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Songs you played as a fledgling guitarist
Suckafish
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I have an acoustic and an electric guitar, have put time in practicing scales, chords, and simple songs from a lessons book. Now I'm ready to start challenging myself with some music that isn't newbie versions of Joy to the World or Greensleeves.
The trouble I'm having is finding songs that will challenge me, but are not well beyond my current abilities.
List songs that you found were great to play when you were first starting to become comfortable with the guitar. Songs from that time period where you first started to feel like you were moving beyond the basics and actually playing some decent music.
For me, Wish You Were Here and House of the Rising Sun (http://www.guitarnoise.com/article.php?id=57) have both been great. The electric guitar is my new toy, so I'm more interested in suggestions for that, but by all means list any songs you played.
The trouble I'm having is finding songs that will challenge me, but are not well beyond my current abilities.
List songs that you found were great to play when you were first starting to become comfortable with the guitar. Songs from that time period where you first started to feel like you were moving beyond the basics and actually playing some decent music.
For me, Wish You Were Here and House of the Rising Sun (http://www.guitarnoise.com/article.php?id=57) have both been great. The electric guitar is my new toy, so I'm more interested in suggestions for that, but by all means list any songs you played.
Suckafish on
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I say just turn on the radio or put on a CD and listen to the guitars and then try to find the chord progression, the notes, etc. It's fun. One of the first songs I was so proud to figure out on my own was Dee by Randy Rhoads. Great feeling.
As for me, I was a big fan of 90s alternative rock when I picked up guitar so I mostly figured out those kind of songs. I had to cheat a bit and change some keys around, but I eventually got to the point where I could pretty much play through the entirety of Siamese Dream using nothing but open chords and a few easy barre chords.
You might want to run down to Barnes & Noble (doesn't have to be a fancy music store) and pick up a 'fake book' in their music section. These are big books with tons of popular songs, that give you the chords and the lyrics and help you "fake" your way through the songs. Nothing too fancy (some of them don't even have tabs) and you should be able to pick out some songs to your satisfaction.
Iron Maiden also has some really fun tunes, especially 'The Trooper'.
-Terry Pratchett
I'm not very good at playing by ear, so my approach so far has been to buy a book that includes tab, flip to a song I like, try to play it, and more often then not get frustrated at the difficulty level. Part of the problem may be picking up books that transcribe notes as the song is actually performd, rather than making modifications for novice players.
How do you find Ziggy Stardust? Do you have a link to the tab that you use, or is it a book or playing by ear?
I'll take a look next time I'm in a book store. I think I would rather play easy songs properly than a dumbed-down tougher song, but it's worth a shot.
As far as actual song recommendations, it depends on the type of playing you want to do, but here are some off the top of my head.
If you're doing power chords, Buddy Holly by Weezer is great fun. Pretty much all power chords, but it does require some dexterity as they jump around a bit. The bridge can still be challenging for me these days if my left hand is being lazy and/or slow. There are even some lead parts you can pick out (in the pre-chorus, for example) and have fun with.
If you want to do a fingerpicking deal, maybe Street Spirit (Fade Out) by Radiohead. The left-hand part isn't very complicated (Am/Em/C progressions with your ring and index fingers moving around), but it's good exercise for your right hand, no matter how you play it. Also, You've Got Her In Your Pocket by the White Stripes might challenge you without being too hard.
I know it's not a very well-known song, but if you just want to do some strummin', try the Butthole Surfers' The Wooden Song. The chorus might be a little tough, but the verses contain your basic chords with a few little variations that are good exercise and make it sound like you know what the fuck you're doing.
For lead guitar, Nirvana is good for some nice solos that don't have too much wankery in them. I think the Sappy solo is the first electric guitar solo I ever learned. For more complicated stuff, try Cliffs of Dover by Eric Johnson -- I know, I know, it's a virtuoso piece of guitar work, but don't worry about playing as fast as him or playing the entire song. Just start by trying to learn the chorus -- it's pretty catchy. Honestly, if you can master any part of Cliffs of Dover, at any speed, you will have learned a lot about lead guitar techniques.
The last one I can think of (and here I reveal my true geek nature) is Ride On Shooting Star by The Pillows, known to most of us here in the US as the theme from the FLCL anime. I know what you're thinking, but The Pillows are actually a really good band IMO, playing good old-fashioned down-to-earth guitar rock like Dinosaur Jr. or old Matthew Sweet. Ride On Shooting Star is a good mix of lead playing and power chords and it will keep your hands moving if you want it to sound good. It's not complicated, though, and it sounds really good even without accompaniment.
Hope these help. I can probably think of a few more if any of these are the kind of thing you were looking for.
Edit: I just noticed you mentioned STP in your earlier post. You might want to look up the tabs for Meatplow or Plush and try 'em out. Like most of the old STP, they're power-chord heavy and may be a little on the easy side, but they do have some neat little things that'll keep your fingers limber. Now that I think of it, most of the songs on Purple are kind of like this.
Plus, the obvious one is Bob Dylan, who has probably got twenty songs better than anything you'll ever write out of G, A and D, twenty more for G, C and D, etc.
www.rockmidgets.com
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com
This is a great website and i taught myself guitar by basically picking a song i'd heard on the radio or whatnot and searched for a tab for it. You'd be surprised how many songs have both easy (simple open or power chords) or also hard tabs where u fingerpick or hit differant parts of the chords.
1. Cream - Sunshine of my Love
2. Metallica - (just the opening part of) One
3. Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water
4. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (main theme and first solo)
5. The Beatles - Polythene Pam
6. The Beatles - Day Tripper
My teacher seems like he knows what he's doing. All these songs have taught me something different.
I haven't learned all these songs in their entirety, just parts that are valuable for teaching. Although this week I should learn the solo to Day Tripper and then I'll know the complete song.