Tag Archive | "Folk Songs"

Folk Guitar Songs and How They Help You Learn Guitar


Ricky Sharples asked:


Sometimes trying to learn guitar is compared to learning a new language but this is really not true. You can’t start off learning a language with the shortest words or the funniest phrases but an easy way to learn guitar songs is by starting with the ones you most like and the songs with the simplest chords.

So what is the best way to get a collection of guitar songs to learn? There are plenty of books available for you to buy on line or at your local music store that contain anthologies of guitar songs belonging to a wide range of musical genres. The trick is to use your own tastes as a guide only – but not to make the final choice.

An anthology of folk songs containing numbers like Nine Hundred Miles, Where Have All The Flowers Gone?, Worried Man Blues, Little Boxes, Foggy Foggy Dew and Clementine may be too old fashioned for your musical tastes but the muscles responsible for changing chords aren’t going to know about that.

Collections of folk songs are compiled by guitar instructors who are following a plan of learning groups of chords over time using several songs. This enables a guitar student to get used to chord changes involving a definite number of chords before moving onto another group. For example the song This Land Is Your Land may not be one of your favorites but it’s a great way to learn the chords G, C and D.

If you start your collection of guitar songs with songs that you personally are fond of you may be making your progress as a guitar player more difficult than it needs to be. With a collection of easy folk guitar songs that have been chosen with the gradual introduction of the guitar to a student in mind, you have teaching material that will get you playing the songs you like in a short amount of time.

Using easy guitar songs in this way might diminish the enjoyment of learning the guitar a little but it won’t put unnecessary obstacles in your way. So you still get to have fun while you learn guitar without risking becoming disillusioned with yourself as potential guitar player.

If you can choose a collection of easy guitar songs, your learning experience will be much more enjoyable if you can then find on YouTube some free video clips of guitar players performing some of the songs you’ve chosen. Failing that you can look for audio of the songs to buy or borrow. Whatever you do is don’t belittle the collections of easy guitar songs that you see online or in the stores. They may not have lasting interest for you but they will help you to learn guitar.



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Acoustic Guitar For Beginner – How To Choose Your First Guitar


The kind of music you want to perform have to be your main concern when getting an acoustic guitar for beginner. You will also take into account the kind of individual you are and of course your budget. Fortunately, guitars are quite cheap comparing to other instruments. Check out the price for a piano or a drum set and you will see. A nylon-string classical guitar is best suited for playing classical, Latin and some kinds of folk and pop music. Rock, bluegrass, and other kinds of pop and folk songs work better on a guitar with steel strings.For beginning guitar players, it’s suggested to perform the various types before making a final decision as to what sound you prefer.

Numerous teachers suggest a guitar with nylon strings as a first acoustic guitar for beginner. The reason is that those strings are not so hard on the guitarist’s fingertips. This isn’t always the best recommendation, because not everyone wants to perform the sort of music that a nylon-string guitar produces. Some want to perform like a rock star, or simply don’t love the tone that comes from a nylon-stringed guitar.

If you wish to learn to play music made by steel strings then the evident choice is a steel-string guitar. You’ll eventually develop calluses on your fingers after about one to two months of steady practice.If, in spite of this, you want to study classical music, don’t be enticed by a steel string guitar.

A classic guitar is considered classic because the dimensions are similar. So, keep that in mind if that’s the sort of guitar you are in the market for. Their bodies are smaller and their fingerboads wider, which produces a unique classical sound. It is the feel and the tone to these classical guitars that varies. As is true when buying any guitar, you need to try out several of them before deciding the acoustic guitar for beginner that you are going to purchase.The steel-string model of acoustic guitar for beginner that people usually start out with is the six-string dreadnought guitar. There is only a slight variation between dreadnought guitars and they provide a sound that beginners are often looking for.

The wood your trainee acoustic guitar is made of is important as it will influence the tone of the sound the instrument makes. A spruce top is the most common for an acoustic guitar for beginner. Make sure your new guitar has a solid spruce top rather than a two-piece one. A solid top is long-lasting. Your choices of wood for the back and sides will likely include mahogany, rosewood and spruce. If you want a lighter tone, look for guitars that have back and sides of mahogany. You will get a heavier tone from a guitar that features rosewood back and sides.

The “action” is the term for the area between the neck and the strings. When getting an acoustic guitar for beginner, another thing you wish is a fairly low action. An action that is too high it can be a distraction and a hindrance to learning.

While you are out getting an acoustic guitar for beginner, you will want to pick up a decent electronic tuner at the same time. As a novice you have not yet developed an ear. If you can tune your acoustic guitar for beginner quickly, you will have more time to perform, which is really what the beginner wants to do.

Simon Mourrain has been a guitar player for over 10 years. Visit his website http://acousticguitarforbeginner.info and get a HUGE head start on your Acoustic guitar for beginner learning. Click Acoustic guitar for beginner to find free videos as well as information on guitar theory.

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