Teaching Myself Basic Acoustic Guitar in Self-Isolation

Cafe Society
1

Might as well put my time to good use, right?

I’m interested in getting to the point where I can play basic rhythm guitar (chords) for some simple songs. Basic criteria are:

I bought a Yamaha FGX800C dreadnought, as my hands are sort of big and I figured a 3/4 guitar would be a challenge.

I’m not fond of “Kum-Ba-Yah” and “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore.” I lean more towards 60s and 70s pop songs.

I’ve got your basic “Guitar for Dummies” books, so I have reference materials for fingering chords, etc.

While I play the electric bass a little bit, I’m a total chord dummy.

Any suggestions for learning methods, practice routines, or songs that are easy to learn and practice? I’m not trying to start a band…I just want to be the guy from whom John Belushi grabs the guitar and then smashes it into the stairway wall.

2

There are lots of song lyrics and chords here: https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/

So take an example, “La Bamba.” LA BAMBA CHORDS (ver 3) by Ritchie Valens @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com

That song is in C, which means you need C, F, G. Let’s suppose you’re not super comfortable with that F chord. Scroll down. Find “Transpose.” If I tap + and + again, it transposes it to D, G, A. If I hit -, -, I’m back to C, F, G. If I tap -, -, - it will put the song in A (A, D, E).

Note: When possible, you’re better off doing - instead of + for a few reasons. You can get a capo to span the fretboard. In the example of playing in A, you put the capo across fret three and now when you finger A, D, E (pretending the capo is the end of the strings), the sound coming out is C, F, G. Benefit 1: you can play with a recording and be in the same key. Benefit 2: It keeps the vocal in the same range, if that was where you were comfortable.

Many “piano songs” seem to be written in E flat, B flat, etc. because of piano tuning and play. That’s a drag on guitar. But if you have a capo and the software will transpose them, saving you even that step, you’re good to go.

Here’s a guy noodling around with “Crackerbox Palace,” trying to figure out where George et al may have set their guitars, capo-wise.

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I want to congratulate the OP. I myself learned to play the guitar during a solitary confinement when I had my foot in plaster for a month. I had started learning it several times before, but that month in bed allowed me to dedicate myself to the guitar completely. So, it’s a great idea really.

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[quote=“lobotomyboy63, post:2, topic:854921”]

There are lots of song lyrics and chords here: https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/

So take an example, “La Bamba.” LA BAMBA CHORDS (ver 3) by Ritchie Valens @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com

That song is in C, which means you need C, F, G. Let’s suppose you’re not super comfortable with that F chord. Scroll down. Find “Transpose.” If I tap + and + again, it transposes it to D, G, A. If I hit -, -, I’m back to C, F, G. If I tap -, -, - it will put the song in A (A, D, E).

Note: When possible, you’re better off doing - instead of + for a few reasons. You can get a capo to span the fretboard. In the example of playing in A, you put the capo across fret three and now when you finger A, D, E (pretending the capo is the end of the strings), the sound coming out is C, F, G. Benefit 1: you can play with a recording and be in the same key. Benefit 2: It keeps the vocal in the same range, if that was where you were comfortable.

Many “piano songs” seem to be written in E flat, B flat, etc. because of piano tuning and play. That’s a drag on guitar. But if you have a capo and the software will transpose them, saving you even that step, you’re good to go.

Here’s a guy noodling around with “Crackerbox Palace,” trying to figure out where George et al may have set their guitars, capo-wise.

[/QUOTE]

Good advice! I’m familiar with the site. I’m afraid it will be a few weeks before I can make reasonable use of it. I’m at the “need to learn three basic chords that actually allow me to play a song” stage right now.

Maybe a reasonable goal is to learn and practice a new chord each day? Or a couple each day? I’m a terrible vocalist, but I will be in a spare bedroom away from my wife. Maybe I can even sing (or hum) along.

5

Yep!
Key of D, that’s D, G, A. To add the minors for D: Em, F#m, Bm.
Key of G, that’s G, C, D. To add the minors for G: Am, Bm, Em.

