Someone asks you to show them what you can play on guitar then continues to ask "can you play xxxxxx, can you play xxxxx?"
What do you do? If you strum some campfire songs they aren't really recognisable without singing. If you play something you've learnt on GMC they won't know it.
I've always wanted a "party piece" with some rhythm and fills to get people clapping. Nothing they would recognise but would connect with.
Any of you know anything with tab available?
I hope you get what I'm asking here
Cheers
phil, as i can remember, the whole part of people's singed songs are composed about 3 chords ( and a large of them share the same)
but i do not remember those chords .
with 3 chords you can make people singing and clapping for hours......
Laurent
Thanks Laurent,
I want something that is a foot tapper where people listen and enjoy it. Something just to show I can play something catchy and tuneful. It needs to be simple too I don't just want to strum a basic 4/4 as it can be boring. I've heard things before where a solo artist plays a chord followed by some licks then chords then licks. I just don't seem to be able to come up with anything.
Cheers
This is one of the reasons it's important to learn music, not just guitar parts.
Do you sing? At all? you don't have to be good to impress your friends and family.
There's literally 10s of thousands of 3 chord songs in all eras. What do ya like?
I don't know how old you are so I don't know your demographic but I'm guessing you and your friends probably know a Zep song or two, maybe some Beatles, Pink Floyd, etc.? This stuff has great melody and harmony (which you need for solo guitar arrangements) and is not too hard to learn.
Here's a bone simple version of Norwegian Wood ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezolKX99ghI
Here's a cool version of Kashmir (in DADGAD tuning) ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSqq73Vjq5k
*What you don't want to do *unless they're all guitar players* is pick riff based metal tunes that aren't on the radio.
Also, learn the entire song, not just part of it. Nothing is more off-putting to a listener than the performer not knowing the bridge or the last verse.
Thanks Ken,
I'm 49 years old, the scenario I'm thinking of is when someone comes to our house with my 76 year old mom, and she says something like "Philip plays guitar don't you Philip?" and I say, "Well, nothing that you'd know really" and then the inevitable comes, "oh stop being shy and play something". Or you're visiting someone and they walk in the room with an acoustic and say, "Play us something Phil". We've all been there and it would be nice for shy people like me to give a little tune then say, "ok that's all folks".
I thought maybe something along the lines from 1:28 in the video below but much simplified.
That sort of thing, catchy, foot tappin stuff but simplified.
Hope this makes sense.
Cheers
Phil
some double stop style stuff maybe? I would just play some hendrix like 'wind cries mary' or something like that.
* Damn, now I wanna watch crossraods again
I know it's cheesy but I love that film
Cool topic Phil!
To me the best bet would be to play an evergreen song which everyone knows (for example something by the Beatles) where both melody and rhythm and played at the same time in acoustic guitar arrangement.
The blues stuff from crossroads clip is also a good idea.
Maybe check out some of acoustic blues lessons here on GMC to get down some cool patterns which you can play in 12 bar blues type of progression :
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Expanding-The-Basic-12-Bar-Blues/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Quick-Change-Blues-in-A/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Fingerstyle-Blues-2/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Fingerstyle-Blues-Patterns/
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Fingerstyle-Blues-3/
Thanks everyone, it doesn't happen often but I don't want to crawl away from this scenario any more
Maybe you need this...
OK, so you're around my age.
Personally, I'd recommend a few easy classical pieces. They're 1) pretty, 2) generally really good music and 3) impressive.
These are in TAB as well as standard notation ... http://www.amazon.com/Spanish-Guitar-Intermediate-Solos-Masters/dp/0739000772/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432524851&sr=8-1&keywords=easy+classical+guitar+tab
There's a ton of books like this.
Nice one Gab,
I smiled when I saw you appear Thing is I can't sing, they won't want to sing, they just want me to play something and strumming four chords isn't enough, I know I see a lot of buskers playing the same chords over and over with different rhythms and singing. I usually manage to change the subject and distract them away from it but I need a little party piece to shut them up
Cheers
BTW - I was in this situation the on a gig recently. We were preparing for the sound check etc and there was a huge concert piano in the club (the club is called Jazz Bar) and I just couldn't resist. I took up and played stuff I remember on the piano which is mostly a few Beatles songs and a really simple boogie woogie groove. Now what happened is that I was jamming/playing the Imagine by John Lennon and it was going well. Then the singer got his acoustic guitar out and started jamming along and singing. The issue? I never learned bridge/chorus section
Damn it was annoying, down putting and simply stupid - clear example why we should always learn "full" songs or not learn them at all.
