Performing

I've been playing guitar for about 6 months now and I'm looking to play in front of some friends. The problem is that being 16, most people don't know most of the songs listed so far. They likely all know Wonderwall, but I'm having my doubts that they know who Neil Young is. Any suggestions of easy songs that most teens would know? Thanks

jason,

Nirvana
Godsmack
Marilyn Manson
Jet

All fairly easy

Anyone else? And I have an acoustic by the way.

How about Alice In Chains and Muddle of Pudd?? :D

lol do you mean Puddle of Mudd? :roll:

Jason,

Are your friends into music? If they truly are, to hear songs that they have not heard before will be a treat, rather than a drag.

If they exist solely on a diet of one kind of music, e.g. rap or metal to the exclusion of everything and anything else, then you're in for a tougher time, regardless of whether you play oldies or the latest hit. You can go one of two ways in this case: try to open their ears to different music (most likely achieved when hearing it performed live), or don't waste your time trying to impress them - if their ears are closed to anything more than a few months old, then they are not worthy of hearing your efforts.

On a more positive note, there are so many covers of old classics being released these days, that you can dip into the past without the younger members of your audience realising it. Also, everyone likes a good acoustic set these days, so perhaps you could look at some modern non-acoustic stuff and adapt it? Most punk stuff these days is very straightforward, and with a small adaptation of strumming patterns, you could be onto a winner.

I think the most important thing is to play what you like. If you love the song, it will carry over into your performance. If you play stuff you're indifferent about just to please the crowd (unless you're taking requests), then you're compromising your integrity and starting down the path to mediocrity.