#11: Easy Songs: Breakfast at Tiffany's - Deep Blue Something

Howdi-digidi-do!

We continue with a song that's probably a bit more well-known by the younger followers; An easy 3-chord-song called Breakfast at Tiffany's by 1-hit-wonder Deep Blue Something:



       G           D          A     

-----3--------3-------0-----
-----0--------2-------2-----
-----0--------3-------2-----
-----0--------0-------2-----
-----2----------------0----
-----3---------------------


D                   G            A            D                 G            A            D
You say that we've got nothing in common, no common ground to start from,
        G      A       D          G     A
and we're falling apart.
D                      G          A          D                   G             A          D
You'll say the world has come between us, our lives have come between us,
     G            A                 D          G     A
still I know you just don't care.


 
D                                  A               G                   D                    A
And I said what about Breakfast at Tiffany's, she said I think I remember
       G              D                            A              G              D         A
that film and as I recall I think we both kind of liked it, and I said well
               A                      G
that's the one thing we've got.


Guitar Solo


D                     G     A            D                  G             A             D            G
I see you're the only one who knew me and now your eyes see through me, I
         A          D           G        A
guess I was wrong.
D                         G        A            D           G             A                   D
So what now it's plain to see were over and I hate it when things are over
       G             A          D        G       A
and so much is left undone.




D                                  A               G                   D                    A
And I said what about Breakfast at Tiffany's, she said I think I remember
       G              D                            A              G              D         A
that film and as I recall I think we both kind of liked it, and I said well
               A                      G
that's the one thing we've got.






D                   G            A            D                 G            A            D
You say that we've got nothing in common, no common ground to start from,
        G      A       D          G     A
and we're falling apart.
D                      G          A          D                   G             A          D
You'll say the world has come between us, our lives have come between us,
     G            A                 D          G     A
still I know you just don't care.

#10: Easy Songs: Train - Drops of Jupiter

Down here are the Chords of Train, with Drops of Jupiter

Since we've talked about the tablature, I'll go ahead, give you guys a small practice, and give the chords in a Tablutare, instead of an Image. It also looks better so that's two plusses!

      C        G       F        D       Dm

-----0------3------1------3------1---
-----1------0------1------2------2---
-----0------0------2------3------3---
-----2------0------3------0------0---
-----3------2-----(3)-----------------
------------3-----(1)-----------------

You should try to play all the 6 notes of the F-chord. If you're not able to, don't play the notes that are between the brackets

C
Now that she's back in the atmosphere
G                                                 F
With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey
C
She acts like summer and walks like rain
G                                                           F
Reminds me that there's time to change, hey, hey
C
Since the return from her stay on the moon
G                                                                   F
She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey

G                                             D
Tell me did you sail across the sun
                                               F                               C
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated
G                                                  D
Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star
                                        Dm
One without a permanent scar
                                 
And did you miss me while you were looking at yourself out there

C
Now that she's back from that soul vacation
G                                                              F
Tracing her way through the constellation, hey, hey
C
She checks out Mozart while she does tae-bo
G                                                        F
Reminds me that there's time to grow, hey, hey
C
Now that she's back in the atmosphere
G                                                           F
I'm afraid that she might think of me as plain ol' Jane
Told a story about a man who is too afraid to fly so he never did land

G                                                            D
Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet
                                                   F                                 C
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day          
And head back to the Milky Way
G                                                   D
And tell me, did Venus blow your mind
                                                  Dm
Was it everything you wanted to find
                                 
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there

                               C
Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken
         G                                     F
Your best friend always sticking up for you even when I know you're wrong
                               C                                                G
Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance five-hour phone conversation
F
The best soy latte that you ever had . . . and me

G                                        D
Tell me did the wind sweep you off your feet
                                                   F                                C
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day
And head back toward the Milky Way


G                                             D
Tell me did you sail across the sun
                                                F                               C
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated
G                                                  D
Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star
                                        Dm
One without a permanent scar
                                 
And did you miss me while you were looking at yourself out there

#9: How to read guitar tabs? Part 1

Around me I'm hearing the question from some fellow guitar players how to read Guitar Tablature. Because I'm blogging now anyway, I decided to give a short tutorial on how to play Guitar Tabs.

This is how an empty guitar tab looks like:

|------------------------------------------------------------- 1st string  - e

|------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd string - B

|------------------------------------------------------------- 3rd string - G

|------------------------------------------------------------- 4th string - D

|------------------------------------------------------------- 5th string - A

|------------------------------------------------------------- 6th string - E

Now let's add some notes, giving us a simple Emajor chord, strummed once.

