Hi all, I am 46 and have always wanted to try to play bu tnever got around to it until 7 months ago now I am addicted :D . I have learned about 10 chords and practise evrey day, and have just started to learn some decent songs i e heart of gold, and have just started to learn American Pie, but my question is, how long does it take to learn a song on average s, say doing 30 minutes per day? I find myself going too slow with the chord changes, and is there a best method to learn a song i e learn the chorus then the verse or just the whole song
Hi Red
The chord changes will come faster with practice, practice and even more practice. Don't be put off by that - it's not all hard work and there are tons of songs available to you with only three chords. Songs like that are a great starting point. The fact is that you already have a vocabulary of 10 chords and that's pretty good for a starter.
As for the best way to learn a song - well I like to listen to it over and over again (if possible listening to different artist interpretations as well) until it's really in my head and then I prefer to go from the first verse and follow it through to the end. But there are an awful lot of songs I have just the chorus and then realised I just plain didn't like 'em enough to want to learn more - and that's OK too!
In short there is only one rule about learning to play the guitar that you absolutely MUST follow. Make sure it's fun because if it becomes a chore you'll go another 46 years not learning and then at 92 you'll look back and as you dribble and splutter you'll say "I wish I had stuck with that old guitar!"
What did the guitarist do when he was told to turn on his amp?
He caressed it softly and told it that he loved it.
+1 to everything Welshman said. :)
I don't sweat too much about any of the "How long?" questions with guitar, because there really isn't any obvious end point at which you say "Ah, it's perfect now...". You can always add more. You can always embellish the chords a bit, vary the arrangement, and make endless small but useful improvements to your tone, style, etc etc etc. It's a journey with no terminus. :D 8)
I always have quite a few songs 'on the go' at the same time, rather than banging away at the same one for too long and risking getting bored or stale with it. I could 'play' most of them in a simple fashion reasonably quickly, but each month they sound that bit better. But that's just what works for me, there's lots of approaches.
Cheers,
Chris
American Pie's not a bad choice of song - mostly open chords, if I remember correctly, with one F chord somewhere - I'll have to refresh my memory.
I did it by first learning the lyrics - singing along to the CD helped. Then I concentrated on listening to the music, with the chord sheet in front of me, and REALLY concentrating on the chord changes. Then by playing along with the CD, again with the chord sheet in front of me. Came a time when I could play the whole thing through without referencing the chord sheet at all - took me about 2-3 days of solid practise, concentrating on nothing else.
Once you've got the strumming pattern down though, there's very little - if any - variation from verse to verse.
Best of luck with it!
(This post's already looking like a bad joke - there was an Australian, a Welshman, A Mancunian and a Scouser....)
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
Speaking as a relative newcomer to guitar myself I can relate to your question. You just can't wait to get that first song under your belt and start making music. After all that's why we pick the instrument up in the first place.
How long to learn a song? I don't suppose there is a definite answer to that one. It all depends on you and the song in question. Obviously start with an easy one so that you can reach that all important first milestone. Once you get proficient in chord changes and your strumming improves it can take anything from a couple of hours to several weeks.
Of course learning the chords and the rhythm and the strumming and the intros and outros etc is only the start. You can learn a song in a day or so but it could take a lot longer to master. Once you've learned a song don't just stop playing it and move on to the next one (unless it really bores you) - allow time in your practice regime to play songs you learned months ago. Take time to restudy them in more detail - you may find you have gotten sloppy or are playing something wrong after time. As your technique improves and your knowledge of the instrument you may find a better way to play it.
Like Chris has said, I have two or three songs on the go at a time. It keeps it interesting and you have somewhere else to go if you get frustrated with a particular part of a song or technique (trust me - you will :wink:) I've been working on one in particular for a couple of months now but in that time I have learned a couple of others and learned some new techniques as well.
The first song may seem a long way off when you first start but as you get better your ability to pick up songs quicker also improves.
The most important thing though, as Welshman said, keep it fun.
Enjoy.
8)
EDIT: BTW welcome to GN. :wink:
I've had a lot of sobering thoughts in my time.
It was them that turned me to drink.
everything i say must be taked with a pinch of salt, as i only know two songs, and learning each one has taken ages.
