Topic: General Guitar (Read 13776 times)

Spinless · « **on:** 16 May 2006, 13:47 »

No way am I bumping threads more than a month old...
Name songs which will sounded wicked awesome on a steel string acoustic.
They should also be fun to play, and have lots of diddly slidey bits and bends.
Other than that, it can be ANYTHING. Now to give this thread value to people that aren't me...
Tricks, tips, useful scales and advice, rules, facts and trivia.
If you're gonna contribute a song, rate it from 'beginner' to 'advanced'.

I'll start.
*Don't put fluffy things on the headstock, it looks stupid. Same goes for things hanging on strings.
*Don't overdo it with the stickers.
*Learn things outside of your music comfort zone.
*Don't buy a guitar because it looks prettiest. Buy it because it sounds good and feels comfortable. If you've never held a guitar before, don't buy a daisy rock or a flying V. That would make you a moron.

Kai · « **Reply #1 on:** 16 May 2006, 14:12 »

I would totally kill for a steel string acoustic.

As well as a fretless guitar.

And a slide guitar.

Mikendher · « **Reply #2 on:** 16 May 2006, 14:50 »

My favorite songs to play:

Iron & Wine - Each Coming Night
The Beatles - Here Comes The Sun
Kansas - Dust In The Wind
Elliott Smith - Angeles
Emiliana Torrini - Sunny Road

Most of them are medium or medium/easy difficulty, although Angeles is probably difficult. (I mean that's completely relative, but on my scale of difficulty)

Remember, take care of your guitar! it needs to be around 47 humidity!

I love my Taylor 414ce; best guitar I've ever played, even than Martins.

Rubby · « **Reply #3 on:** 16 May 2006, 15:53 »

I bought my 12 string steal string acoustic for $50 from a friend. I always only string it as a six string though, 12 sounds nice but six is more versatile. But the thing is I don’t really care about it too much, and I beat the hell out of it. I drop it, I take it out busking in February, all that shit. I do have a nice electric SG, but I just really like playing an acoustic better, it’s more fun to just strum chords and sing along. One song I really enjoy playing with it is “Tunnels” by Arcade Fire. That riff at the beginning is sort of an F7 scale, so you can drone an F barre and play the riff around it. It sounds so nice when you kick in the riff for the first time. Also “It’s 5” by Architecture in Helsinki is super fun and simple. The main riff is just the classic G, G/F#, Em, C. The break down is a little different (E/C5, G5, Cadd9, A5, B#add9, Cdim2(?), Cadd9, D5, C5, D5, C5) but it’s all quite easy and fun!

Mikendher · « **Reply #4 on:** 16 May 2006, 16:07 »

Oh man, I feel bad for that 12 string, especially the truss rod for only taking 6 strings. But if you're having fun, that's all that matters

Rubby · « **Reply #5 on:** 16 May 2006, 16:53 »

No it’s all good. The thing is a fucking beast! It’s got fucking girth, it scares off small children.

Der Golem · « **Reply #6 on:** 16 May 2006, 17:36 »

It wasn't meant to end this way by Skyclad is totally my favorate song to play on the acoustic. It's kinda difficult though, especially if you're not used to fingerpicking.

Johnny C · « **Reply #7 on:** 16 May 2006, 18:07 »

A lot of Jack Johnson stuff is actually pretty fun to play. ALSO: If you slow Crazy Train down and pluck strings instead of picking them, you have a seriously pretty folk song.

Storm Rider · « **Reply #8 on:** 16 May 2006, 18:54 »

Quote from: Johnny C

If you slow Crazy Train down and pluck strings instead of picking them, you have a seriously pretty folk song.

Best. Idea. Ever.

Kai · « **Reply #9 on:** 16 May 2006, 19:20 »

I tried it. It is pretty neato.

Ravenbomb · « **Reply #10 on:** 16 May 2006, 19:40 »

I'm trying to teach myself "A Song For Life" by Eric Johnson. Great, great song

Johnny C · « **Reply #11 on:** 16 May 2006, 21:38 »

OH I FORGOT.

If you can figure out Ryan Adams' version of "Wonderwall," which is played with the same chords but there is a capo on fret 2 and the rhythm is different, then that is pretty cool to play.

And Seu Jorge, good God. Get ahold of "Team Zissou" and learn how to play and sing it and basically you will be an enormous hit at parties. Or any of his Bowie covers, but "Team Zissou" is the most fun to play.

negative creep · « **Reply #12 on:** 18 May 2006, 14:41 »

Quote from: Spinless

*Don't put fluffy things on the headstock, it looks stupid. Same goes for things hanging on strings.
*Don't overdo it with the stickers.

ummm..... i have a plastic flower on the headstock of my guitar? is that a bad thing? i also have a sticker...

