first songs you learned

Wonderwall...lolz.
I'm ashamed to admit it tho.

Then I learned a bunch of CCR. Its easy and mostly simple chords.

 

Damn you craiggers!

I was gonna say, don't learn wonderwall ha.

Hmm I'm struggling to what I first learned.

Try looking up 3 chord songs on google I remember starting there.

 

don't even learn songs.

learn chords and the notes on the strings and scales.

give yourself a month or two doing that and you'll be able to learn songs in a min.

 

^this

Its more important to learn the fundamentals of notation and chords rather than just looking up the tabs.

Practice scales and arpeggios daily,
get into a warm-up routine before you play,
make an effort to remember the names of scales and chords etc.

Best way to learn an instrument is to know as much as possible about it, and then apply all you have learned to it.

Makes the learning gap less of a hassle imo.

 

Barre chords is just about practise. Your hands will harden up and you'll be able to push down harder. You gotta push down hard man.

Also, learn the minor 7th chords if your doing barre. Jazzy as fuck ha

 

One by Metallica

 

There's another way to playing bar chords that's easier on your hands. I'll try to demonstrate it with this diagram.

E A D G B E
X-X-X-X-X-X
T-|-| -|-I =I <-- The = means those 2 notes are barred by your index finger
|-|-| -M-| -|
|-R-P-|-| - |

The letters match which finger pushes down on each fret. T is for your thumb. It feels kind of weird pushing down on the low E string with your thumb, but if your hand is big enough to do it, it puts a lot less stress on your hand.

I dunno if I've explained this well, I'm pretty high...

First song I learned was Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver. Really, just look up three chord songs, and practice your scales more. Also, practice both when you're high and when you're sober.

Most importantly, have fun, my friend. Music is an incredible journey from the start, to the finish. It always takes you to new places, too. Enjoy!

 

Oh yeah, if your hand isn't big enough to play bar chords like that, you can always play them like this until you have the strength to play bar chords:

X-X-x-x-x-x <-- make sure you mute the lowest two strings (as in don't strum them)
| -|- |-|- I=I <-- again the bar with your index finger
| -|- |-M-|-|
| -|- R-|-|-|

 

No problem, man. Once you get better you can just think of those three ways of playing bar chords as different voicings, and you can play around with switching between them. Guitar is lots of fun, and it only gets more fun as you improve. I reccomend playing music with any friends you may have who play instruments as soon as you feel comfortable enough on guitar. This helps a lot to improve your playing, and sharing music with others is like a whole different world when you first try it.

I just made a band with a friend of mine who plays mandolin, and it's been really sunny lately in Toronto, so we just go to a park, blaze, and then jam. Every time we've gone out people have stopped and listened and talked to us. I've even made some new friends!

As for the exercise book, if you prefer something physical that would be a good idea, but there are also plenty of great resources on the internet for free. Good idea if money's a problem, too. Here's a good pdf on practicing scales if you're interested: http://www.creativeguitarstudio.com/pdf_docs/how_to_practice_scales/how_to_practice_scales.pdf

Have fun, friend!

 

Church music which was just basic chords and the old two down two up strum. That's was 40 years ago when I was in 5th grade. Bought a new strat in '79 and had that heavy-ass stick since. Started mandolin 2 years ago and really enjoy that too. I like old blues and it turns out mandolin was fairly common in a lot of the old black blues. After 40 years and everyday practice I even know a few chords.

Anyhow, my guitars are like my dogs - always there for me no matter what happened that day. I'll probably be the old geezer pickin' his mando on the front porch watching life some day. Could be worse I guess

 

Eleanor Rigby and Hey Jude by the Beatles and Time by Pink Floyd were the first songs I sang when I wanted to start singing. Three years later and I'm majoring in voice in college.

 

The first song I learned how to play on the guitar was "Older" by They Might Be Giants.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdIRrmNN_CQ]Older - They Might Be Giants (official video) - YouTube[/ame]

It doesn't get any easier.

 

Barre cords and power chords FTW!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDt2ARaQ1ak]Best Coast - When I'm With You - YouTube[/ame]

 

My cousin taught me how to play "Sad But True" from Metallica on his guitar. A year later when i got my own guitar, the first song i taught myself to play was "What's My Age Again?" from Blink182.