Here's a nice super easy country song for the early beginner. It's in the key of A, so it's singable too by those of us with lower voices. Enjoy. (You've got to start somewhere...)
DD.
LIVIN' ON LOVE
ALAN JACKSON
INTRO:A E A D A E A E
VERSE
A E
Two young people without a thing
A D
Say some vows and spread their wings
A E
And settle down to just what they need livin' on love
A E
She don't care 'bout what's in style
A D
She just likes the way he smiles
A E A
It takes more than marble and tile livin' on love
CHORUS
E A
Livin' on love, buyin' on time
D A
Without somebody nothin' ain't worth a dime
D A E
Just like an old fashioned story book rhyme livin' on love
A E
It sounds simple. That's what you're thinkin'
A D
But love can walk through fire without blinkin'
A E A
It doesn't take much when you give enough livin' on love
VERSE 2
A E
Two old people without a thing
A D
Children gone but still they sing
A E
Side beside in that front porch swing livin' on love
A E A D
He can't see anymore. She can barely sweep the floor
A E A
Hand in hand they'll walk though that door livin' on love
CHORUS
D A E A
No, it doesn' take much when you give enough livin' on love
John A.
They say only a pawnshop guitar can play the blues. An eBay one does it better. A guitar's bound to feel unloved if her owner plasters pictures of her over the internet for all to see and then sells her off to the highest anonymous bidder.
I don't why, but country music is really hard (for me) to play. I never seem to get the timing right? That's why I shy away from it. Anyone else?
Bob Jessie
good point.
So we don't all just turn this into a strum strum strum type thing, give us a few pointers on how to make it sound like country .....
Please....
Matt
You're asking the wrong guy about strumming patterns. :D I've been at it for about 6 mo. now and still have major problems with them. I have heard from drummers that the beat for country songs is different from rock, so it wouldn't surprise me if someone who played a lot of rock have problems with the occasional country song. As for how to make it sound more country, I suppose there are fills you could add, but just play it first at a mod. tempo. It will sound country enough.
If I had to give you one to start with off the top of my head, without my guitar in front of me I'd say something like... "DOWNupdownupdown, DOWNupdownupdown...." but it seems to flow pretty naturally to me.
I thought early beg. would like it because it's just A,E, and D. They are relatively easy chords to form and not too far from each other. Besides, I've never known anyone to get really excited about learning a scale. You need a song every once in a while to keep you going.
But I understand not every song falling into place. I have been working on "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum for months and I never could get the strumming pattern down for it. Anything I try for the verse falls apart on the chorus and vice versa. To anyone answering the above questions, a little help here would be appreciated too.
John A.
They say only a pawnshop guitar can play the blues. An eBay one does it better. A guitar's bound to feel unloved if her owner plasters pictures of her over the internet for all to see and then sells her off to the highest anonymous bidder.
Actually, my point was. Before learning guitar I thought country music would be a breeze, and the other stuff would be more difficult. In reality, you need to know what your doing to play country music. I'll add Bluegrass to that also.
Bob Jessie
I'm no expert by any means but the best advice I found about strumming is to sit in the dark,mute the strings with your "chord hand" and try to match the strumming with a recording.Oh and keep your eyes closed.You may feel kind of foolish but the good news is nobody can see you in the dark.Worked for me with Time Of Your Life.
Johnnyboy
