I've been playing off and on since September of 2008, mostly just blues and metal music. Anyone here play, and if so, what kind of music do you play?

Yeah, though I haven't picked up a guitar in a couple of years (long story). Blues and metal mostly.

Then there is Thumpa.

I'd love to learn to play but have absolutely NO musical talent.

Stringed instruments (excluding piano) elude me like no one's business. I started playing the piano before I have conscious memory; started playing saxophone when I was twelve; voice lessons starting at fourteen; picked up any wind or brass instrument sent my way; I was a Music major (performance- piano and voice) in college; two years of guitar lessons... but nothing. All I can play is the doo doo du doooooo opening from Metallica's One, and even that's crappy.

People who can play guitar, even badly, never cease to impress me.

I put down the guitar about three years ago. A party at my drummer's house turned into a late night jam session and by the time I got to the basement, two guitars were going with a couple more guys waiting their turn (had a keyboard player in the mix too). Wanting to play rather than wait a turn I grabbed the available bass off the wall and jumped in. I fell in love.

When I was playing guitar I typically played in the grey area between hard rock and metal (Sabbath, G 'n' R, Pantera, AC/DC, Priest, Maiden, etc.). Playing bass has opened my ear to other genres. Jamerson, Babbitt and Dunn laid down some sweet lines. 70s funk is fun as hell on bass. Until a month ago I lived in NYC where I joined a straight up classic rock band.

My acoustic is still my weapon of choice for learning new songs; i.e., nailing down song structure, chord progressions and melody lines.

I mainly play bass guitar, but I'm no stranger to regular 6-strings. I've played a bunch of drastically different styles, from grunge/indie to progressive/art rock, folk-rock, reggae, electronica and more. Haven't been playing much over the past few years, because trying to combine a full time chefing job, with bohemian life-style of an unsuccessful musician turns out not to be as much of a picnic, as one would hope...

I play guitar but I mostly practice music theory and chords, so that I way I can make my own music eventually.

Bluegrass, Flamenco, and Classical.   

Empress, try an appalachian dulcimer (lap or stick).  3 strings, two of which are droning, with generously proportioned frets.  It's incapable of playing anything but full notes, and only one string needs be played.  The others will provide a can't-fail harmony by the simple act of being strummed.  Lap dulcimers, particularly, have an inimitable sound, as a bonus. Being as they have only three strings, and that most us us don't have particularly strong or dextrous pinkies, it also lends itself to a fingerpicking style that's mechanically simple to pull off. The notes follow a simple "do ray mi" progression on the fretboards, common to our own voices, so improv is blissfully easy. You can even make one yourself, out of anything. All that's important is the length of the fretboard and the position of the fret piping along that length. Then you buy three sets of strings. DAA is my favorite, though DGd and DAD are popular.

Played for the last 20 years, mostly heavy rock or metal, but I'll turn my fingers to anything really.

Have to stop buying guitars/amps/pedals though, it's a fetish that won't go away.