Misereatur · « **Reply #13 on:** 18 May 2006, 15:34 »

Quote from: Spinless

things hanging on strings

Huh? Who the hell is stupid enough to do that?

Rubby · « **Reply #14 on:** 18 May 2006, 16:50 »

So does he ever change his strings?

Thrillho · « **Reply #15 on:** 19 May 2006, 05:24 »

Hey Joe by Hendrix is actually really entertaining on a steel strung.

Patrick · « **Reply #16 on:** 19 May 2006, 14:08 »

Quote from: Spinless

Me too, but I'd need clones of myself to play the other instruments. Then I'd form a folk rock band of ME.

Download a multi-track recording software program for your PC. Or, if one of your Mac-operating mates has GarageBand, ask if you can use his computer. Record one of the instruments, then record a different instrument on another track, and so on and so on until you're done!

About the songs though? Leo Kottke is perfect for what you're looking for, although everything he does is so complex it'd take a year to learn just one bar of a song.

Any Led Zeppelin acoustic pieces are nice, stuff like "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" and "Bron-Yr-Aur."
"Anyone for Tennis" by Cream is nice.
"Rocky Raccoon" from the White Album is an obvious one, as is "For You Blues" from Let It Be.

O YEA AND TEH BEGINING 2 CHOP SUEY BY SOAD IS SO KEWL OMFG U SHUD LERN IT!
(edit: in all seriousness, the acoustic part is just minor triad chords)

Thrillho · « **Reply #17 on:** 19 May 2006, 16:04 »

Quote from: KimJongSick

Quote from: Spinless
Me too, but I'd need clones of myself to play the other instruments. Then I'd form a folk rock band of ME.

Download a multi-track recording software program for your PC. Or, if one of your Mac-operating mates has GarageBand, ask if you can use his computer. Record one of the instruments, then record a different instrument on another track, and so on and so on until you're done!

About the songs though? Leo Kottke is perfect for what you're looking for, although everything he does is so complex it'd take a year to learn just one bar of a song.

Any Led Zeppelin acoustic pieces are nice, stuff like "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" and "Bron-Yr-Aur."
"Anyone for Tennis" by Cream is nice.
"Rocky Raccoon" from the White Album is an obvious one, as is "For You Blues" from Let It Be.

O YEA AND TEH BEGINING 2 CHOP SUEY BY SOAD IS SO KEWL OMFG U SHUD LERN IT!
(edit: in all seriousness, the acoustic part is just minor triad chords)

OMG AN THEN DO TIME OF UR LYF BY GREEN DAY THAT SONGS SO EMOTIONAL IT MAKES ME CRY

Patrick · « **Reply #18 on:** 19 May 2006, 17:08 »

omfg ya nd "waek me up wen setember endz"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TrueNeutral · « **Reply #19 on:** 20 May 2006, 10:45 »

Advice to beginning guitarists: Don't make the same mistake I did. I bought a guitar with a neck too wide for my hands. I didn't notice it at the shop because I only fingerpicked a couple of things to see how it sounded, but it turns out I can't reach a bunch of chords.

Kai · « **Reply #20 on:** 20 May 2006, 11:12 »

Also: Do not buy a guitar just because it's cheapest. An extra 50 bucks can go a loooong way.

Aneurhythmia · « **Reply #21 on:** 20 May 2006, 12:20 »

I'm gonna have to agree with Les Paul on this one; I think SG's are ugly.

Patrick · « **Reply #22 on:** 20 May 2006, 16:30 »

True, the SG doesn't have the aesthetic value that the Les Paul does, and its tone is a bit brighter and the sustain a bit shorter, but you can reach EVERY fret on an SG without any problems whatsoever, while on the Les Paul you'd better have fingers a foot long if you think you're going to reach anywhere above the 17th.

More advice to beginning guitarists: if you think buying a Gibson Les Paul Special is going to suddenly make you able to play every solo in the classic rock world, come over here, let me pull your leg a bit harder.

Aneurhythmia · « **Reply #23 on:** 20 May 2006, 16:42 »

Quote from: KimJongSick

while on the Les Paul you'd better have fingers a foot long if you think you're going to reach anywhere above the 17th

I don't have one, but looking at them on GIS, it looks like the cut away is flush with the neck all the way to the 20th.

