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All good advice. It's also good to know that some songs are "tabbed" as well which can be confusing. If you're new to guitar, I would gravitate towards the songs labeled with "chords" and just strum away instead of trying to pick your way through a tab.

I have "Here without you" in my song book as well. I added it because I like the song and I've been trying to add songs with barre chords to force myself to practice them. There's a few thousand threads on barre chords advice so I won't get into that here. It's awesome that you're trying to learn songs with more than just the CAGE chords.

Good luck to you and I hope that you impress your husband!

As a fellow Minnesotan, I feel your pain. I'm down in Jackson so we haven't got any snow...yet. Are you up by Alex? I heard that there was quite a bit of snow up there. If it makes you feel any better, at least you know the snow will be gone in a few days. Unlike December and January where you know it's gonna be around awhile. And look on the bright side, at least you won't have to mow your lawn for a little while yet!

I led trail rides out in the Black Hills for two summers while I was in college. I was a hotshot and I would always do the things I told the other riders not to do and often ended up on my ass. One time we got caught in a hail storm and I loped my horse to the corral gait so I could get the riders out of the hail and attempted to do a running dismount and my boot slipped in the mud and...you guessed it, on my ass. I remember looking up at my horse who was looking back at me to say, "What are you doing down there!"

The worst time was when we were crossing a decent sized stream. I stopped, turned around, and said, "Now remember, don't look at the water as you cross the stream or you'll fall off." I guess I wanted to prove my point cuz as I was steering my horse around a rock in the stream I stared at the water a little too long and...you guessed, on my ass again! Let me tell you, riding two miles in wet jeans is not a pleasant experience...especially when people are laughing at you (at you, NOT with you).

I'm a victim of alcohol induced stupity on a regular basis too, but there are way too many stories to tell...

Dang you TD! You beat me to Justin's video! I must need to type faster...:)

Yes, the Olympics aren't the best arena to conduct politics...but how much is China benefiting economically, socially, and politically from having the Olympics in their country? I guess I feel that attending/supporting the Olympic games in light of all the human rights violations would be like doing nothing about those violations. More should be done politically, but I wouldn't have a problem if some countries boycotted for these reasons.

I feel it would be pretty hyprocritical for the US to boycot the Olympics based on Chinese crimes against humanity and poor environmental policy...hmmm...we turned Iraq into a civil war zone and we have very poor environmental policy. But I can say personally I was always against the conflict in Iraq and I'm a tree hugger (literally, I hug, kiss, and sometimes molest trees ...I love 'em) so I'm personally not going to watch the Olympics this year. Let the personal boycots begin!!!

The first song that comes to mind for me is "We Didn't Start The Fire" by Billy Joel.

I agree that there are quite a few songs that speak about politics or have a political undertone. I don't have a problem with it cause I think every person should have the right to peacefully speak there opinion. However, there are people out the that are so very narrow-minded and get upset if someone has a different opinion than them. Exhibit A - Toby Keith and Dixie Chicks spat. I laughed through the whole ordeal cause it was like I was watching an episode of "Rednecks Gone Wild"! LOL

Listening to a recording of yourself isn't always a pleasant experience. I had a music teacher who gave me some tips to stay on pitch. First, breathing is key whether you singing soft or loud. Breathe from your gut like everyone else has said. You actually have to push a little with you diaphram and abs when your singing to make sure your voice resonates (your abs may be a little sore after singing for awhile if you haven't ever sang this way before).

She also taught me to "sing through my nose". It sound a little weird (OK a lot weird ) but what she meant was think about pushing the tone and sound up through the nose instead of straight out your mouth. You'll actually be able to hear if you're in tune easier. I don't know the scientific reasons why, but it works for me. It's especially helpful if you have a tendency to sing flat.

Breathe well and sing through your nose! That's my advice.

I agree with geoaguiar and zurf, it's what you want out of your guitar. I use medium cause hand strength has never been an issue for me and I'm fussy about how my guitar sounds. But if your learning or have weaker fingers/hands, light strings are the way to go or else you'll get frustrated with playing. Every player is different and every player has their own preferences and different reasons for those preferences. Go with what works for you.

Welcome to Chordie, Newbie.

I'm only guessing, but the strings probably aren't the problem. There are a couple things that may be causing the "humming" or "buzzing". First, you may be touching extra strings with your fingers. A narrower neck may actually make this problem worse since the strings are closer together. It will just take practice to get it right. Keep in mind that you need to push straight down with your fingertips. If you have short fingers, it may be more difficult to come straight in on the string (again, practice). I think this may be your problem since you mentioned it got worse when you played chords.

Another thing you could do is make sure that you are playing as close to the frets as possible. This will help ensure that your string make contact with the fret and it will play the right note without humming. Once you develop more hand strength that won't be as crucial but it's definitely a good habit to get into. Again, practice, practice, practice. You've only been at it for six weeks, you'll get the hang of it after awhile.

You could try new strings as well. I would suggest going with light or extra light gauge (lighter gauge strings don't sound as good, but they are easier to play). I think you may be talking about Elixer strings which are expensive but good. They're what I use (polywebs). But keep in mind that if you change the gauge of your strings, you will change the action of your guitar (how far the strings are from the fingerboard). Take it into a shop and figure out what gauge strings are on it and if you're going to change the gauge, have the tech change the strings for you and set it up for you at the same time.

I know this was a long answer but I hope this helps.

I'll be 30 in June. There's a couple things that I've noticed as I've "matured". First, the older I get, the less I think I know. And, I never really felt old until "kids" I used to babysit started buying me drinks at the bar!

I like playing "Name" by the Goo Goo Dolls. It's fairly easy to play but people think you have mad guitar skills when they hear you play it.