Thanks Dino and Uncle Joe - ill look at the songs mentioned.
2 2014-08-22 01:26:16
Re: just started playing (24 replies, posted in Acoustic)
All good - its basically the same song....12 bar blues in A yeah? What chords do you use to play it? 7th chords or a shuffle?
3 2014-08-22 00:45:51
Re: just started playing (24 replies, posted in Acoustic)
I love credence Dino - I would be keen to learn several of their songs. Up around the bend is a fave...who'll stop the rain is a begineers song too isnt it?
I LOVE crossroads by Eric Clapton - i'll definitely grab some tab for that. I have been learning a lot of blues tracks since I began - this would would be a nice addition to my repetoire.
4 2014-08-21 22:20:21
Re: just started playing (24 replies, posted in Acoustic)
Yeah there is nothing like actually playing to get you goin. If you are lucky enough to know a drummer or an accomplished guitarist jam with them as much as you can. Playing alongside another rhythm section is great fun and good for your development.
If you cant do this then download backing tracks for your favourite songs - the proliferation of these on the internet is another eason why its much easier to learn guitar these days than it was 20 years ago.
Good work on the finger picking Dino - I havent dont much of that....just a little bit in the sounds of silence by simon and garfunkle. its tricky (fingerpicking) but sounds very nice.
5 2014-08-21 06:04:13
Re: just started playing (24 replies, posted in Acoustic)
Hi Dean,
I am 6 months in and have recently crested the 30 song barrier and they are coming thick and fast now. (2 months in I could play 1 song, 4 months in I could play maybe 10).
The key is to…
1) Pick songs you genuinely like. There is no point starting to learn Bad Moon Rising just because its easy if you don’t like the song. You have to want to play it (this song incidentally is dead easy and an excellent choice for beginners if you like CCR).
2) Definitely have multiple songs on the go….with different chord progressions….I would say 5 or six is a good choice. Even if you only strummed each song for 5 mins a time if you do all of them in a single sitting voila – you’ve hit your 30mins a day worth of practice.
3) As you progress – lean towards songs that force you to learn things you are bad at. I.E for a long time I struggled with the C chord (and still do sometimes). So I picked half a dozen songs with lots of C chords in them (wont be hard – theres millions to choose from) and hey presto, after a couple of months I can play C a hell of a lot better and so now im doing the same thing with the dreaded F chord.
Don
6 2014-08-21 05:44:55
Re: What was your biggest single aid to improving? (24 replies, posted in Acoustic)
Youtube. I can’t believe how much guitar related material is on there for free. One of my good mates learnt in the 90s and he said if Youtube was around back then he could have learnt what he did in a decade in about one year.
7 2014-08-21 05:31:23
Re: What was your first song? (173 replies, posted in Acoustic)
Currently just shy of 6 months into learning the guitar. I started off like many with a useless book that teaches you how to play garbage songs one note at a time. I abandoned that after 2 months for song based learning using chords and have never looked back. Can currently play about 30 songs start to finish with varying degrees of accuracy. Re the original question:
The first ever song I played start to finish was “About a Girl” by nirvana. Great song, simple Em to G progression for the verses with some cool sounding power chords and a brief Em – A – C progression in the chorus. Even the solo in this is easy to learn. I think this is an excellent choice for beginners as it is so much more than just 3 chords repeated over and over and will teach you lots of important elements (open chords, power chords, different strumming patterns, simple soloing).
First ever song I could play AND sing to simultaneously was Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. The chords in this are very, very easy and repeated through the majority of the song. The bridge even incorporates one of the easiest chords known to man – an A11 (top 5 strings played open). This has recently been followed by Bad Moon Rising…I can play and sing this. It’s a very simple, and very cool song.