Guitar Songs for Girls - Tilted Forum Project - TFP - Sexuality, Philosophy and Political Discussion

Musikislove22 · 07-16-2008, 01:45 PM

Heyy...so i just started learning guitar about a week ago and i can play chords and read guitar tabs but i really just need an easy song to learn. This guy is teaching me to play and hes coming over this weekend and i sort of want to impress him. lol

Any suggestions??

vanblah · 07-16-2008, 01:50 PM

What kind of music do you like?

Baraka_Guru · 07-16-2008, 01:50 PM

I've seen a lot of girls do some amazing covers of Beatles songs on acoustic guitars. There are some easy ones out there, even for beginners. Check YouTube by doing a search for "Beatles cover" and you'll find lots of girls doing these.

If you can do barre chords already, try learning "And I Love Her." You could change the lyrics to "And I Love Him."

It's a nice slow song with only a few chords and an easy enough picking part and solo, though it does lend best to at least a duet. You can figure our a single arrangement, I'm sure.

Many other songs in the Beatles category, but I'm biased; I'm a Beatlemaniac!

Musikislove22 · 07-16-2008, 02:08 PM

hah...which is fine by me i love the beatles! and i tried doing a barre chord when my friend was over and i just couldnt do it. lol...i guess i didnt press down hard enough and when i did i couldnt get my other fingers to do what i wanted.

oh and i like any kind of music really...just not country. lol

ratbastid · 07-16-2008, 02:15 PM

Barre chords take practice. It's not a natural position for your hand and finger, and it feels weird to press all the strings with the side of your first finger like that. Keep working on them and building strength in that hand. I know guitarists who "can't" do barre chords only because when they were first learning they decided that they couldn't.

Musikislove22 · 07-16-2008, 02:18 PM

well i definately wanna learn to do them...i guess i'll just have to practice them more =]

i'll do finger exercises to strengthen my finger. lol

Baraka_Guru · 07-16-2008, 02:37 PM

Try "I Should Have Known Better" by The Beatles. It should be pretty easy for you. Same with "A Hard Day's Night."

Fly · 07-16-2008, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Musikislove22

i'll do finger exercises to strengthen my finger. lol

this helps...........touch each of your fingers individually to your thumb....and press them hard together for 10 secs.......do each one on either hand too.....many times a day.

works wonders for barre chords.......

good luck to you.........

SSJTWIZTA · 07-16-2008, 08:31 PM

try something by Kimya Dawson or the Moldy Peaches.

that all the advice my drunk ass has to offer

Martian · 07-16-2008, 11:20 PM

So I've been pointed here. I'm assuming you're working on an acoustic.

Barre chords take a while to get down. It is all about finger strength; Fly's exercise should help, but even without it all you need to do is keep practice. You'll naturally develop the finger strength you need as you go. If you're impatient, you can definitely follow Fly's advice (which, as usual, is spot on) or you can grab a grip trainer and use that. The Gripmaster ones are best for musicians, since they work each finger individually and won't allow your pinky to slack off.

In terms of songs, I think what you're looking for in particular is a category that I tend to think of as three chord songs; songs that are literally just three chords in open position. A few good examples:

Bob Seger - Night Moves
Tom Petty - Free Fallin'
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bad Moon Rising
Barenaked Ladies - What A Good Boy
Barenaked Ladies - Be My Yoko Ono (actually four, but close enough)

You'll need a capo to play some of those in the same key as the original version.

CCR also does Down On the Corner, which has a riff through the verses and chords in the chorus (specifically F, G and C). The Beatles have a bunch of good stuff too, as Baraka_Guru pointed out. A lot of their early material was based on a 12 bar blues progression, and if you learn that a lot of it will become available to you (along with a bunch of Elvis, Chuck Berry and a lot of other artists from that general timeframe).

If you want a song specifically by a female singer, you can look at Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin. (which was a Dylan song originally, incidentally). It's a little more complicated in that there's a few different chord variations, including seventh chords. It's not terribly complicated anyway and the strumming is easy as all get out.