Rubby · « **Reply #24 on:** 20 May 2006, 16:54 »

Quote from: TrueNeutral

Advice to beginning guitarists: Don't make the same mistake I did. I bought a guitar with a neck too wide for my hands. I didn't notice it at the shop because I only fingerpicked a couple of things to see how it sounded, but it turns out I can't reach a bunch of chords.

But......My guitar has a massive neck, but after a few years with it I start playing someone else’s normal acoustic and it feels like a fluffy marshmallow neck or something.

So too large neck can = mad skillz on other guitars.

Mikendher · « **Reply #25 on:** 20 May 2006, 17:08 »

I have to agree with Rubby on that; but there is the initial difficulty

Rubby · « **Reply #26 on:** 20 May 2006, 17:35 »

Well of course, but that can be said about any guitar if you’re just starting out.

Patrick · « **Reply #27 on:** 20 May 2006, 20:43 »

LIES!

THE FIRST* TIME I EVER PICKED UP A GUITAR, I PLAYED A PERFECT "HALLOWED BE THY NAME" BY IRON MAIDEN (*might be a slight exaggeration)

valley_parade · « **Reply #28 on:** 20 May 2006, 21:00 »

All that I have to add is that I'm getting a new Les Paul Junior soonish (okay, so it's the Epiphone '57 reissue..but still!), along with a shiny new Big Muff.

Also I'm a little interested in slide ukelele. I think that'd be fun to learn.

Patrick · « **Reply #29 on:** 20 May 2006, 21:38 »

LOZL U SED "BIG MUFF"

Thrillho · « **Reply #30 on:** 21 May 2006, 06:51 »

Quote from: Aneurhythmia

Quote from: KimJongSick
while on the Les Paul you'd better have fingers a foot long if you think you're going to reach anywhere above the 17th

I don't have one, but looking at them on GIS, it looks like the cut away is flush with the neck all the way to the 20th.

Clearly you've never played one...

valley_parade · « **Reply #31 on:** 21 May 2006, 08:12 »

Quote from: KimJongSick

LOZL U SED "BIG MUFF"

Bahahahaha. I read an interview with Sleater-Kinney and Carrie Brownstein was cracking up because she uses a pedal called a "Super Hard-On".

Johnny C · « **Reply #32 on:** 21 May 2006, 08:53 »

My electric guitar is an Epiphone explorer-style guitar. It is red. It cost me five hundred dollars. The best part is it's a seriously nice guitar. And I bought it because it was light, comfortable and easy to play. (It's a very light guitar, actually. Makes Strats seem heavy.)

Les Pauls are beasts and I don't want one. I would rather have a nice semi-hollow electric, which is one of the things I'm saving up for (besides a better amp and a delay pedal).

Also: Okkervil River songs are pretty good for acoustic guitar playing, despite a lack of really twiddly bits.

Johnny C · « **Reply #33 on:** 21 May 2006, 09:08 »

Well, you could do a bass-note walkdown during "Song Of Our So-Called Friend." That's fun.

Kai · « **Reply #34 on:** 21 May 2006, 09:28 »

I play a Strat. It is real nice and fancy and I love it. I am totally missing my little whammy bar though.

I'm not too fond of Les Pauls. I do like the SG models though, albeit I haven't had much experience playing them.

will: wanton sex god · « **Reply #35 on:** 21 May 2006, 12:49 »

I've seen girls in my guitar class with seriously small hands able to make any chord and pluck any note.

it involves proper playing technique

keep your thumb in the middle of the back of the neck.

ASturge · « **Reply #36 on:** 21 May 2006, 12:58 »

Quote from: Mikendher

I have to agree with Rubby on that; but there is the initial difficulty

Yup, i have a 7-string Gibosn Les Paul Epiphone. extra fat neck.
After 3 years on that, when i go on my mates SG i poonatize him

Patrick · « **Reply #37 on:** 21 May 2006, 14:28 »

Quote from: Johnny C

I would rather have a nice semi-hollow electric, which is one of the things I'm saving up for.

ES-335.

Edit: Oh wait, that's a hollowbody. It's a DAMN nice guitar though, my mate's dad has a '75 Gibson ES-335, and I'll be damned if that isn't the most playable guitar I've ever used. It's as big as an acoustic, but it's built like an SG in that you can reach all 22 frets with no difficulty at all. And the SOUND out of that thing when you plug her in!

