How to play

CAN I REALLY LEARN SONGS FASTER?

Okay… This is not actually a new idea I just came up with. This method, along with learning a few other chord patterns, is the way many street musicians learn and remember lots of songs.

It really is very effective for those who want to play guitar and sing songs. It makes it easier to learn many songs. But it also makes it easier to remember many songs. It’s fairly easy to remember a few patterns and which one of them to use for a particular song.... much easier than treating every individual song is a whole new set of chords.

Whether you want to stroll the countryside and entertain the masses with your prodigious repertoire of popular guitar songs, or just looking for a shortcut to learn songs for your own entertainment or for your family and friends this method can be a valuable asset.

If nothing else it will enable you to fairly quickly be able to play along with YouTube videos and enjoy the challenge of keeping up.

YOUTUBE AS A PRACTICE PARTNER

One way to get the feel for a song is to try playing along with the YouTube video. There are many subtleties that you can pick up this way. It will also help you practice changing chords on time because you can tell very quickly if you gotten off from the song.

Of course this is not always easy, especially if you're still struggling to change chords. Here are some tips to get you going.

• Start with the easier songs to get the hang of doing this. I recommend songs with just 3 chords to start off with. It helps if you're already familiar with the song.

• Choose songs that are recorded using an acoustic guitar. It's much more difficult to play along with a full band sound that uses an electric guitar or keyboard to play the chords. As you get more experienced you will be able to play along with any instruments.

• Listen to the song all the way through and see if you can hear where the chords change. Just making an attempt will help train your ears to listen for changes.

• Then play along with the song strumming straight down. Keep it very simple and just try to change chords at the right times.

• In the earlier stages it's better to use easier chords and the capo if possible to play in the same key as the YouTube video.

• Try to spend some time several days a week doing this. Remember you are training your hands and your ears. New learning responds best to regular repetition.

10 EASY GUITAR SONGS TO PLAY ALONG

Here’s 10 easy acoustic guitar songs that you can practice along with on YouTube. To start off I'd recommend that you choose just one or two that you either are familiar with or at least enjoy.

All 10 songs can be played using the three chords shown in the video (G,C and D). I've indicated the songs that need a capo to be able to play along on YouTube using the same three chords.

Key G (no capo)

2. Key G  (no capo)

3. (no capo)

4. Key G (no capo)

          a.  Written by Bob Dylan in 1962, in 1999 the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2004, it  was ranked #14 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Another beautiful version you may want to try is by . To play along using the same chords put the capo on fret 2.

5. Play G  (video Key A - Capo 2)

6. - Janis Joplin Key G (no capo) (video Key A - capo 2)

7. Play G (video Key A - capo 2)

8. Play G (video Bb-capo 3)

9. Play G (video Bb - capo 3)

10.  Play G (video Bb-capo 3)

Fast Song Learning Method Cheat Sheet Here: