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Well there you go   Dromom

You've added another fan to the guy...  The stuff he does looks fairly easy, but sounds very nice.

Thanks

Man... he had said that he doesn't like anything 90's and before.

I love your list and play most of them, but was there actually any music written in the 80's and 90's?

Another good practice is going from an F form bar chord to a B form bar chord to a Bm form bar chord....

Start out with the F form up at the G position.   Then the B form bar chord at the C position  then take the Bm form up two frets and make it a Dm...  Then back down to the C bar chord.

Guess what you've got.... "Louie Louie...."  The basis for MANY MANY old rock songs.   By changing the location of that  starting bar chord you can now play in any key.

It's a basic <b>I - IV - V(minor)</b> chord progression....

Notice how the Root or base note of each chord is positioned.

The G note is on the 6th String...  Right below it is the C note on the 5th stringfor the C chord and then two frets up above that is the D note on the 5th string....  There you have your base riff... and the ability to transpose any I - IV - V chord progression into any key....  And there are litteraly THOUSANDS of songs in a I - IV - V chord progression......   all you need now is the strumming pattern and the lyrics and you are playing almost anything....

<font size="1">"Good picking and good licks."

<i>"Bordom is a personal defect."</i>

-- Lamar Stephens

</font>

Like they say above, bar chords are essential to playing up the neck.

Old delta style blues players with their HUGE hands would cover the first two strings (E and B) with their index fingers and wrap their thumb over the base string.   I use that technique sometimes when playing a delta blues song or a rag or sometimes in fingerstyle where I have to play a lot of melody notes in an F chord or B chord form.

Jazz guitarists usually don't use bar chords.  They will use a "closed" chord format where you only play 3 or 4 notes of a chord and mute the rest with your left hand fingers....  It's great when you're comping over a Jazz or Swing piece, but not too great for folk style guitar.

But when starting out, there's no substitute for barr chords.

When I was learning, I would just sit in front of the TV and practice a bar chord, then move it up a fret and practice it there... and keep moving it up and back down.  Till my hand got really tired, then I'd rest and start it over again. 

It was boring, but watching the TV could keep my mind occupied.  I still do this with left hand warm up and scale exercises every morning....  If you get to the point where you don't have to think about them... then they are yours.

Good luck and good licks.

Cool

dwvallance wrote:

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Try doing I Can See For Miles by the Who finger style and slow. It's very sinister indeed and has flashy looking and sounding but easy to play composite chords in it too. (Keep tapping that low E - shiver)
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I've never tried that song, but thanks for the idea... Sounds like a try.

Thanks

I've been playing the guitar 40 years now and am still learning.  I've been playing semi-professionally since college in the late 60's and early 70's (the early folk movement) and always pushing the envelope of what fantastic expression the guitar gives to my soul.  From folk to blues to rock to jazz to bluegrass to Celtic music, the guitar is almost an infinte instrument.

Here are a few suggestions for those that feel they "suck" at guitar.

<ol type="1">
<li>Start with a relatively inexpensive guitar that is easy to play.  My first guitar was a Nylon String Guitar I bought in Nuevo Larado Mexico for $5.00.  Nylon Strings were easy to play (my fingers didn't bleed) and easier to learn Barr Chords on.  Eventually Barr Chords and are be backbone of learning to play up the neck.  I played my first professional gig at a coffehouse with that guitar and used the money from that to upgrade....
<li>Find an instructor for at least the first few lessons.  I took about 6 weeks of lessons and have been self taught ever since.  But the instructor could progressively guide me through learning those first few songs.  And a GOOD instructor can teach you how to pick out songs on your own.
<li>Learn to strum.  I used a thumb to hit the base notes of a chord and my fingers to strum the rest of the strings.  By starting on that type of pattern, you can learn to keep a strong rhythm with your thumb and not "flail" the guitar.
<li>Practice, Practice, Practice.  As with ANYTHING getting better only comes with practice.  But always reserve time in that practice for fun, 'cause if it ain't fun, it ain't worth doing....
<li>Once you have gotten a little instructor time under your belt, there NOW are great instructional DVD's out there that will carry you further.  <a href="http&#58;&#47;&#47;www.homespuntapes.com" target="_blank">http://www.homespuntapes.com</a> and <a href="http&#58;&#47;&#47;guitarvideos.com/video/dvd/000completedvd.htm" target="_blank">http://guitarvideos.com/video/dvd/000completedvd.htm</a>  great sites with DVD's on lots of instruments and styles.  Now days a DVD costs about $30.00 or less.  That's often as much as a complete lesson... Each DVD has months worth of material to work on AND it's always available.  And I've emailed both these sites with questions and gotten personal answers.
<li>Set a time or goal to play your stuff for people.  It took me 3 years before I had the courage to play in front of a crowd, but I was playing for neighbors and everyone that would let me (OK, I'm a ham) after about 6 months.
<li>Once you've gotten about a year's worth of guitar underneath your belt, start learning music theory.  I wish I had.  When I used to learn songs, I approached each new song as a totally new experience.  Now that I've learned a enough music theory to be dangerous, I sit in jam sessions with songs I've never heard and know where the song is going and what I should play....
</ol>

Oh well... I could go on forever.  I love guitar, but it took a while to get good.  You don't have to be "great" at first... If you are passionate about it, that passion will filter into the songs you play and sing AND THAT IS WHAT PEOPLE WILL LISTEN TO.  Good luck and good learning

<font size="1">Boredom is a personal defect.

--Lamar Stephens</font>

I don't know if you know who Roy Clark was, but he was one of the best guitarist of 80's country music and a great country singer... but he never could play and sing at the same time....

I just got back from the Swannanoa gathering (Guitar workshop) and there was a jam session with these girls playing Ukes....   And believe it or not they were doing Madonna songs... My favorite was Material Girl... they were fantastic...

If you think about it, the uke could be used to play anything.... Many Jazz Guitarists will do chord melodies or comps just on the first 3 or 4 strings.... The Bass does bass melodies and you have a total song...

Scawa