The numbers in the tab indicates a fret. So in given example you'll need to stroke all 6 strings.

|-------0----------------------------------------------------- 1st string  - e

|-------0----------------------------------------------------- 2nd string - B

|-------1----------------------------------------------------- 3rd string - G

|-------2----------------------------------------------------- 4th string - D

|-------2----------------------------------------------------- 5th string - A

|-------0----------------------------------------------------- 6th string - E

We continue adding a non-barré Gmajor chord

|-------0------3---------------------------------------------- 1st string  - e

|-------0------0---------------------------------------------- 2nd string - B

|-------1------0---------------------------------------------- 3rd string - G

|-------2------0---------------------------------------------- 4th string - D

|-------2------2---------------------------------------------- 5th string - A

|-------0------3---------------------------------------------- 6th string - E

So first we start of with an Emajor, then go with a Gmajor, and now we end up with an Amajor chord

|-------0------3------0---------------------------------------- 1st string  - e

|-------0------0------2--------------------------------------- 2nd string - B

|-------1------0------2--------------------------------------- 3rd string - G

|-------2------0------2--------------------------------------- 4th string - D

|-------2------2------0--------------------------------------- 5th string - A

|-------0------3---------------------------------------------- 6th string - E

When you want to play an A-chord, you 'll only need to play 5 strings, which the tablature also inducates, since no Fretnumber on the low E-string is given. Some tablatures will put up an X in their tabs if you don't need to stroke the string. So following tablature is exact the same.

|-------0------3------0---------------------------------------- 1st string  - e

|-------0------0------2--------------------------------------- 2nd string - B

|-------1------0------2--------------------------------------- 3rd string - G

|-------2------0------2--------------------------------------- 4th string - D

|-------2------2------0--------------------------------------- 5th string - A

|-------0------3------x--------------------------------------- 6th string - E

If you play the chords in our tablature, you'll notice we just tabbed  the well known 'Smoke on the Water' intro, by Deep Purple.

When you see a tab like this, you're required to stroke the strings óne by óne:

|--------------------------0----------------------------------- 1st string  - e

|----------------------0--------------------------------------- 2nd string - B

|------------------1------------------------------------------- 3rd string - G

|--------------2----------------------------------------------- 4th string - D

|----------2--------------------------------------------------- 5th string - A

|------0------------------------------------------------------- 6th string - E

This was part one! Part two comes later with some effects that are written in tabs like harmonic's, pull-off's etc. 

#8: Easy Songs: Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire

Down here are the chords for Ring of Fire, performed by Johnny Cash
All standard tuning, no Capo.

Chords Used

G C G
G D7 G

  G            C         G       G C G
Love is a burning thing
            D7        G     G D7 G
And it makes a fiery ring
                C         G    G C G
Bound by one's desire
                           D7     G
I fell down into a ring of fire

 D7            C                   G
I fell into a burning ring of fire
           D7                                   C                G
Went down down down and the flames went higher
                                      D7     G         D7      G
It burns burns burns that ring of fire that ring of fire

        G        C           G    G C G
The taste of love is sweet
                            D7   G   G D7 G
When hearts like ours meet
                    C       G    G C G
I fell for you like a child
                     D7          G
Ohhh but the fire went wild


 D7            C                   G
I fell into a burning ring of fire
           D7                                   C                G
Went down down down and the flames went higher
                                      D7     G         D7      G
It burns burns burns that ring of fire that ring of fire



 D7            C                   G
I fell into a burning ring of fire
           D7                                   C                G
Went down down down and the flames went higher
                                      D7     G         D7      G
It burns burns burns that ring of fire that ring of fire



        G        C           G    G C G
The taste of love is sweet
                            D7   G   G D7 G
When hearts like ours meet
                    C       G    G C G
I fell for you like a child
                     D7          G
Ohhh but the fire went wild



 D7            C                   G
I fell into a burning ring of fire
           D7                                   C                G
Went down down down and the flames went higher
                                      D7     G         D7      G
It burns burns burns that ring of fire that ring of fire



 D7            C                   G
I fell into a burning ring of fire
           D7                                   C                G
Went down down down and the flames went higher
                                      D7     G         D7      G
It burns burns burns that ring of fire that ring of fire

        D7      G
The Ring of fire

#7: Easy Songs: John Denver - Leaving on a Jetplane

Another classic song, also performed by John Denver:

Chords Used

Intro:

C / G (2x)

            G                              C

All my bags are packed I'm ready to go.

