Lesson 7 - Your First Songs

Ok, the moment of truth.  It’s been a really short time since you started (providing you practiced every day).  So here we go. 

Depending on your age, you might know “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” from Bob Dylan, Grateful Dead, Eric Clapton, Guns ‘N Roses, or Wyclef Jean.  The song is easy… if you count 1, 2, 3, 4 slightly faster than one number per second then you have about the right speed.  Counting “1, 2, 3, 4” puts you in 4/4 time.  That means a quarter note gets a beat and there are four beats per measure. 

What we are going to do is strum G Major when you say “1, 2,” then switch and strum D Major when you say “3, 4,” and then finally C Major when you count the next “1, 2, 3, 4”.  You repeat that over and over and there you go!  Bob Dylan’s version changes the C major to A minor every other cycle, but you can rock out to G’n’R’s version by sticking to the three chords.

Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land” is 4 strums of each chord for C Major, G Major, D Major, G Major over and over.

There are hundreds if not thousands of songs that use a combination of these chords.  Some, like “What I Got” by Sublime only uses two! (G Major and D Major)

Here’s a small list to get you started, besides those listed above try these out:

Undone (the Sweater Song) – Weezer

Ring of Fire – Johnny Cash/Social Distortion

You Shook Me All Night Long – AC/DC

Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd

Leaving on a Jet Plane – John Denver

All Apologies – Nirvana

Can’t You See – Marshall Tucker Band

All Together Now – The Beatles

Bye Bye Love – The Everly Brothers

Great Balls of Fire – Jerry Lee Lewis

La Bamba – Richie Valens/Los Lobos

I Fought the Law – Bobby Fuller Band

Lay Down Sally – Eric Clapton

Lively Up Yourself – Bob Marley

Mellow Yellow – Donovan

Werewolves of London – Warren Zevon

Rock This Town – Stray Cats

Stir It Up – Bob Marley

Surfin’ USA – The Beach Boys

That should get you started.  If you want, continue on.  We will have a members section up here shortly to continue on with your lessons.  We will get into more chords, more chord theory, beginning out with some scales and learning how to solo and improvise.  We will also go through different types of music.  Even if there are some categories of music you aren’t particularly fond of, you will find that some of their techniques are really cool to use in different genres.  Listen, learn and experiment!