Positive side? I've been practicing the song on piano for a few days and now I can play it in full. There are mistakes to fix and technique but at least I now know all the sections etc.
I always thought it would be good to learn 50 famous intros but then I know someone will say, "Oh go on, play that one please"
Phil
You described what I have been going thru perfectly.
I go over to my parents to play the guitar ( to try and showoff ) but all I do is noodle because I cant sing.
I try to play popular 3 and 4 chord songs but my brother interjects , that sounded like the last song , cause I am not singing.
I started practicing acoustic blues, because , you don't really have to sing with that steady bass , I still am not great but that is besides the point.
I have never been into Electric because it seems everyone needs a rhythm track or something else , not to mention all the extra money on gadgets that I wold be wanting to buy, pedals etc
There is nothing wrong with Electric , its just not for me.
I have been practicing some songs and just singing ( no matter what it sounds like ) and I can here the song this way.
I would say to give singing a go with 3 and chord songs. Im working on Maggie may currently, I think it is pretty easy but I use a thumbpick and have to work on my strumming with the index.
Anyways, just wanted to pop in and give you my 2 cents
Slimfinger
Hi,
I think what Phil is asking in my own opinion,
How to play songs on the fly and make them recognizable by regular people.
I don't think playing scales , notes , modes, etc over a backing track is going to get anyone's attention, especially when you don't have a backing track available. It works great here or in a band playing for a audience but not in real life family and friend scenarios.
Im pretty sure what he was asking is how to make a song recognizable.
Sure, you can play scales over a backing track for 45 minutes , but in the end, what are you really accomplishing.
Im not even sure where I am going with this , I just associate Electric with people playing notes and scales to a backing track, cause thats all I ever see, they always need some accompaniment.
Im not meaning to walk on the Electric feild cause god knows , im in the minority .
I think the key is, you have to sing if you want to play 3 and 4 chord songs , unless you do some type of fingerstyle..
Just my thoughts
P.S I just wrote this because i think Phil took klasaine the wrong way , when he was only trying to help
thanks
Slimfinger
I get where you're coming from Phil.
I just did a super quick version (phone vid) of the Beatles 'Drive My Car' with a pick.
It uses 5 chords that I demonstrate at the end.
Everybody knows this song and it's pretty upbeat.
Check it out ...
klasaine:
Wow, that was awesome...now that makes want to pull out my Electric and give it a go again.
Thanks for that
Jeff
Thanks Ken,
Really appreciate you doing that for us. That would take me months to get down I think, maybe if I had more chords etc under my fingers things would be easier. I know the basic open chords, E shape bar chord, power chord shape and that's about it.
I'm a fairly proficient engineer, and I remember trying to watch what people did on a lathe or milling machine (pre CNC), all the little tricks the old guys did used to baffle me, now I do them without thinking. There's a lot of times when I train people how to load components on some fiddly fixtures and jigs that we have made in house, the new guy will sometimes come up to me and say "how did you do that again?" and I say, "Oh just put it on and clamp it" and they say "I've done that but it's a few microns out of flat". You know what? when I think about it so that I can explain, I really struggle. I have to go to the fixture and do it real slow and analyse what I do, a little twist here, a little bit of extra pressure on one side when tightening the clamp etc etc. I think this is the same with guitar. When you're proficient, as you are Ken, you say things like "It's real simple!" because you've been doing it so well for so long that you have forgotten how difficult it could be for a beginner, and I say that with the utmost respect.
I trained a guy a couple of weeks ago, that we've had at work for 25 years. It was a simple job but different machine and programming language. After I had given him full training I let him do the next set up himself, telling him not to be afraid to ask if he got stuck. It took him three hours. The next time it took an hour and now he can do it in 15 minutes and you know what he says? "I can't see how it took me 3 hours the first time, it seem impossible now that it could take that long". I think this holds true with a musical instrument.
What do you think Ken?
Cheers
Phil
Cheers Ken
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