        G                      C

I'm standing here out side your door.

    G                      Am                    D7       

I hate to wake you up to  say good bye.

              G                            C

But the dawn is breaking it's early morn.

        G                         C                    

The taxi's waitin he's blowing his horn.

     G                 Am                    D7

Already I'm so lonesome I could die.

      G                  C             

So kiss me and smile for me.

  G                         C

Tell me that you'll wait for me.

  G                         Am             D7   

Hold me like you'll never let me go.

                  G     C                    G   

Cause I'm leavin on a jet plane. 

                            C                          G

Don't know when I'll be back again. 

        Am                D7

Oh, babe  I hate to go.

                 G                   C               

There's is many times I've let you down.

      G                    C  

So many time I've played around.

  G                 C                         D7

I tell you now they don't mean a thing.

            G                C

Every place I go I'll think of you.

          G                  C

Ev'ry song I sing I'll sing for you.

         G                        C                          D7

When I come back I'll bring your wedding ring.

 C                    G

Now the time come to leave you.

 G                    C    

One more time let me kiss you.

          G                    C                 D7        

Then close your eyes I'll be on my way.

G                         C

Dream about the days to come.

         G                      C

When I won't have to leave alone.

     G                C                      D7          

About the times I won't have to say...

      G       C                   G   

I'm leavin on a jet plane. 

                            C                          G

Don't know when I'll be back again. 

        Am                D7

Oh, babe  I hate to go.

Hope U enjoyed!

#6: Easy songs: Country Roads - John denver

We'll continue with this next easy song, called Take me home, by all-time-legend John Denver:
To play this song as in the original key, you're required to put a Capo on the 2nd fret. It's not necessary to play with a capo, the only effect It'll have is that if you're going to sing, you're required to sing two semi-tones lower, which is no biggie.

But since I haven't explained what a Capo is, I'ts time for it now I suppose!

A capo is a device used on the neck of a guitar to shorten the lenght of playable strings, hence raising the pitch. A picture explains it.

Chords Used

Capo on Fret 2

G

 G                   Em
Almost heaven, West Virginia,
D                                    C               G
Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River.
                          Em
Life is old there, older than the trees,
 D                                          C                    G
Younger than the mountains, growin' like a breeze.

                                      D
Country roads, take me home,
            Em          C
To the place I belong:
               G                      D
West Virginia, mountain momma,
                C                    G
Take me home, country roads.

                             Em
All my mem'ries, gather 'round her,
   D           C                              G
Miner's lady, stranger to blue water.
                           Em
Dark and dusty, painted on the sky,
  D                                           C             G
Misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye.


                                      D
Country roads, take me home,
            Em          C
To the place I belong:
               G                      D
West Virginia, mountain momma,
                C                    G
Take me home, country roads.


 Em                               D                       G
I hear her voice, in the mornin' hours she calls me,
       C                                   G              D
The radio reminds me of my home far away.
          Em                    F
And drivin' down the road,
              C                 G                                       D
I get a feelin' that I should have been home yesterday,
      D7
yesterday.


                                      D
Country roads, take me home,
            Em          C
To the place I belong:
               G                      D
West Virginia, mountain momma,
                C                    G
Take me home, country roads.



                                      D
Country roads, take me home,
            Em          C
To the place I belong:
               G                      D
West Virginia, mountain momma,
                C                    G
Take me home, country roads.


                D                    G
Take me home, country roads.
                D                             G
Take me home, down country roads.

Good luck! And if you got any questions or want to have a video tutorial just ask me!

#5: Let's Rock! Basic Chords, Basic Song

So, we're all ready, set, and tuned up, but now what? Let's start out with the most used basic chords:

The numbers indicate the fingers position:

1. Index Finger
2. Middle Finger
3. Ring Finger
4. Small Finger

The strings with 'x'-mark on top means you won't have to stroke the certain strings. Remember to hold your fingers on the right position of the fingerboard, make sure every single string sounds nicely and sustains well.

The chords are both major and minor chords. Normally we learn guitar we'll play in the following keys:

• C-Major: C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am
• G-Major: G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em

Let's start out with playing the following song on the guitar while playing it as a background music on the computer. If you're a beginner, it'll definitely take some weeks before you master switching between the chords, but keep focussed, train a lot, and you'll be happy when you're able to do it!

