# What do you know how to play on the guitar? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 17, 2001, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795 "2001-08-17T19:33:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![orion007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@orion007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orion007)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795/21 "2001-08-17T21:33:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ich Bin’s \* > **Do bass players count? Or are we just ham-fisted monkeys?\** You read my thoughts. I’m proud of having learned “Schism” by Tool without having to use a tab 🙂 and I’m proud that I can play a piece of “Anesthesia” by Metallica (that I also learned without a tab). ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795/22 "2001-08-17T21:48:17Z")
Of course bass players count! Where would we be without the Bootsy Collinses and Stings of the world? ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795/23 "2001-08-18T02:03:24Z")
Most of the stuff I play is my own music…I don’t play other people’s stuff very often. I used to be very proud of my ability to play “Interstate Love Song” and “Pretty Penny” (both guitar parts in full) by Stone Temple Pilots. I also used to be able to play about half of “Classical Gas.” Now I can only play the first part. I can still play the STP tunes, but I haven’t done so in a while. Jman ---
**Author:** ![dentarthurdent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@dentarthurdent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dentarthurdent)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795/24 "2001-08-18T02:20:47Z")
hrm, I just learned “more than words” by extreme but my favorites are “long day” by matchbox 20 and “Girl” by The beatles. Incidentally, I don’t see anything wrong with learning songs from tab or chordpro. It enables me to learn and improvise a song which I am probably not good enough to do on my own. This is how I get better. It’s snobbery and elitism to deride someone for learning a song the “easy” way. ---
**Author:** ![warmgun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecccb3/32.png) [@warmgun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/warmgun)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795/25 "2001-08-18T03:08:00Z")
I fully agree with dentarthurdent. Start with places like [this](http://www.guitartabs.cc/home.php) and you’ll soon learn song structure (and a butt-load of chords) and you can eventually learn songs by yourself. Remember that these songs are submitted by the masses and are not always _exactly_ right. Let your ear be your guide. Try a search under ‘guitar tabs’ and you will find tons more sites like this. Also, you can find sites that have chords (how to make them, e.g. Bdim7) and even audio tuning wavs. Finally, try substituting barre chords when you can. It makes you more versitle, sometimes your playing will sound more like the original and it’s a LOT easier to ‘pick out’ a song using them. And practice. If _I_ can learn, anyone can. “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” To the OP: 'Little Dreamer" - Van Halen. ---
**Author:** ![Lady\_Juliet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cc9497/32.png) [@Lady\_Juliet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_Juliet)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795/26 "2001-08-18T03:22:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by orion007 \* > I’m proud of having learned “Schism” by Tool without having to use a tab 🙂 and I’m proud that I can play a piece of “Anesthesia” by Metallica (that I also learned without a tab). \*\* Heh, I can play the _beginning_ to Schism, and only because **orion** taught me! I can also play April 29, 1992 by Sublime and Rearraanged by Limp Bizkit (even though it sounds crappy ;)) On my sister’s guitar I can play… now get ready for this… **The Pink Panther Theme Song!!!** (insert whistling/applause here) Oh I can play Brain Stew by Green Day also. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795/27 "2001-08-18T04:14:05Z")
Poker, just flip it over, makes a great mobile card table. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795/28 "2001-08-18T04:18:12Z")
“Mood for a Day” — Steve Howe’s classical guitar solo from Yes’s album _Fragile_. And, yes, “Stairway to Heaven.” Not to mention the harmonic introduction and classical guitar riffs from “Roundabout.” And perhaps my favorite: the beginning of the slow movement from _Concierto de Aránjuez_ by Joaquín Rodrigo. ---
**Author:** ![hardygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@hardygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hardygrrl)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795/29 "2001-08-18T04:41:56Z")
Lots of Nirvana 🙂 So far, I have the intro to **Heart Shaped Box** down cold as well as **Scentless Apprentice** and **Love Buzz** Also **Supernova** by Liz Phair ---