I can't recommend songs specifically for you to sing, because that will depend on your voice as much as anything else. Regardless, there ought to be something here to get you started.

I may come back with more when I haven't just worked a late shift.

ngdawg · 07-17-2008, 11:28 AM

Probably the easiest guitar tune in the world to play is Horse With No Name by America. It consists of two chords, Eminor (two strings, one fret) and D, altho I played it with Eminor and Aminor, lifting off the g-string on the upstroke.
This site describes it a bit differently, but same results:
http://www.guitarnoise.com/lesson/horse-with-no-name/
As does this:
http://www.accessbackstage.com/america/cord/cord005.htm

It's also very easy to sing as there is little variation in tonal scale, making it adaptable to almost any voice.

Oops, guess she won't see this.

guccilvr · 07-17-2008, 02:14 PM

well..not the thread I thought it was going to be..

was all prepared to point in the direction of any coldplay album

punkmusicfan21 · 07-17-2008, 05:43 PM

Lisa Loeb's "You Say"; easy, cute, and very easy vocally.

Baraka_Guru · 07-17-2008, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by punkmusicfan21

Lisa Loeb's "You Say"; easy, cute, and very easy vocally.

Oh, good one.

07-16-2008, 01:45 PM	#1 (permalink)
Musikislove22 Upright Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Michigan	Guitar Songs for Girls Heyy...so i just started learning guitar about a week ago and i can play chords and read guitar tabs but i really just need an easy song to learn. This guy is teaching me to play and hes coming over this weekend and i sort of want to impress him. lol Any suggestions?? __________________ Wannabe Guitar Girl

07-16-2008, 01:50 PM	#3 (permalink)
Baraka_Guru In the 6th percentile Moderator Join Date: May 2006 Location: Toronto	I've seen a lot of girls do some amazing covers of Beatles songs on acoustic guitars. There are some easy ones out there, even for beginners. Check YouTube by doing a search for "Beatles cover" and you'll find lots of girls doing these. If you can do barre chords already, try learning "And I Love Her." You could change the lyrics to "And I Love Him." It's a nice slow song with only a few chords and an easy enough picking part and solo, though it does lend best to at least a duet. You can figure our a single arrangement, I'm sure. Many other songs in the Beatles category, but I'm biased; I'm a Beatlemaniac! __________________ "The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. [...] In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, and schizophrenia. When the general atmosphere is bad, language must suffer." —"Politics and the English Language," George Orwell "Humankind cannot bear very much reality." —"Burnt Norton," Four Quartets, T. S. Eliot

07-16-2008, 02:08 PM	#4 (permalink)
Musikislove22 Upright Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Michigan	hah...which is fine by me i love the beatles! and i tried doing a barre chord when my friend was over and i just couldnt do it. lol...i guess i didnt press down hard enough and when i did i couldnt get my other fingers to do what i wanted. oh and i like any kind of music really...just not country. lol __________________ Wannabe Guitar Girl

07-16-2008, 02:18 PM	#6 (permalink)
Musikislove22 Upright Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Michigan	well i definately wanna learn to do them...i guess i'll just have to practice them more =] i'll do finger exercises to strengthen my finger. lol __________________ Wannabe Guitar Girl

07-16-2008, 02:37 PM	#7 (permalink)
Baraka_Guru In the 6th percentile Moderator Join Date: May 2006 Location: Toronto	Try "I Should Have Known Better" by The Beatles. It should be pretty easy for you. Same with "A Hard Day's Night." __________________ "The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. [...] In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, and schizophrenia. When the general atmosphere is bad, language must suffer." —"Politics and the English Language," George Orwell "Humankind cannot bear very much reality." —"Burnt Norton," Four Quartets, T. S. Eliot

07-16-2008, 01:50 PM	#2 (permalink)
vanblah 6 foot pianist Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Memphis	What kind of music do you like?