Bob Dylan - Knockin' on Heavens Door

INTRO

G     D     Am

               

G     D     C  

G     D     Am

G     D     C

VERSE 1

 G        D                       Am

Mama take this badge off'a me

G        D             C   

I can't use it any more

G              D                  Am

It's getting dark to dark to see

G                     D                          C

Feels like I'm knocking on heavens door

Chorus:

G                      D                         Am

knock knock knockin on heavens door

G                      D                          C   

knock knock knockin on heavens door

G                      D                         Am

knock knock knockin on heavens door

G                      D                          C

knock knock knockin on heavens door

Solo:

G D Am

G D C

G D Am

G D C

Verse 2:

G        D                           Am 

Mama put my guns in the ground

 G     D                     C

I cant use them any more

G                        D                  Am

That cold black cloud is comin' down

G                     D                         C  

Feels like I'm knocking on heavens door

Chorus:

G                      D                         Am

Knock knock knockin on heavens door

G                      D                          C   

Knock knock knockin on heavens door

G                      D                         Am

Knock knock knockin on heavens door

G                      D                          C

Knock knock knockin on heavens door

G D  Am

G D  C

Cheers!

#4: Second Step: Guitar Attributes Necessary

So, We've bought our guitar, but we still need several attributes to start playing: They're listed down here:

A tuner

Obvious we need a guitar tuner, which can tune the guitar in the standard tuning (EADGBe), and optionally in other tunings. You can buy yourself (or if you already have one) a tuning fork, which is very good for your  absolute hearing, which by time developes the ability to tune by ear without using a tuning fork or a tuning device.

Or you can use the most used device for tuning; A electronic tuning device. Nowadays you can click most of the electrical tuning devices on the top of your guitar, turn it on, and due to the vibrations the device knows which string you're pulling. Very helpful tool for the beginning musician.

Electronic Tuning device

A standard

You also want your guitar to stay in good shape, that's why you should by a guitar standard (10~15$) There's pretty much nothing that could be wrong with a guitar standard, so just by a cheap one!

Plectrums

Lot's of players start out with playing with a plectrum. I personally have put it away quite quick. It depends if you want to make music with a lot of bright and hard tones. I like playing without one because of the feeling you can put into your strokes without one.

A thick plectrum on an electric guitar

That's it folks! Up to the next lesson!

#3: First Step: Buying a Second Hand Guitar

So; You're interested in playing the guitar, but you're not to sure about buying one? Or on a short budget? There are plenty of good  used guitars you can buy for a low amount of money that suit perfectly for beginners or early advanced players. In this tutorial I'll show you what the points of interests are when buying a second hand cheap guitar:

• The overall condition – Look the guitar over and make note of any obvious damage – guitars often take a bit of wear and tear and if its just small scrapes and scratches then the guitar will probably be fine. Look for rust also, not on the strings, but on the hardware that is holding the strings and the pickups. If there is any rust in these places, run, it is not worth it! What good is a guitar that may fall apart on you in the near future? Trust me – leave it alone.
• The neck of the guitar – the neck is important. Here are some areas to look at:
• Make sure that the neck is not warped or out of shape in any way.
• Excessive warped Guitar Neck

Excessive warped Guitar Neck

• Check the area where the neck joins to the body of the guitar – look for cracks where it may have been broken in the past.

• In the same fashion, check the area where the neck joins the head of the guitar.
• Check the action – Action is a word that describes how close the strings are to the fret board starting at the head of the guitar all the way down to the bridge. It is preferable to have the strings very close to the fret board as to make it easier to press them down (not so close that they are touching of course). If the strings are nice and close to the fret board all the way along, you would say that the guitar has a good action. Pictured right is a guitar with poor action. Notice that the strings sit quite far off the fret board. Guitars with poor action are harder to play and do not sound very good. You can fix the action on your guitar by taking it to a guitar technician, but it will cost you between $20 and $50.

