Advice on songs

[FloydD]

Hey guys i'm pretty new to guitar - i've been playing for about a month, maybe less, and i'm wondering what are some good tips to help me improve my guitar playing. I put this in the Dave's guitar discussion because my main goal, and the reason why i started playing guitar in the first place, is to be able to play some of my favourites. Now i know Dave's guitar playing is complicated but i really want to learn some songs. Up till now i've learned the beginning of lie in our graves (just the verse part) --- fun song but damn it's hard to sing with it.
I can play the whole of down by the river (radio city is amazing, watch it daily) and i'm trying to learn crash into me because apparently that's as easy as it gets!
so basically how did you guys start learning Dave songs and what's, in your opinion, the easiest songs to start learning.

Also the tabs here are tough to read - i generally know waht i'm doing on ultimate-guitar tabs but these are confusing for a beginner.

Anyway tips, advice, links to helpful stuff? please post it so i can improve!
Thanks guys

[baseballjon9]

well crash isnt really as easy as it gets, its a tiring stretch and the strumming pattern can be kind of annoying at times. but i guess it was one of my first songs too. u can pretty much learn watever song u want to start off cuz if u take it 1 note at a time u can learn any of them, some of the stretch's could get in the way tho. i started with typical situation, proudest monkey is definitely the easiest.

[FloydD]

... u can pretty much learn watever song u want to start off cuz if u take it 1 note at a time u can learn any of them, some of the stretch's could get in the way tho. i started with typical situation, proudest monkey is definitely the easiest.

yeah man i would definitely say that the stretching hurts, a lot, my fingers don't hurt as much anymore because i've developed some nice callouses but yeah lots of the stretches and the mutes and all that stuff in his songs are a little too much for me right now.
I'm going to give those two songs a try now, thanks for the reply

[Donnyboo23]

learn a lot of chords a "dave chords" because he uses the same in different songs. practice a lot. and when you play keep a rythem or consistency with your strumming/ picking

[colorado5117]

perfect practice makes perfect. There aren't any real shortcuts. learn the Stone or Billies.

[FloydD]

perfect practice makes perfect. There aren't any real shortcuts. learn the Stone or Billies.

Aren't those two of the hardest songs to play?

[baseballjon9]

the stone is good practice for stretching out ur fingers, plus its fun to play. the dave chords that r in tripping billies, grey street, lie in our graves jam, so damn lucky, etc. r good to practice cuz he uses them a lot. i still have trouble strumming them cuz of those 2 muted strings in the middle, sounds like ass

[jsgksu]

perfect practice makes perfect. There aren't any real shortcuts. learn the Stone or Billies.

Aren't those two of the hardest songs to play?

Yes they are, I'd advise against them until you get comfortable with playing Dave/guitar in general. It could end up discouraging you and you might just not have the skill yet.

What in particular is hard to read about the tabs on this site vs. those on other sites?

[FloydD]

What in particular is hard to read about the tabs on this site vs. those on other sites?

I find that i can't really figure out what chords go when. On ultimate guitar the chords are right above the words and when i play i know pretty much when to change from one to the next. I'm sure this will come with experience but it's my biggest problem trying to work out dave songs. I know dave songs through and through but i still find it tough.

and yeah the stone is damn hard, i don't have the strength in my fingers to pull it off quickly enough - i'm teaching myself on about.com guitar lessons, anyone heard of those?

[jsgksu]

Oh ok, I thought you meant something was hard about the way the tabs were written, which is pretty standard. As far as not being lined up with the words, just try listening to some live solo Dave shows to help you get when to change. Sometimes the guitar can get muffled by the rest of the band, but I'm sure as you progress you'll be able to pick up songs easier as you go along.

[dmb spook]

What in particular is hard to read about the tabs on this site vs. those on other sites?

I find that i can't really figure out what chords go when. On ultimate guitar the chords are right above the words and when i play i know pretty much when to change from one to the next. I'm sure this will come with experience but it's my biggest problem trying to work out dave songs. I know dave songs through and through but i still find it tough.

I find that if your playing and singing, its best to absolutely know either the lyrics or the guitar to the point where they just happen that way you only have to focus on one. And to figure out when chord changes are, grab any dave and tim performance or dave solo (jammin to dave and tim makes me feel as though im sittin in with them and thats fucking cool) to really hear the changes... and the more you do it.. .the easier it gets...

[colorado5117]

perfect practice makes perfect. There aren't any real shortcuts. learn the Stone or Billies.

Aren't those two of the hardest songs to play?

Yes and No. There are parts in each that you should be able to pick up quickly and others that take a while (a long while), but you get exposed to a lot of the skills you are going to want to master at some point anyway. AATW is a good one to switch to if you start to get too frustrated, it is really just strumming some very popular chords.

[dmb spook]

the two that really helped me were tripping billies (because if you learn that you can now play too much and grey street since they are all based around similar chords and billies is the hardest) and satellite because its a great left hand stretch workout, just slow it down or you might get frustrated. AATW is definitely a great one especially if your new to guitar and want to practice singing as well, which i cant remember if you wanted to do and yes, I am too lazy to look back. But best of luck...

i think my first song was DDTW because its incredibly easy and it made me feel good that i had accomplished something.... until i recorded myself and realized my singing need a ton of work...

[FloydD]

sweet, i've had work non stop these past few days but today is my day off and i've been trying #41, it sounds good so far but i need to get faster
thanks so much for all your help guys, feel free to keep posting any other tips yo may have

[dmb spook]

yeah that stretch for the beginning/jam chords is rough... but once you get those down the rest is pretty easy