07-16-2008, 02:15 PM	#5 (permalink)
ratbastid Darth Papa Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Yonder	Barre chords take practice. It's not a natural position for your hand and finger, and it feels weird to press all the strings with the side of your first finger like that. Keep working on them and building strength in that hand. I know guitarists who "can't" do barre chords only because when they were first learning they decided that they couldn't.

07-16-2008, 08:31 PM	#9 (permalink)
SSJTWIZTA Passed out on the Lawn Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Georgia	try something by Kimya Dawson or the Moldy Peaches. that all the advice my drunk ass has to offer __________________ First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out because I was not a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist Then they came for me And there was no one left to speak out for me. -Pastor Martin Niemoller

07-16-2008, 11:20 PM	#10 (permalink)
Martian Young Crumudgeon Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Canada	So I've been pointed here. I'm assuming you're working on an acoustic. Barre chords take a while to get down. It is all about finger strength; Fly's exercise should help, but even without it all you need to do is keep practice. You'll naturally develop the finger strength you need as you go. If you're impatient, you can definitely follow Fly's advice (which, as usual, is spot on) or you can grab a grip trainer and use that. The Gripmaster ones are best for musicians, since they work each finger individually and won't allow your pinky to slack off. In terms of songs, I think what you're looking for in particular is a category that I tend to think of as three chord songs; songs that are literally just three chords in open position. A few good examples: Bob Seger - Night Moves Tom Petty - Free Fallin' Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bad Moon Rising Barenaked Ladies - What A Good Boy Barenaked Ladies - Be My Yoko Ono (actually four, but close enough) You'll need a capo to play some of those in the same key as the original version. CCR also does Down On the Corner, which has a riff through the verses and chords in the chorus (specifically F, G and C). The Beatles have a bunch of good stuff too, as Baraka_Guru pointed out. A lot of their early material was based on a 12 bar blues progression, and if you learn that a lot of it will become available to you (along with a bunch of Elvis, Chuck Berry and a lot of other artists from that general timeframe). If you want a song specifically by a female singer, you can look at Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin. (which was a Dylan song originally, incidentally). It's a little more complicated in that there's a few different chord variations, including seventh chords. It's not terribly complicated anyway and the strumming is easy as all get out. I can't recommend songs specifically for you to sing, because that will depend on your voice as much as anything else. Regardless, there ought to be something here to get you started. I may come back with more when I haven't just worked a late shift. __________________ Some will win, some will lose Some were born to sing the blues Oh, the movie never ends It goes on and on and on and on - Journey, Don't Stop Believein'

07-17-2008, 11:28 AM	#11 (permalink)
ngdawg peekaboo Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: on the back, bitch	Probably the easiest guitar tune in the world to play is Horse With No Name by America. It consists of two chords, Eminor (two strings, one fret) and D, altho I played it with Eminor and Aminor, lifting off the g-string on the upstroke. This site describes it a bit differently, but same results: http://www.guitarnoise.com/lesson/horse-with-no-name/ As does this: http://www.accessbackstage.com/america/cord/cord005.htm It's also very easy to sing as there is little variation in tonal scale, making it adaptable to almost any voice. Oops, guess she won't see this.

07-17-2008, 02:14 PM	#12 (permalink)
guccilvr Captain Fucking Emo Super Moderator Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: NC USA	well..not the thread I thought it was going to be.. was all prepared to point in the direction of any coldplay album __________________ It's no good trying to place your hand where I can't see because I understand you're different than me ~Syd Barrett Have a question about TFP in General? CLICK THIS

07-17-2008, 05:43 PM	#13 (permalink)
punkmusicfan21 watching the world spin forward Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: T.O. Bound	Lisa Loeb's "You Say"; easy, cute, and very easy vocally. __________________ "So many years my heart has waited, and who'd of thought that love could be so caffeinated" - Taylor The Latte Boy (as sung to me by every person who ever order coffee from me)