Try practicing A and Am, and E, Em without using your index so that you can later barre them. That F#m is just a barred Em; the Bm is just a barred Am.

6

Just the sort of thing I was looking for!

I also appreciate suggestions for songs, e.g. “if you learn chords x, y, and z you can play songs a and b that were popular in the 60s.”

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I grabbed the sheet music on my piano that had two John Denver songs:

Sunshine on my shoulders
in Bb (ugh) but capo the 3rd fret and the chords are G, C, Am7, D7, Bm

Take me home country roads
in A, chords are A, E, E7, D, G, F#m

Bm and F#m are barre chords, might as well slay that dragon early on

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Once I figure out what a barre chord is. I’m a total newbie and my guitar arrives tomorrow.

9

Learn the music of Creedence Clearwater Revival. This is my basic suggestion for everyone who wants to start learning guitar and like 60s/70s pop. It will get you comfortable with basic strumming patterns, and simple open chords and the songs are simple enough that you will make tangible progress quickly, which psychologically is good for you.

Start with Who’ll Stop the Rain and Bad Moon Rising. Get those two down and move forward from there. Keep adding songs until you are bored with them, then branch out to other stuff.

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Moderator Action

Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society.

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The first song I learned to play rhythm and sing together on was Bob Dylan’s "You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere’. It’s an appropriate song for self-isolation since Dylan wrote it about his experience recuperating from a motorcycle accident. Super easy to strum: it’s just G-Am-C-G repeated, verse and chorus, for the entire song. You can start strumming each chord with 4 simple downstrokes, then mix up your strumming pattern, do more arpeggiated picking, and add in little fills and bass runs as you get better.

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Agree to this. I learned Bad Moon Rising (D, A, G) as one of my first songs. Leads to many others, like Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville (G, A, D). There are a lot of great songs with easy, basic chords. Another easy one to practice with is America’s A Horse With No Name - I think that one has only two chords.

The guy who sold me his acoustic guitar many years ago taught me a basic, beginners strumming pattern which I can’t forget (down, down, up…up, down, up…repeat).

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In the photo, see what the index finger is doing? It spans all six strings.

I’ve seen “barre” and “bar.” They take some time to master because you have to clamp down some, plus you need some callus on that finger. But they can be simplified, too, for beginners. The same chord from above, simplified.

https://images.app.goo.gl/aZ7DBZB3rfpJEhzc6

X X at top means not to strum those strings.

A few songs to nominate for your canon:

Frere Jacques=1 chord, any major, good for practicing keeping the beat and strumming

Montego Bay (2 chords for most of song…can you whistle and play?)
Twist and Shout
La Bamba

Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)-requires 3 majors and a minor

https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/bobby-bloom/montego-bay-chords-1050589
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Youtube Steve Stine. Marty Music or Justin Guitar. If you get past the Buy my Method stuff there’s some beginner lessons that can really help. I’d also recommend you learn not just chords but some basic solo stuff and basic music theory. It really adds to your playing and knowing your way around the fretboard.

CAGED is another method you might want to look into.

I know it all seems like a lot but just having an awareness of what’s possible opens possibilities.

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I have seen La Bamba mentioned a couple of times, and I am of two minds on it.

On the one hand, the chords are relatively open and if you learn the chords to La Bamba you can play like 20 other songs. On the other hand in the Key of C (like Ritchie Valens played it) it’s got an F in it, which is a notoriously difficult chord for new players. Back to the first hand, if you transpose to A ( A|D|E|D repeat forever instead of C|F|G|F) it’s got much more beginner friendly chords and is a good song for practicing quick fingering changes. BUT the rhythm of it is also very tricky for a beginner. You have to push the change to the G (or E if in the key of A) ahead of the beat AND you are splitting the measure already anyway*. It’s a bit like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time for a new player. ALL that said La Bamba was the song that gave me my first AH HA moment when I was learning to play guitar (Jesus 26 years ago??) so I’ll say I cautiously support the idea. You have to be sort of zen about your strumming to get the feel just right and that’s probably a good thing to learn to be. It’s also a super useful technique. Just so long as ZonexandScout realizes that it might be a little frustrating at first.

