Get a guitar! They're cheap and easy to get a tune out of by playing only three or four chords - and lets face it, most folk songs use G, D, A, E and F!

I for one am hopeless at theory, preferring to play by ear all the way. All I know is the names of the chords and their fingers patterns, nothing more. I have no idea what the names of the strings are, other than the top and bottom are both E, I have to count up from each of these to work out other notes and I've been playing for two years!

Having said that, a bit of theory is useful when playing with other people - if someone you're jamming with says "put your index finger on F on the E string and your second on D on the A string" it can get a bit frustrating!

Theory doesn't have to be a chore though, just concentrate on picking up titbits that you really need for a particular song and you'll soon find you know more than you think.

Good luck!!

TCW