Aneurhythmia · « **Reply #38 on:** 21 May 2006, 14:43 »

Quote from: DynamiteKid

Quote from: Aneurhythmia
Quote from: KimJongSick
while on the Les Paul you'd better have fingers a foot long if you think you're going to reach anywhere above the 17th

I don't have one, but looking at them on GIS, it looks like the cut away is flush with the neck all the way to the 20th.

Clearly you've never played one...

Only in passing. Certainly not enough to pick up the nuances of the instrument. If I were going to spend that kind of money on an instrument, it'd be a bass.

TheMike · « **Reply #39 on:** 21 May 2006, 16:26 »

so basically i took about 9 months off guitar to hone my bass skills, and i'm a pretty damn good bassists, 'least thats what my band mates say, and i just got back into guitar. so after 9 months of finger strengthening i started playing guitar again and i'm probably twice as good now, maybe more.

3 things i learned about playing bass that made me improve so much on guitar:
1.) much, much stronger fretting hand. makes the light touch so much easier, makes huge bends effortless, i can barre chords much easier on my acoustic now because my fingers are stronger, makes the guitar almost seem fragile.
2.) better sense of rhythm, i feel like i'm really grooving, but i consider myself a bass player so its what i like. makes playing the blues so much better.
3.) music theory, as a guitar player before i never bothered much with learning theory, but as a bassist it was essential, especially in my jazz playing. i have much better improv. and compositional skills on guitar now that my theory knowledge has improved, also makes transcription easier.

just my .02

also, i just love playing slide. if you haven't tried yet, go out and buy yourself a nice brass slide, tune your guitar into an open tuning, and have at it.

IronOxide · « **Reply #40 on:** 21 May 2006, 16:33 »

Quote from: Johnny C

A lot of Jack Johnson stuff is actually pretty fun to play.

And if you pick the right stuff, it's really easy too.

valley_parade · « **Reply #41 on:** 21 May 2006, 18:11 »

Quote from: KimJongSick

Quote from: Johnny C
I would rather have a nice semi-hollow electric, which is one of the things I'm saving up for.

ES-335.

Edit: Oh wait, that's a hollowbody.

ES-335's a semi-hollow.

Patrick · « **Reply #42 on:** 21 May 2006, 19:59 »

Either way, it is a damn nice guitar.

valley_parade · « **Reply #43 on:** 21 May 2006, 23:05 »

That it is.

onewheelwizzard · « **Reply #44 on:** 22 May 2006, 10:08 »

Spinless, listen to Jack Rose.

Lt. Dan · « **Reply #45 on:** 22 May 2006, 15:38 »

Easyish songs:
Okkervil River: Ends with a Fall
Neil Young: Too Far Gone (and many, many more)
Bob Dylan: You Ain't Goin' Nowhere
Coldplay: Yellow

and oh so many more

Rubby · « **Reply #46 on:** 22 May 2006, 16:05 »

Holy fuckin chill that avatar out a bit.

Lt. Dan · « **Reply #47 on:** 22 May 2006, 16:18 »

I fixed it once I sawr the dimensions rulz. was HARD to find a smally one. Settled for Johnny Thunders (a wee bit big) over the HUGE weirdo album cover.

D

Thrillho · « **Reply #48 on:** 22 May 2006, 16:39 »

Quote from: Lt. Dan

Bob Dylan: You Ain't Goin' Nowhere

If you're only learning the chords, then easy Bob Dylan songs (and the three chords they are composed of:)

Bob Dylan's 115th Dream (G, C and D)
Knockin' On Heaven's Door (G, D and either C or Am, I can't remember)
Meet Me In The Morning/Outlaw Blues/any of his songs based on a 12-bar (both of these are E, A and B I think)
Hurricane (Am, F, Dm)
Mr. Tambourine Man (been played in various keys, but the chord shapes are always D, G and A)
Blowin' In The Wind (G, C and D)

While we're thinking of easy songs:

Wilco - Via Chicago (Capo on 2nd fret, so it's actually D, A and G, but the chord shapes are C, G and F), The Late Greats (Capo 3rd fret, D, G and A shapes to play F, Bb and C)
Nick Cave - As I Sat Sadly By Her Side/15ft of Pure White Snow (both are made up only of Am, F and G), There She Goes My Beautiful World (Cm, F, C, G, Am)

Kai · « **Reply #49 on:** 22 May 2006, 16:55 »

Oh, Bob Dylan's The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carrol is absurdly easy.

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Author Topic: General Guitar (Read 13776 times)

Spinless

Mikendher

Mikendher

Ravenbomb

TrueNeutral

Mikendher

ASturge

TheMike

Lt. Dan

Lt. Dan