Me playing Hurt by Johnny Cash

I have to be totally honest...For only 1 month of playing, that's a pretty good job. We've all been there where we think our playing sucks, but from an outsider's perspective, nice job!

The first thing I would do is check out David's lesson on "Hurt", here:
https://www.guitarnoise.com/lessons/hurt/

He does a fantastic job of explaining this song and has a pretty in depth lesson with MP3s. If you go over the lesson, I think you'll get a very good feel for the song.

As for my comments, this song is about emotion, so show that emotion in the song. You are a little stiff while playing and your chord changes are a bit rough around the edges, but you will get better with practice. It is totally expected for a beginner to struggle on the chord changes. They will come with practice, trust me. The main thing is to relax and let it flow. Try holding the fingerings of the chords (keep your fingers in place) as long as possible before you change to the next chord to let it ring out. It'll give the song a nice effect. It's an eerie song...let it sound that way.

As for your strumming, try 3 quarter notes (down strokes), followed by 2 eighth notes (fast - down/up). On that last up strum, start to change chords.

Also work on the dynamics of the chorus, changing intonation to match the emotion. It gradually gets louder and louder, just like in the song.

There are other tricks of the trade (hammer ons/ pull offs) that can add to this song, but these will come with practice. The main thing is to experiment and see what sounds good (and bad). You've already started to record yourself, which is a very good habit.

Keep up the good work!

Go Yanks!

You should check out David's lesson on Hurt. It's very easy.

Yes, it sounds like you are strumming to hard. It's very common for a beginner though. It takes time to develop the right touch. Also, you might want to try all down strokes. It will take some of the thought process out of what you are doing. If you use David's lesson (on the home page in easy songs for beginners) you won't have to shift your fingers all over the place either which will help a lot.

Other than that, it didn't sound bad at all.

Thanks guys. I did not even know they had a lesson on that at this website. This site just has it all lol. I will deff check that out and take your advice as well. I guess when I finally nail it and can do it ill post another video and see what you guys think.

Thanks :D

good job!,
after only one month, believe us you have nothing to be ashamed or disappointed about.
playing the mood or emotion will come when you no longer "have" to look to make the changes.

its not that im dissapointed, i guess im just a little paranoid lol. my guitar teacher tells me all the time "i dont expect you to be able to do this by next week" and i understand that but i do everything in my power to do it by the next week. this week he has me learning high tide or low tide (jack johnson and ben harper version) its a pain in the butt!

Well, the video is gone, so... no comment. :roll:

Dan

video gone for me :?: [perhaps he sold it] :lol: :lol: smoke