Anyway. I play along with a metronome that at first is set on really really slowly, and then i speed up with about 5 bpm at a time, and when i can do the chord changes fast enough, i speed up a bit more. It's a drag, but it works.
Thanks very much guys a really do appreciate your helpful and encouraging comments and for taking the trouble to write :D I will continue and bring your hints into PRACTISE - thanks again
American Pie's not a bad choice of song - mostly open chords, if I remember correctly, with one F chord somewhere - I'll have to refresh my memory.
I did it by first learning the lyrics - singing along to the CD helped. Then I concentrated on listening to the music, with the chord sheet in front of me, and REALLY concentrating on the chord changes. Then by playing along with the CD, again with the chord sheet in front of me. Came a time when I could play the whole thing through without referencing the chord sheet at all - took me about 2-3 days of solid practise, concentrating on nothing else.
Once you've got the strumming pattern down though, there's very little - if any - variation from verse to verse.
Best of luck with it!
(This post's already looking like a bad joke - there was an Australian, a Welshman, A Mancunian and a Scouser....)
:D :D :D
Vic Vic thanks for your very useful tips,the chords I have been told are as follow :- G D EM AM C AM7 D7 & A 7
You had me thinking - where's the F chord?
Had to go through the song until I found it - it was something I threw in to mix things up a little As the verse ends, with the phrase "The day the music died" I did a quick fast strum after that - G (some 16th) notes F (one strum) and C then into the chorus.
I think there's a little piano run there on Don Mc's original version - been a while since I heard it though, I'll have to dig it out. Have to find the lyrics as well!
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
That's a pretty decent tab - fairly accurate. BUT - you don't have to play it note-for-note - or should that be chord-for-chord? The minor 7ths sound OK as minor chords - you can even get away with playing major chords where 7ths are tabbed. In fact, when I play it, the only 7ths I use are in the intro verse and the very last verse - the two slow verses. They seem to have more impact, and sound a bit more bluesy, if you don't over-use them in the verses.
But it's like any other song - sooner or later, you'll want to put your own slant on it. At the risk of repeating myself, just look - or listen - to what Joe Cocker did to "I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends." He took a mediocre pot-boiler of a song and turned it into a rock classic.... so don't be afraid to experiment!!!!
Remember, there's no absolute right or wrong - if the chord sounds OK, use it!
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
That's a pretty decent tab
Hi Vic,
Mainly I put the tab for the lyrics. And thanks for your hints :)
It is a candidate song for my new acoustic.
BTW, Dogsbody also tabbed a similar version in the Easy Songs database: http://forums.guitarnoise.com/viewtopic.php?t=14442
Edit. That thread has a post in which you explain where to use the F chord :D
That's a pretty decent tab
Hi Vic,
Mainly I put the tab for the lyrics. And thanks for your hints :)
It is a candidate song for my new acoustic.
BTW, Dogsbody also tabbed a similar version in the Easy Songs database: http://forums.guitarnoise.com/viewtopic.php?t=14442
Edit. That thread has a post in which you explain where to use the F chord :D
So I did - I'd completely forgotten about that! Old age creeping up - I'm nearly 50......!!!!! Thanks Nuno.....
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
(This post's already looking like a bad joke - there was an Australian, a Welshman, A Mancunian and a Scouser....)
:D :D :D
Vic
Blimey...the categories...I always thought I was "London'...but I've lived in Canada since I was 9 years old (1952 boat trip over)..anyway I was born in 1943 in "Wanstead , Woodford DistrIct / Essex"...the V1's and V2's didn't differentiate much between neighbourhoods actually... :wink:
"A child of five could understand this...send someone to fetch a child of five !"--Groucho Marx
Vic thanks for your very useful tips,the chords I have been told are as follow :- G D EM AM C AM7 D7 & A 7
I'm a little shocked to see you didn't list the E chord, it's the same shape as Am but move it all one string up...
E chord E7 Em
e 0 0 0
B 0 0 0
G 1 1 0
D 2 0 2
A 2 2 2
E 0 0 0
(I know you know Em already but I listed it so you could make sense of my 'diagram' if you aren't used to seeing chords tabbed out like this).
F and B chords, probably the easiest ways to play those are to use a bar chord so when you are ready to tackle those chords we can let you in on the secret to the um, thousands of different chords you already know how to play but don't realize yet.
