that dogs don't forget these things and they're good little fellas and she probably dreams of me having to restrain her from eating all the dandelions but there still is this lingering fear that she has given up waiting for me.

She seemed so indifferent the last time i saw her but she was probably also stressed and excited and stuff.

I just needed to get this out and off my chest.

Sorry if there's typos, it's 2:30 and i havent slept and I've been crying for like an hour and have only been able to listen to one song (for anyone curious its "Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall" by Simon & Garfunkel) without going mad. that in itself is probably making me go mad, lol.

thanks for reading if you did, it really means a lot. hopefullyi tagged this right, i dont use reddit often :,)