I'd love to. I'm 40+, never played an instrument in my life or did anything with music. I tried several approaches to improve my ability to recognize chords by ear or even individual notes, but it is incredibly hard for me to the point it feels impossible even for a couple of notes.

This is very true. Tabs can help in niche cases where the precision really matters, but most tabs are not that good unless written by the original artist (rare).

If I had spent my first year learning the instrument properly, I wouldn't have wasted the next decade after that fumbling around so much.

This is absolutely true...but it takes a LOT of time. Fortunately, I first picked up a guitar when I was 13.

I can't imagine getting started with any instrument as an adult. Actually, I'm trying to improve my piano playing right now and it's nearly impossible.