I had my first guitar lesson last Tuesday, and it was pretty humbling how much seven years of instrumental training I’ve forgotten. High school music is not a professional education, no matter how good the program (ours was pretty damn good) so I was always able to get by on a minimum of practice and a very good ear, no matter how my teachers lectured me. Plus, renting and transporting a full-size bass violin is not a simple matter, so if I was playing it was at school.
Still, I thought I should have retained more of my theory and reading ability. My teacher patiently ran through the basics with me again, and I had to stop myself from trying to be a know-it-all before I’d even started working with him. We talked about what I wanted to get out of lessons, and after first telling him I wanted to shred like Eddie Van Halen, I told him I’d be happy to learn chords and passable rhythm guitar. He told me to make a CD of some songs I wanted to learn and we’d work on them in turn, so I put together a playlist on my iPod this evening to start.
In no particular order:
| The Eagles | Peaceful Easy Feeling | I have the Eagles Anthology guitar book, so this is a no-brainer. |
| The Dandy Warhols | Boys Better | I have loved the chord progression in this song forever. |
| Weezer | The World Has Turned and Left Me Here | Again, a great chord progression. |
| Wilco | Kamera | I don’t listen to Wilco a lot, but I do like this song. |
| U2 | Until the End of the World | I figured I should try at least one U2 song. |
| The La’s | There She Goes | A classic, and a solid rhythm part too. |
| R.E.M. | Texarkana | Can’t go wrong with REM. |
| R.E.M. | Radio Free Europe | Another good REM tune, and it’s a pretty simple chord progression. |
| The Stone Roses | Love Spreads | Love me some Stone Roses. |
| Sixpence None The Richer | Kiss Me | A beautiful acoustic song |
| The Cars | Just What I Needed | Oh, hell yes. |
| Stone Temple Pilots | Interstate Love Song | I love playing this on bass, and it’s full of meaty power chords. |
| The Sundays> | Here’s Where The Story Ends | pretty one-note, now that I listen to it |
| Matthew Sweet | Girlfriend | As much as I’d like to play the lead on this, I’ll be happy to learn the rhythm. |
| The Rolling Stones | Gimme Shelter | I need to learn some Stones, and this is my favorite tune. |
| The White Stripes | Fell In Love With A Girl | This is like Punk 101—guitar and drums. |
| The The | Dogs Of Lust | Eventually I’d like to learn this whole album. |
| The Police | De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da | This may be difficult, but I want to try it. |
| Neil Young and Crazy Horse | Cinnamon Girl | More meaty power chords. |
So far, I’ve got my muscle memory trained for the basic A, G, E and D chords, and I’m working on transitioning between them all fluidly. The D chord is a disaster for my meaty fingertips, like a game of Twister with the lights out, but I’ve got it down where there’s no more buzz on the frets. This evening I worked out the first verses of Boys Better and got the chord changes almost clean—except for that damn D chord. The fingertips on my left hand have a satisfying callous and a pronounced divot.
You may think I’m crazy, but ICAM with John Mayer that the guitar break in that Justin Timberlake song kicks all manner of ass.
See http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20171561,00.html
I’ve always gotten a bit of a tool-ish vibe from John Mayer, but I do think he’s a good guitarist. Which reminds me: I don’t see any blues in your list …
That’s an interesting way to go about it: have the student make a CD. It keeps your interest better than the sample songs they provide you in the typical instructional books. I’ve been playing a little more than usual lately as well. Also, I recently learned how to use GarageBand.
He is a remarkable guitarist, actually–and there are several songs of his I’d like to play. I think his stuff may be a little advanced for the n00b like me, though.
It’s funny you mention blues too, because I looked through my John Lee Hooker and Howlin’ Wolf collection, and I ultimately left it all out. We’re going to get into it, but right now I want to hit the main chords in some more melodic songs because I want to work on the transitions.