*Ok so what I mean here. The song is in 4/4, so four beats to a measure. We would count them normally 1234, but for our purposes here we will count like it’s 4/8 and cound 1+2+3+4. So you play (in C) the C chord on 1+2+ then the F chord on 3+4 then instead of continuing to play the F chord on the + and moving to the G on the 1 of the new measure you push the change and play the G on the +1+2+ then F again on 3+4+. Then back to C for the 1 of the new phrase.

You strum this © Down- down up (F)down up down (G)up up down up (F) down up down up (back to the start/repeat forever) The - in the C is an 1/8th note rest (you aren’t playing on that +) but the G has two up strums back to back with no rest, which is also sort of tricky. Lot of tricky stuff in La Bamba. It’s also really hard to discuss it in this format it turns out.

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I started a thread here a couple of years ago when I bought my guitar. Then I sat on it for a while before finally picking it up during Labor Day weekend last year. I still don’t play barre chords, as I am happy learning more songs without them. I also sing while I learn, so it’s challenging enough. But I now know enough to put on mini-concerts, as I know about 10 songs by heart at any given time. It’s amazing how quickly you learn if you just pick the damn thing up every day (and have YouTube at your disposal). I also took a few long breaks of 2-3 weeks. Somehow, the breaks seemed to make me come back better (after a couple of days).

17

I started a thread here a couple of years ago when I bought my guitar. Then I sat on it for a while before finally picking it up during Labor Day weekend last year. I still don’t play barre chords, as I am happy learning more songs without them. I also sing while I learn, so it’s challenging enough. But I now know enough to put on mini-concerts, as I know about 10 songs by heart at any given time. It’s amazing how quickly you learn if you just pick the damn thing up every day (and have YouTube at your disposal). I also took a few long breaks of 2-3 weeks. Somehow, the breaks seemed to make me come back better (after a couple of days).

18

And that’s true!

One handy thing about being a huge Beatles/British Invasion fan is that SO many songs were just I-IV-V-vi progressions.

Sorry, C-F-G-A minor. (I was speaking Music Theory!..)

I know nothing about music, can’t read sheet music, but since I like math, I learned some music theory. It really helps… for instance, that transposing stuff the second post was talking about will become automatic. So you can say “This is in C, so it’ll be C, F and G chords. Man, I hate that F chord, so I’ll bump it up a step to the key of D: D-G-A, easy peasy!” Or “I can’t hit that high note, so I’ll drop it down to key of A: A-D-E. Equally peasy!”

And a lot of fun songs keep it simple: someone mentioned Green Day… look at all that energy and meaning packed into three chords! But it’s always going to be the I-IV-V (or to sound even more pedantic, call it the tonic, sub-dominant and dominant).

By the way, that basic theory was enough to get me into a band, where I learned that singing sincerely over three basic chords meant more than blistering solos or prog-rock key changes and 7-note chords… There’s this Genesis song we thought about, but when I saw it was Bmaj9#11 to G#maj7/A then Bbm7b5… I didn’t even try.

I’ve been meaning to dust off the acoustic, sit out on the porch and serenade the neighborhood with three chords and some good ol’ early Lennon/McCartney optimism… but I’m shy. You do it, ZonexandScout!

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The John Prine songbook will hook you up with a lot of options.

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You gonna use a pick or finger pick? If pick, hold it with thumb and index only, and keep strumming hand/wrist loose. Don’t worry about making all the strings ring when playing chords. Learning to bar(re) is eventually necessary, but you can play the F and not getting every stupid string to ring is no tragedy. (Plus, the C to F is a very pretty transition). When you first get ready to do your first complete CCR or Denver or Dylan song, you gotta keep strumming to keep the integrity of the song. As you play, you’ll get better.
I am in the throes of getting Badfinger’s Baby Blue parts down, and it has been work (thankfully, I love the song). But I find if I do a little bit EVERY DAY, I get nearer and nearer to nailing it. You may not notice improvement one day to the next, but you’ll get pleasantly surprised a day or two later that Hey, I got it!!
Make sure you’ve got a Snark or some such tuner.
Good luck and Rock On!!!