Did you learn to play an instrument from a play in a day book

[in a mo]

40+ years ago I went to my local library and took out "Play In A Day "Guitar Book written by Bert Weedon I continued to teach myself to the present day ,I did go for Piano lessons which I found so very difficult so I gave up,I can still play a couple of tunes but nothing to shout about.
Have you ever leant to play and failed or did you just "play by ear"did you take out a book and teach yourself. Please Tell.

[Booldawg]

I'm (attempting) to learn guitar. There are a plethora of PC based programs designed to help you on your way (Action Tab) looks quite good.

The best source of info is YouTube. So many tutorial videos on there.

I suppose there's no substitute to actual lessons in the real world but they are expensive.

[The Builder]

Back in the day, just like Doc, I learnt guitar by ear. When I decided to learn tenor sax I went right away to a pro player for regular lessons. I still do. It's a lot quicker than struggling on your own and getting into bad habits etc
The bonus is that you learn the theory as well, especially reading. If you then get together with a bunch of other players who can read, there's so much more you can do.
Good luck Mo
(piano is a steep learning curve. Don't let it put you off)

[NOX]

I struggled for years trying to learn to play the guitar to a reasnable level then my ex taught me the ' maths' regarding music which enabled me to transpose and to work out how everything worked and fitted together and within a very short time I got far more proficient, the bonus being that you can then take on other instruments with far less difficulty- she can pretty much play anything with strings or a keyboard and I can usually bash a tune out of them now too.