need some easy-to-learn guitar songs

[kyzen]

I bought an electric guitar 2 months ago and suck almost as bad now as i did before I bought it. All that's changed is I've learned to pluck out a few christmas songs, and the intros to a few popular songs. I can barely play a chord (most seem to involve bending my fingers in seemingly impossible ways), and am starting to lose interest.

So, in hopes of not letting my $200 investment go to waste, can anybody suggest a few easy to learn songs that are relatively fun - i.e. no more "happy birthday" or christmas jingles. The easier and fewer the chords the better 😛

 

[Wag]

Learn the basic open blues chords and that will take you far.

E, A and Bb7 are a good place to start.🙂

 

[RagingBITCH]

Any Nirvana song. 🙂 All bar chords. You really should learn to play the "regular" chords and practice based off that though.

 

[Wag]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Any Nirvana song. 🙂 All bar chords. You really should learn to play the "regular" chords and practice based off that though.

What are "regular" guitar chords?

Once he learns how to play open chords then he can learn how to bar them to any key. 1 step at a time my friend...

 

[BoldAsLove]

learn regular chords then train your fingers to get bar chords. Most songs are based off bar chords, although they will take awhile to learn

 

[kyzen]

care to define "bar" chords? i'm a musical newb...

 

[SWScorch]

try to learn the picked intros to songs... Metallica has some good ones: Enter Sandman, Sanitarium, One. Learn the G chord (really easy and sounds great) and the C chord (I think they're the 2 most popular chords and not too difficult) and work with strumming and switching between those two. Learn some Green Day songs (ridiculously easy [ well maybe not at first] and fun to play). Smoke on the Water and Iron Man are really good beginner songs too.

I believe a bar chord is when you hold down a number of strings on the same fret with the same finger. So you're holding down, say, 4 strings on fret 3 with your index finger. I think.

 

[imported_Lucifer]

when i first started, i just played. i dont know jack about scales or bar chords or whatever. I just play. 🙂

Easy song to play, one of the first I learned were Burzum-War and Dimmu Borgir-Metal Heart.

 

[kyzen]

Originally posted by: SWScorch
try to learn the picked intros to songs... Metallica has some good ones: Enter Sandman, Sanitarium, One. Learn the G chord (really easy and sounds great) and the C chord (I think they're the 2 most popular chords and not too difficult) and work with strumming and switching between those two. Learn some Green Day songs (ridiculously easy [ well maybe not at first] and fun to play). Smoke on the Water and Iron Man are really good beginner songs too.

I believe a bar chord is when you hold down a number of strings on the same fret with the same finger. So you're holding down, say, 4 strings on fret 3 with your index finger. I think.

G is kicking my ass right now; it's the primary chord used in Sublime's "Rivers of Babylon" i believe but I can't seem to get all the strings held down without also blocking the 3rd string. Any tips?

 

[kogase]

I like the the Paganin's 5th Caprice transcription that's pretty popular on the internet for beginners. It gives you good fingering and stretching practice that doesn't feel like a tedious scale exercise (that is, it's music).

 

[Wag]

Learn how to play rhythm man, it will take you far then learn how to play runs (individual notes).

I am telling you, blues chords are the basic chords for all that stuff. All those metal guys know how to play blues backwards and forwards.

 

[SWScorch]

Originally posted by: kyzen

G is kicking my ass right now; it's the primary chord used in Sublime's "Rivers of Babylon" i believe but I can't seem to get all the strings held down without also blocking the 3rd string. Any tips?

How are you trying to finger it? I use index finger for 2nd fret, 5th string, middle for 3rd fret, 6th string, and ring for 3rd fret, 1st string. You have to really arch your index and middle fingers so they rise vertically from the neck and don't contact any other strings. Tricky at first, but you get used to it once you build finger strength. It helps to lower your hand on the neck to you can arch your fingers more.