if you just want a couple of things in "the arsenal," learn a couple pieces that are like a minute or two, or one that repeats. It might be boring as hell, but people who don't play are thrilled to hear live music. What counts is actually putting passion in the playing, it's real easy for people to tell that you are insincere, even in the most difficult of pieces.

JohnColtrane

Australia4813 Posts

November 07 2009 23:03 GMT

#23

learn Joe Pass stuff. if you're friends aren't impressed, its time to find new friends.

theres a bunch of free transcriptions of his songs and some listings of his changes. he's also probably in some real books. i recommend getting his chord book by mel bay ASAP

Thats_The_Spirit

Netherlands138 Posts

November 07 2009 23:24 GMT

#24

On November 08 2009 06:40 Archaic wrote:

Show nested quote +

Know it, Trace Bundy is awesome, and of course everyone knows Chet Atkins. Having his skill, however... I'll look into it nonetheless.

If u want to impress (non guitar playing) people Chet Atkins / Tommy Emmanuel is a good way to go. Even better is an arrangement of songs that everybody knows, like this version of Daytripper and Lady Madonna:

With practice this arrangement is very playable for non guitar gods and will blow peoples minds.

Heres a tutorial on the song by Tommy himself:
+ Show Spoiler +

Another beautiful song is "Those Who Wait". I've actually made my gf cry (in a good way

) by playing this song for her on her birthday:

Hope this helps

Edit:
Oh and if you're looking for tabs:
http://tommyemmanuel.wordpress.com/gitar-tabok/

JohnColtrane

Australia4813 Posts

November 07 2009 23:25 GMT

#25

thumb picks are retarded

Thats_The_Spirit

Netherlands138 Posts

November 07 2009 23:32 GMT

#26

On November 08 2009 08:25 JohnColtrane wrote:
thumb picks are retarded

Why do you think they are retarded? They give the base a bit more volume, you can easily add a bit of strumming to your playing with this, and you have an extra free finger compared to hybrid picking.

On the other hand thumb picks have no IQ, so they are indeed retarded

JohnColtrane

Australia4813 Posts

November 07 2009 23:42 GMT

#27

hitting the string with something meaty like a thumb makes a lower, rounder sound so its much better for playing in solo guitar situations as you can imitate a bassline

you have 5 fingers normally, thats plenty unless you have to pick a very large chord

Archaic

United States4024 Posts

November 07 2009 23:46 GMT

#28

On November 08 2009 08:24 Thats_The_Spirit wrote:

Show nested quote +

Yeah, I have consistently loved and tried to learn so many Tommy Emmanuel songs. Not too great with a thumb pick, which was my main limiting factor. I guess I'll give it another go.

Sky

Jordan812 Posts

November 08 2009 00:06 GMT

#29

Wouldn't it depend on the crowd.

American small towns

Johnny Cash - God's gonna cut you down
+ Show Spoiler +

Matt Hughes[?] - Country boy will survive
+ Show Spoiler +

Mark Collie - In time
+ Show Spoiler +

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Age: 25+ to 40 crowds

American pie
+ Show Spoiler +

Animals (cover) - House of the rising sun
+ Show Spoiler +

The Doors - The end
+ Show Spoiler +

Bob Dylan - Like a rolling stone
+ Show Spoiler +

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Those who I bumped into that are into bands such as Metallica, AC/DC, and Black Sabbath seem to really know their shit about old blues rock and genre's related to it. If you play for them, play some Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, or Creedance Clearwater Revival.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A lot of people around 18-25 probably still remember the 90's. So just play some alt rock from that time. Bands such as Third Eye Blind, Green Day etc. Nowadays, it's easy to have a plethora of choice when concerning one specific genre, so a crowd will have so many different tastes. It would be hard to pick an artist now that is known and liked by a crowd.

Malinor

Germany4727 Posts

November 08 2009 00:52 GMT

#30

Metallica - Nothing Else matters
Everyone always wants to hear that, at least from my experience

3 Doors Down - Here without you
Nice picking pattern, sounds awesome

Extreme - More than words
Girls love it

Spanish Romance for some classical music is also great, but hard to play properly on a steel string

These are just from the top of my head, if you like them, I'll think of some more

JohnColtrane

Australia4813 Posts

November 08 2009 00:57 GMT

#31

Archaic

United States4024 Posts

November 08 2009 01:33 GMT

#32

Everyone, thanks for the suggestions. I'll definitely some of these if I don't know them already. As for All The Things You Are, love that song, but it's way too hard to play on the acoustic, at least the way I know how to play it.

As for Day Tripper/Lady Madonna, it was my first breakthrough in thumb picking! Never managed to get the two melodies/beats synchronized... 30-40 minutes to get two measures, but it's definitely a start!

JohnColtrane

Australia4813 Posts

November 08 2009 01:40 GMT

#33

you can play it anyway you like ^_^ just make sure you know the changes and then do w/e u want

Thats_The_Spirit

Netherlands138 Posts

November 08 2009 02:42 GMT

#34

On November 08 2009 10:33 Archaic wrote:
Everyone, thanks for the suggestions. I'll definitely some of these if I don't know them already. As for All The Things You Are, love that song, but it's way too hard to play on the acoustic, at least the way I know how to play it.

As for Day Tripper/Lady Madonna, it was my first breakthrough in thumb picking! Never managed to get the two melodies/beats synchronized... 30-40 minutes to get two measures, but it's definitely a start!

Gratz on the thumbpicking! And I know what you mean, its really weird for your brain when you start doing it at first. But once you get it down you will never forget it.
What i like about this song is that you actually see yourself improve with every 30 minutes you play, and you know that eventually you will be able to play it. Unlike some of the stuff he pulls during live performances of his version of guitar boogie for example.

On November 08 2009 08:42 JohnColtrane wrote:
hitting the string with something meaty like a thumb makes a lower, rounder sound so its much better for playing in solo guitar situations as you can imitate a bassline

you have 5 fingers normally, thats plenty unless you have to pick a very large chord

It all depends on the song your playing I guess. I love the "meaty" rounder sound in Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton for example. But with songs like Mombasa or even daytripper/lady madonna it doesnt sound as good to me compared to the sound of a (thumb) pick.

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