A friend of mine once told me that learning violin was actually really simple. She wasn't great on the violin either though, so I suspect she was a lying liar who lied. ;D

A few lessons is a good idea; I might see if there's anything budget-priced as far as like group lessons or something at a local music store. I hesitate to find a teacher elsewhere because this is pot country and basically full of hippies who think they can play guitar. ;D

I don't know how to read music, so that's really good to know about chord charts. I'm basically at the point where I can kind of tell when something sounds wrong, but I don't know what pitch and things like that actually mean. My musical experience is limited to a passion for singing along to the radio. ;D I was sort of traumatized by my junior high music teacher who essentially wrote me off within the first week of classes and made my life hell. :-/