Thanks for the responses. My goals are to be able to play songs based on my mood and relax and hang out. I'm not going to be a rock star and I don't sing. I want to learn enough to be able to teach my kids as well.

I want to be able to jam to Santana and Hendrix and be able to crank out some blues. I understand I need to start smaller. I am just wondering if memorizing melodies that I really don't want to play (i.e. Jingle Bells) helps me out. I'm not against learning them if that is how one goes about learning guitar and build your way up to the good stuff.

Thanks,

Bobby