**Author:** ![aenea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@aenea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aenea)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795/30 "2001-08-18T12:03:37Z")
Have you ever heard J.C. Mellencamp’s “Play Guitar”? Lemme give you some good advice, my son, justlearn to how play guitar. I personally don’t know how. But I’m sitting here listening to my SO ‘piddle around’ as he calls it, as he drinks morning coffee. There is something so **Damned!** sexy about a man playing guitar! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![demanton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@demanton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/demanton)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795/31 "2001-08-18T12:34:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hardygrrl \* > \*\*Lots of Nirvana 🙂 > > So far, I have the intro to **Heart Shaped Box** down cold as well as **Scentless Apprentice** and **Love Buzz** > Also **Supernova** by Liz Phair \*\* Nirvana is so fun to play, just about anything with that dropped D tuning is going to rock. Neil Young “Cinnamon Girl”, all of the other grunge stuff, Lots of RATM, even Eddie Van Halen on just about all of the “Fair Warning” album. ---
**Author:** ![GrandfatherTrout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@GrandfatherTrout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandfatherTrout)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795/32 "2001-08-18T14:03:09Z")
[hijack] > [@](#): > > _originally posted by **MrVisible** _ > **[hijack]GrandfatherTrout, if your name is a _Little, Big_ reference, you’re my new favorite poster.** Give that man a deck of cards! [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Spider\_Woman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Spider\_Woman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spider_Woman)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795/33 "2001-08-18T14:11:36Z")
(when I have calluses) knock-offs of “Suzanne,” “Mr. Bojangles,” and “Fire and Rain.” ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795/34 "2001-08-18T15:45:00Z")
I can play lots and lots of acoustic stuff. I can play _all_ of **Stairway** not just the first five chords or so that most hackers think qualifies them as “knowing how to play” the song. ANYway… I can do a passable version of Fleetwood Mac’s (really Lindsey Buckingham’s) **Never Going Back Again** though the one slide part gives me problems. Also, I enjoy playing **Birdhouse in Your Soul** (They Might Be Giants of course) which my GF can recognize with the opening chord and never fails to join in with the vocals. ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795/35 "2001-08-18T16:47:32Z")
> [@](#): > > There is something so Damned! sexy about a man playing guitar! Oh you said it, sister. I’m married to a musician. He noodles around the house a lot, and that’s cool. But when he’s on stage performing with his band…ohhhhhh my. Mr. Persephone is a truly awesome player. And he’s got that gravel-throated raspy blues voice. GrrrrrrrAARARAAAAR! 😃 I love to listen to my husband play “Orange Blossom Special,” Hellecasters-style. Oh, that just totally rocks. And his version of the Most Hated Request, “Freebird,” is outstanding. He hates it, but boy, does he ever play the s\*\*\* of it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ab097/32.png) [@Chum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chum)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795/36 "2001-08-18T19:26:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dentarthurdent \* > \*\*hrm, > I just learned “more than words” by extreme > \*\* That’s **insane**! I taught myself the intro (with the use of tabs) just two days ago! This is the first and only song, (well, part of a song, really) I’ve ever played on a guitar, and I am very proud of myself. My fingers are still in a great deal of pain - I have an acoustic. Man, I love “More Than Words”! ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795/37 "2001-08-18T20:01:44Z")
I have a real hard time with “more than words.” I know what I’m supposed to play, note- and chord-wise, but try as I might I can’t get the rhythm down, especially if I try to sing at the same time. If I ever get my guitar back, I’m going to keep trying until I can play that song! ---
**Author:** ![dentarthurdent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@dentarthurdent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dentarthurdent)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795/38 "2001-08-18T20:11:19Z")
I have to capo up to the third fret and drop my voice down because there’s no way I can reach some of those notes… I improvise the rhythm a bit, mine comes out more flowing and less stacatto. it’s 4/4 time so you can use a standard 4/4 strumming pattern. The best I’ve found is down, down, up, up, down, up. This pattern will work to improvise any 4/4 song. ---
**Author:** ![dentarthurdent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@dentarthurdent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dentarthurdent)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795/39 "2001-08-18T20:29:19Z")
[hijack] racinchikki, does your name imply that you race?, like to watch racing? if so, what type of racing? [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Simetra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Simetra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simetra)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2001, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795/40 "2001-08-18T21:28:16Z")
Lots of things. 🙂 My band, having played a “LOT” of covers, were huge fans of [the OLGA](http://www.olga.net). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-know-how-to-play-on-the-guitar/76795.md?page=3)