For What It's Worth

Hi Neesah and welcome!

When a particular song isn't in your range, you can often deal with that with a capo. If this one, for instance, is a little low, put a capo on the third fret for starters and see how that goes.

What I find helpful is to find the starting note before I start playing and sound it a few times before beginning the song.

Hope this helps.

Peace

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the tips for the fretting of the chords, they've been helpful, using a pivot helps with speed and economy of movement :)
Allison

Also it does take some practise to get the percussive stroke loud enough, as I was a bit scared of harming the guitar, it does take some finesse.  (I have to admit to doing a double take on the use of the scone, I thought David might have been adding something for the punk rockers among us, we could coin the term 'sconning the strings' ie 'scone' in Australian colloquial is 'head', 'ticker' is the 'heart', maybe this is from the English, or could be Italian for all I know, we have so many wonderful cultures here now) As always, no offence meant to anyone.

Hi Allison

Concerning the percussive strokes, I just want to say that my intention is not to get everyone banging their guitars! The volume is secondary to the idea. But, of course, in order to get the idea down I've exaggerated it quite a bit.

In our next discussion, Three Marlenas, you'll hear an example of a percussive stroke incorporated into a rhythm pattern and you'll hopefully now understand where it comes from. It's simply a tool and can be used or ignored as you please.

I have to say, though, that "sconing the strings" is hysterically funny and I'm laughing all morning about this!  ;)

Peace

Thanks David, yes it makes everything more interesting, both playing and listening wise; yes I did have a go at the Three Marlena's a while back and didn't really appreciate fully what was happening there with the strumming, so I'll be glad to now.  :)

I finally gave this one another shot after quiting on it when I was around my 3rd month and dang it came together quick, thanks much for another great lesson.

1 question,
In the chorus E and A are stacked close together over the lyrics, where exactly are these falling in the strum pattern?

1 question,
In the chorus E and A are stacked close together over the lyrics, where exactly are these falling in the strum pattern?

Up until very recently, Paul and I were having the hardest time getting the lyrics and chords to line up properly. We've since gotten our act together (and all credit has to go to him for this) by writing out the words and chords in the notation program we use (musEdit)instead of the regular word processing software (word, etc.). But, like everything, going back through all the old lessons is going to take time...

But to answer your question - ignore the chord placement and remember this:

In For What It's Worth, the chords change every measure. E for four beats, A for four beats, E for four beats, A for four beats, etc. until you're ready to call it quits.

This was another one of my original ideas - to initially pick songs where the chord changes and strumming patterns almost became mechanical. When you're starting out, you want as little to think about as possible. Just get into the rhythm and the mechanics and let it become natural.

I thought by starting with Horse With No Name and then going into this song would give beginners a good feel for both strumming and chord changing.  And while we up the ante a little bit in Three Marlenas by tossing in another chord and a bit of anticipation, the mecahnics should still be close to automatic.

And then we get into the really fun stuff!   ;)

Peace

I see no one has jumped on the A chord so I will be the fool. I have trouble no matter how I finger it. I can't seem to fit all three fingers in the available space without muting another string or causing a "clunker" (technical term).

Zeph

the main problem that i'm having with this song is on the part with the two percussive strokes. one of them is on an upstroke. am i suposed to mute this on an upstroke or change it to a downstroke?

Both work well as muted down strokes.

I just wanna say that those MP3's help more than you will ever know. Thanx a million times 10 + 1 to the 67th power.
MekalekahaimekaJoCaJamHo

Wheeeee!!! ;D

This song just clicked after (hmm...) perhaps a few days of practicing it.

I started two weeks ago (I mean started to play the guitar) and I'm pretty happy with how quickly everything is coming to me.  Great site!

*BUMP*

Does anyone know where I can download a free copy of For What it's Worth online? I've never heard the real song before.

Not sure about the whole song (I'm pretty useless when it comes to these download things anyway!   ;)  ) but you can get a sample of it off Amazon. Type "Buffalo Springfield" in the search engine (have the engine set for "Popular Music") and look in the "Best of" or "Retrospective" albums. It's usually the first song listed. If you get twenty or thirty seconds of it, you'll pretty much have all the strumming you'll need.

Hope this helps.

Peace

If you have the latest windows media player, it's available through the media guide search. Just make sure it's the Buffalo Springfield version.

Wow, thanks guys! I actually downloaded FWIW from Amazon - true, you're only given a snippit of the song, but that's all I need.  8)