guitar song recommendations

Posted by Altinure

ok, i got serious in the guitar about a month ago, so i basically just started playing a month ago. i'm running out of songs to play. i want to play popular songs (as in i've actually heard them before) that consist primarily of power chords (because the other types of chords are still too difficult for my fingering).

to give you an idea of what i can play well now to determine my skill level:
blink 182 - "all the small things"
kelly clarkson - "since u been gone" (holla!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahaha)
the all american rejects - "swing swing"
the ramones - "blitzkrieg bop"
green day - "american idiot"
fountains of wayne - "stacy's mom"
the strokes - "12:51"
white stripes - "fell in love with a girl"
beck - "e-pro"
smashing pumpkins - "1979"
the stills - "still in love song"
(these songs are really easy for me)

the darkness - "i believe in a thing called love" (i struggle on the solos still)
fall out boy - "sugar we're going down" (the tons of palm muting is difficult for me still)
white stripes - "blue orchid" (too fast for me to switch chords well)
the strokes - "last night" (i have trouble keeping rhythm in this song)
my chemical romance - "i'm not okay" (again with the speed thing)
sum 41 - "fat lip" (i can do the the intro and verse riffs really well, but the pre-chorus and chorus i suck at. the interlude i can't do at all).
(these songs are difficult for me, but i can still play them)

all of these songs are lead guitar, by the way.

any suggestions? i'm not sure if i'm progressing fast in a month, but i do prefer to play punk music because it's easier, haha.

Posted by G-Sides

Dude,

"Where Is My Mind?" by The Pixies
"Falling For You" by Weezer
"Dope Nose" by Weezer

Those were the three I practiced with when I was trying to get better at my power chord skills.

Posted by Richaod

Four-bar chords are just horrible.

Try the Smells Like Teen Spirit solo; it's insanely easy. Even better, try playing it on the first four frets and open alone.

Black Sabbath is pretty easy stuff too, especially Paranoid and songs like that.

Posted by Altinure

are four-bar chords like:

1
2
3
3
1
1

because yeah, i can't do those at all. my pointer finger always arches, and doesn't fully push down the e string, and i also mute that string with my pinky finger.

Posted by Bj Blaskowitz

dude I refuse to believe that you learned those songs (Darkness!?!? WTF) in one month.

Posted by Klarth

I think he said something like he'd been playing guitar for a while, and I saw a "I got my first amp today" or something. I could be wrong

Posted by Altinure

yes, i have been playing since about april, but i didn't really start until summer vacation because i didn't have much time to practice during school.

i dunno, "i believe in a thing called love" is really easy. it's just power chords. the song consists of the same riff over and over, then a pre-chorus, chorus, and then three solos. the solos are hard for me though (especially the last one. way too hard). i still mess up on the chorus occasionally because i'm not awesome at switching chords that fast. and of course, it's not like all the songs sound amazing when i play them. i'm still a newbie and my fingers slip and i mute things on accident sometimes, haha.

this is the tab i use for "i believe in a thing called love:
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/d/darkness/i_believe_in_a_thing_called_love_tab.htm

it's not too hard.

Posted by TheSecondComing

Quoting Altinure: are four-bar chords like:

1
2
3
3
1
1

because yeah, i can't do those at all. my pointer finger always arches, and doesn't fully push down the e string, and i also mute that string with my pinky finger.

Four bar chords tend to be simplistic chord playing rhythm. Play C four times, play A four times, etc. Richaod is saying they're horrible because he's a music snob who looks down upon classic rhythms.

You seem to be talking about barre chords. I remember there being a useful tutorial on Cyberfret ([url]www.cyberfret.com[/url]) - although I taught myself how to play full form power chords, so I can't swear by it. Try using more and more fingers gradually when playing power chords, for eg:

4
2

Then one day try playing it with your pinkie, as

4
4
2

Then play the power chord on all the four low strings, using your middle finger for the G string

3
4
4
2

Then after practicing for a while, it's simply a matter of slightly shifting your grip so you can play the full

2
2
3
4
4
2

with your index finger.

Just practice more. You've come a long way already.

Posted by sabre

Smoke on the Water's pretty easy from what I gather. Not hard on bass at all, and guitar doesn't sound too adventurous.

Posted by auzzman5151

Anything bye the White Stripes. Most of its based on low E or they also use a lot of blues scales.

Posted by Richaod

Quoting TheSecondComing: Four bar chords tend to be simplistic chord playing rhythm. Play C four times, play A four times, etc. Richaod is saying they're horrible because he's a music snob who looks down upon classic rhythms.

Hah, classic rhythms. That's a good one. But really, playing notes to the beat of "1, 2, 3, 4" in a song with four beats in a bar seriously doesn't contribute anything. It's like...

"Whoa, we can't make the effort to write a countermelody, so we'll just put in four-bar chords and our commercially oriented music will lose even more elements of skill, further simplifiying our "music" for the simple minds of our gullible audience. Even better, we won't make them chords, just single notes!!1!one."

Except not that long a statement.

Also, Altinure obviously wants to develop skills, and even if he plays four-bar chords for the rest of his life straight, he won't necessarily increase his guitar skills very much. Unless he plays them at Slayer speeds or something like that, but that won't help his soloing or any attempts to play even the rhythm guitar lines of half-decent songs.

Posted by Fei-on Castor

Get the album "Master of Puppets" by Metallica.

Hey, Altinure, talk to me on MSN or AIM sometime (both in my profile). I might have a few tips that can help you.

Posted by Arwon

Try Talking Heads' "Road To Nowhere". Guitarwise, it's two chords and still awesome.

Posted by TheSecondComing

Quoting Arwon: Try Talking Heads' "Road To Nowhere". Guitarwise, it's two chords and still awesome.

About a Girl by Nirvana is also like that. If you're into the two-chord bounce.

Posted by Creature

I have been playing guitar for a year and still I can't play that many songs. I don't belive that you could learn all of those songs in one mouth

Posted by Ch

Learn "Plush" by Stone Temple Pilots. Very Easy, you shouldn't trouble with it.

Posted by Altinure

Quoting Creature: I have been playing guitar for a year and still I can't play that many songs. I don't belive that you could learn all of those songs in one mouth

ok, but they really aren't hard. all the songs i listed consist of pretty much only power chords, and if you think power chords are difficult after a year, maybe you're just bad? :rainbow:

i'm sure some of the good players here can easily back me up in saying those songs are not difficult at all.

Posted by TheSecondComing

Quoting Creature: I have been playing guitar for a year and still I can't play that many songs. I don't belive that you could learn all of those songs in one mouth

I am a strong believer in a 'guitar growth spurt' theory. I played guitar for two years and was bad the whole way through, then, in my third year, without lessons, I suddenly became good in the space of a month. Altinure probably went through that growth spurt before he even picked a guitar up.

Posted by Shin_Akuma

Learn Concerto >_>

Posted by Richaod

Quoting Shin_Akuma: Learn Concerto >_>

Anyway, why not the entire 9 minutes of Speed Metal Symphony off by heart? He can play both guitar parts at the same time on a single string if he's good enough.

I recommend getting the program Guitar Pro 4 and going to [url]www.mysongbook.com[/url] - it's got tabbed versions of so many songs. Half the tracks from Octavarium even popped up within a week of the album's release.

Posted by MetalVox~55

Anything from Opeth is a great great great rhythm booster. I know it seems like i'm stuck on Opeth, but their guitar work is quite impressive enough.