Music

[Deitz Dittrich]

I took quite a few years of paino lessons as a kid.. picked up the guitar about a year and half ago and already am better at it than I ever was at paino. I really enjoy folk acoustic guitar... Anybody have any CD's that they really like that fit that catagory?

I already have

Amos Lee

Josh Kelley

Jason Mraz

Ben Harper(my fave)

Jack Johnson

Jonathan Frankenwriter

[BDR]

I have really enjoyed learning to play. I am a hack but it fills something in my mind when I play. I can really take out a bad mood on the strings.

I like all types of music if it has good guitar. Classical, jazz, BLUES, rock, country.

Clapton to Robert Johnson, Stevie Ray, Joplin, Cash, Randy Rhoads, Paul simon, Page, Hendrix, Willie nelson. You name it, good guitar, I like it.May be nerdy but some of the very best acoustic guitar music can be found on some of John Denvers music. Especially some of the live stuff.

[Gissert]

Hard to beat Leo Kottke for good acoustic playing. Man he is good. Seen him a couple times live, and sometimes it is hard to decide if we were watching a world class guitarist or a great stand up comedian. His between song banter is usually very funny.

James McMurtry does some great stuff, acoustic and electric, but he fits more in an Americana category than folk.

I have a nice Yamaha APX acoustic and a Carvin electric, Poor things just sit there in the corner now.

[Bobb-o]

Not really all acoustic, but if you like the folk sound check out Uncle Tupelo, and Old 97s/Rhett Miller

[Farley]

Deitz, I think you mean Donovan Frankenreiter, the guy who plays with Jack Johnson sometimes. I dont know what Jack CD you got but On and On has a lot of easy songs to learn.

As far as folk CD's, anything by Dylan before '65 was pretty much folk (Pre Highway 61), especially his first one, which has "Man of Constant Sorrow", "in My Time Of Dying", "House of the Rising Sun".

I've been playing guitar on and off for about 10 years now, feel free to ask if you have any questions.

Oh, and I like John Denver too.

[Hotspotter]

Deitz:

Here's a few must-haves not already mentioned from the acoustic side of things:

-Mason Jennings

-Greg Brown - many songs about fishing, my favorite folk singer - Coming to the Fitzgerald in Sept.

-Lucinda Williams

-Iris Dement

-Gillian Welch

Could go on and on. Shoot me an email Deitz.

Oh, and BDR, no shame in John Denver.....the guy was unreal.

Joel

[Deitz Dittrich]

far-- you are 100% correct.. love that butterfly song...

[Ray Esboldt]

OK, I'm on my third attempt to pickup a guitar and learn it in my lifetime. This time (at 36 years old) I actually enjoy it. It's been about 7 months, and I am brutal, but that's OK with me. I don't have time for full fledged lessons. Has anyone found any resources online that are good for a little more rapid improvement?

[BDR]

Ray there are some great sites for music using guitar tablature. Very easy to read once you figure it out.

You can adjust speed very slow and then build up your speed.

Tabledit and power tab are the ones I use. Do a search and you will find them. You can get specific songs, lessons, scales to practice.

Basically it is music bars with numbers. If you play right handed, the bars are laid out just as if you laid the guitar across your lap. The numbers are on the according string(s) and the number represents the fret. It is very simple. there is alot of sheet tablature but the programs I mentioned actually play it with lots of options for adjustment.

[Ray Esboldt]

Thanks, Brian. I use Power Tab Editor now. It really does help accelerate the learning curve because you can play the song with it. The only site I have found that makes use of Power Tab is Ultimate Guitar (Contact Us Please). I have not found any sites with lessons associated with that editor. But, I have found some stuff based solely on tablature.

I think what I really need is a pro to help me with technique. I know there are no shortcuts, but I would not be surprised if I am doing some things wrong fundamentally.

[Farley]

Ray-

Cyberfret,com has some lessons on technique

ChordFind,com is also a helpfull HSOforum when trying to figure out chords or different variations of chords.

[Ray Esboldt]

Thanks, Farley. I'll check that out.

[Hotspotter]

Ray:

I'd second Cyberfret for learning and chord-checks. For music, OLGA (On-Line Guitar Archive) used to be the only place, and I still like it. For country, COWPIE is a good one, just do google searches. My only problem with UltimateGuitarTabs is that it throws everything in the world up there, many times of incredibly poor quality. For popular songs, sometimes a guy has to try out 6 versions of the same tab, just to find one that works, if any do.

One thing that helps me to this day, is music DVDs from artists you enjoy. Some of the DVD's are pretty good at focusing on the guitar as the artist is playing. You can learn quite a bit on your favorite songs from Netflixing or renting. Many times, that's the only way to fill in the gaps from where the tab is messed-up.

Good luck! We should all get together to steal each others songs. Compiling a list of good potential band names as we speak.

Joel

[Ray Esboldt]

Thanks, Joel. I don't know if anyone would even like the music I'm interested in. However, I will admit the more I get into learning a guitar, the more I enjoy folk and cowpie music. Mainly, you can learn a lot of it fast and sound fairly decent quickly. It's a good confidence booster.

[Farley]

another HSOforum that helped me a lot is:

zentao,com/guitar/theory/ fill in the http:\\www. and replace the comma with a . It will help you understand where the notes are on the fretboard and the different chord shapes and how chords are constructed, the whole step\half step thing, depending on how far you want to take it. Between this site and Guitar Tab Universe, is how I learned to play, I've never took a single lesson in my life, or at least never paid for one. But the thing with that is you tend to develop bad habits when you teach yourself to play that can limit you, so you have to re-learn a few things.

[Hotspotter]

I don't know if anyone would even like the music I'm interested in.

Brittney Spears can be difficult on guitar.

Joel

[Bobb-o]

one HSOforum that has a lot of newer folk music is www.lawrence.com

[minneman]

other good sites for chords, lyrics etc. is chordie (Contact Us Please) and mxtabs (Contact Us Please)

[DigitalFisherman]

Deitz,

If you haven't already, check out Greg Brown. The man has written more songs than the Stones so you will have alot to choose from; I recomend "The Live One" or "From The Hills Of California"... he's my favorite as well.

John Prine is also at the top of my list; he has written alot of great drinking beer around the campfire songs.

[Farley]

Just pulled up Leo Kottke and John Prine on Napster. Kottke is amazing, imagine if Jimmy Page never had Led Zeppelin and did solo instumental stuff on acoustic, thats leo kottke.

John Prine is more of the lyricist though. Just like Digital Fisherman said, great songs for drinking beer around the campfire.

[Gissert]

Leo does sing on some of his tunes.

[Little Joe]

John Gorka is another I'd add to the list.

Great list - keep it going! Can't believe Lake Alice hasn't weighed in yet...You out there Chief?

[Cyberfish]

Hey, it looks like lots of us are learning to play accoustic guitar! Wouldn't it be fun to have a little jam session sometime, swap some songs and stuff, it would be good for learning, and, most important, would be a fun time! Any takers?

[Lake Alice]

Just found this thread.

Most of my stuff has been mentioned--although I'm not sure how we got three pages in to this thread without the words Gordon Lightfoot appearing somewhere. Gissert or Little Joe I thought maybe you'd be all over that. He's the man.

These days I can't seem to get Son Volt Melody of Riot CD out of my player. And how about Nickel Creek? Best band on the planet right now as far as I'm concerned, playing Harriet Island this sunday.

Prine, Mason, Kottke, Gillian, Greg Brown--all get regular play in my kitchen.

Good to see you back online CR.

[Lake Alice]

Giss Leo doesn't sing, he croaks.