Lots of Action

• Check the intonation of the strings. Intonation is a word that describes the accuracy of each individual note that the guitar can produce on any string. If the intonation is correct, every note on the guitar will be the correct pitch – If it is out, the guitar will be impossible to tune and it will sound horrible. To roughly check the intonation, play the E shape barre chord on each fret of the guitar. As you move towards the bridge of the guitar, you should hear the chord keeping its pitch – if not, the intonation is out, and you will need to get a guitar technician to work on the problem.
• If the guitar you are looking at is an electric, you must plug it in and see how it sounds through an amp. Ask the seller if you can play it through your amp and if you do not have one, ask someone if you can borrow his or hers. Try the following when testing an electric guitar through an amp:
• Turn the amp up to a fair volume level and then play with the volume and tone controls by turning them to full and then back to zero. Test the pickup selector by flicking its switch back and forth. Carefully listen to any sounds while doing these things. You are looking for scratchy sounds or clicks that might indicate old or worn electrics.
• Strum a single chord and while the chord is ringing start playing with the controls like before, still listening for scratches, clicks, or any other nasty sounds. Guitar technicians can fix these problems and most guitars need to service every 5 - 10 years. Just be aware of this fact or you could find yourself spending more money than you first intended.
• Check, the sound of the guitar – Before you buy, you want to know that the guitar sounds like it should. Once you have tested the guitar sound, go to a music store, and ask to play on a new model of that guitar. If possible, use a similar amplifier to the one that you tested the second hand guitar on, and see if you notice any BIG differences. There is a simple rule that I like to follow: If you are not happy with the guitar sound… Do not buy it!
• The most important thing to remember when shopping for any guitar is... Do not shop impulsively.
• A guitar is a major purchase and you want to get the right one. Leave yourself time to go away and think about the purchase. If you have doubts when checking out a guitar, you are probably better to leave it and hold out for something that better suits you.
• If you are new to the guitar and a little worried about testing guitar in public – do not worry. It is important to remember that you are not there to highlight your playing ability – you are there to discern whether your proposed buy is a good deal or not so just go for it.
• If you are still worried, take an experienced guitarist along with you when you are looking at a possible purchase. See if you can persuade a teacher or a friend – most musicians love to help newbies. Not only will they be able to offer helpful advice – they will be good moral support when it is time to pick up the guitar and test it out in public.

This is quite a list, but as mentioned before, buying a guitar is quite a big purchase, and you really want to have a good first guitar, so you'll help yourself a lot by reading and understanding this article!

#2:First Step: Buying a new Guitar

First of all, when you feel like playing the guitar, the first step obvious is buying a guitar. Here's a small guide to buying your first guitar:

First of all, I strongly recommend buying an Acoustic guitar instead of an Electrical. This because of the fact that if you start playing electric, you'll be able to make noise. Lots of noise. And as soon as you start making lots of noise the probability raises that you don't here mistakes.

So:

• Lot's of noise? --> Electric Guitar
• Making nice music, don't be deaf after two year playing, being the bomb at partys, good oppertunity to accompany yourself singing? --> Acoustic Guitar

That said, there are (simplified) two types of Acoustic Guitars: with Steel strings(better known as a Western Guitar), or one with Nylon strings (better known as Classical or Concert). You'll find out that the sound of a Western is much brighter, and the Classical are a lot more muffled. But first things first, it's much more easy to start out on a Classical , because of the preasure that's one the steel strings.

Comparison:

The left one is a Western Guitar, the right a Classical

So, that's the choice that's up to you!

Now, there are several guitars that require the standards for beginners. You really want to have a good-sounding guitar; look at it this way: If you've got a shitty stereo, It's no fun listening to Music. Or if you've got a shitty TV, it's much less fun watching. Or a shitty movie etc. etc. It's the same for guitars, If you've got a first guitar that doesn't sound good, you won't enjoy playing, because since you're a beginner it's hard to play,and the guitar isn't going to play a Bach-composition by itself. 

Anyhow, there are several guitars that are very good for beginners, you can pick yours by taking budget into account, and looking what kind of music you'd like to play, and search the forums a bit / asking here.

Classical Guitars:

• Yamah C40/C60/C70
• Lot's of Alhambra's

Western Guitars:

• Lot's of Yamaha's
• Lot's of Fender's
• Red Hill for low budget

If you're going to a guitar shop, there's nothing wrong with doing a bit of review on the Internet, so you know a bit about which model you're looking for. But in the end, if you want to buy a new one, let the guitar speak for you; And with that I don't mean looking at it's colour and shape, but how it sounds, how it plays for you. It should be fun to play it. And if it's fun to look at it that's nice, but not priority.

#1: Road to Playing Guitar Intro Post

Hiya!

Let me introduce myself first: I'm Maarten de Vries, a 21-year old student from the Netherlands, who decided to give blogging a shot.I've got several blogs at the moment, pretty much all in the experimental phase trying to see if it'll succeed. Besides playing the cards, playing the guitar is my hobby. I've started playing about 6 years ago. 'Cause tell me, what's more fun then playing the guitar and singing a song on a party?

I'll tell you: Playing the guitar and singing a song on a party, while nobody really knows you can play! Or while nobody knows that you can sing? Here's the beginning to the guide of Making Music a lá John Denver, Oasis, Coldplay, you name it! When you're done with this tutorial, you can do it all!

Who doesn't want to make music like John Denver?