Stairway To Heaven: Is it Humanly Possible?

When I first played Stairway I couldn't fingerpick and do all those thing at the same time, so I did a "bastard" version of it, without the bass note when you pick two strings... I did that for a while until my friend showed me up, and I've been doing it correctly ever since... 8) :lol:

Now that's funny cuz that's what I have been doing everytime I get frustrated...doesn't sound half bad to me though...LOL!!

OK, I have been working on this for the last hour or so and I guess it wasn't as hard as I originally though (still a bit tough spanning from the 5th to the 8th fret but its quick...

The toughest part now is the chord progressions and that is something I have been working on with ALL my playing...and I KNOW that will take time as it does with everyone.

I am not ready to record me playing Stairway yet but it is definitely going better today! It actually SOUNDS like something now...just a bit slower than Jimmy Page... :lol: :lol: :lol: 8)

Yeah, its pretty amazing that you are trying. I didnt learn this one till like over a year into guitar playing. Ive only seen one beginner learn this song well, and hes just weirdly good. Hes been playing for like 3 months and hes got the song down like perfect (excluding the solo...). So good job.

Just keep it up, you'll get it.

OK..here is my VERY feeble attempt at the Stairway intro. It's only the first 4 measures. This is 3 days work about 1 hour each day on this song plus more time on other songs/practice. Please keep in mind it took me 5 tries to get the song to sound as "good" as it is (I quote "good" because I am being facetious!).

You can hear where I make the chord changes and there are some pauses during that time...

Stairway to Heaven by mikespe

Considering the length of time you've been playing and the amount of time you've put into this song, I wouldn't say "good" was being facetious. Sure you can notice the pauses during the chord changes but that will certainly fade with time.

I'd be proud of that if I were you.

Thanks PappaJohn! I appreciate the compliments...

The thing I can understand is that I can play it fairly smoothly on my $99 Behringer V-Tone electric (what I recorded it with) but I just went to try it on my $400 Fender San Luis Rey acoustic with a MUCH better set up on it and I sound like 2 cats dancing on the guitar! I REALLY want to play it on my acoustic because that probably will be the guitar I'll take places like the park to play. I don't want anyone laughing at me more than they already do!

The funny thing is when I play Wish You Were Here I can't play it AT ALL on my electric yet on my acousting it's BUTTER!

Mike,
I have been playing the exact same lesson you have.
Watching Planetalks video also helps.
It took me a long time to get the stretch I needed. I gave up on this song some time ago and just came back to it.
I am kind of struggling with part 2 right now, a couple more days and I should have it ironed out.
I do really like Guitarforbeginners lessons. try some of the other ones.
The MASH theme and Always on my Mind are really fun to play and a some good fingerstyle practice to boot.

Yea I really want to try the mash theme (I love that show!). But I really do want to concentrate on just a few songs at a time. I noticed today that I had a hard time playing Wish You Were Here yet I had that song down fairly well last week. But I have been spending so much time with Dead or Alive and Stairway that I haven't played it much...You don't use it youlose it I guess! :lol:

You don't use it youlose it I guess! :lol:
Man, I hope thats not true.

I just added the last 3 measures and now I have all of part one of that lesson memorized!! :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

I just need to work on transition now...AND then I guess I'll have to start another thread complaining about part TWO of the lesson!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Thanks again everyone for your support!!

When learning such songs I always concentrate on the chords first.
strum the first chord, move your thumb to see what's most comfortable to form it. Strum the next chord and think about it how it is easiest to go from one to another. Picking comes later.

Minimum of time and you got it down, at least that works for me. I play another version, from a songbook ;)

Figuring out the solo for the moment. Learned stairway a while ago. Started practicing scales. Solo isn't that hard at all when you look at it very slowly.

I've been playing for 2 years and when I learnt Stairway recently I found the fingerpicking a piece of piss [very easy indeed]. The electric solo, on the other hand.... !

So the best advice I can give is, if something is just too hard, come back to it in a few months and see if your skills have improved.

I don't bother actually holding the chord shapes for that song, it's easy enough as is, and it's played slowly enough that I can easily move to hit all the notes.

Hey guys...I am having problems figuring out part 2 of this lesson over at Guitar for Beginners. (I told you I'd be crying for help!

Does the video overlap from the first lesson and if so where the part 2 start in the video?

Thanks

You played the three 3 string partial chords to end the first section (8th measure) then you play the open 5th then 2nd on the 5th string to start part 2.

So no, they don't overlap he just split part one and two in the middle of the Am.