The "To Learn" List

Alright, the promised intro on playing the guitar will come in the next week, but this week has been incredibly busy with exams and papers. I myself have barely found time to practice; mostly, guitar has been some minor stress relief this week, and I haven't found a whole lot of time for learning new techniques or organizing my thoughts in the best way to teach the basics.

So, here begin the guitarist's frustrations: first, in finding the time to play, and to play what you really want to learn. And second, as I'm looping my playlist of favourite songs, in finding songs that I can actually play and sing. This requires a little more explanation.

Let me start by saying that it's one of the worst feelings, to think "I'd really love to play that song"-- only to find that there are no [readable] tabs on the internet. As musically inclined as I am, I am for the life of me, completely tone deaf. I've mentioned before that I can't simply write my own music: one of the frustrations is having to rely on someone else for that.

The second frustration is that, even if I can read a tab, I can't necessarily play the song. Especially if it involves bar chords or finger picking. I really lament this, because I play for the emotional and mental aspect of it. You sing a song, and you feel like you're singing for someone. But it doesn't feel complete without the guitar. Conversely, playing a song but not being able to sing is just as frustrating. And let me tell you, overcoming that first hurdle in figuring out how to sing while strumming is quite an ordeal.

Below, I'm going to list off the songs that have been the sources of my frustrations in the past month or so. Maybe that'll motivate me to power through learning them once this crazy school work is past.

1. Desperately Wanting- Better Than Ezra (finger-picking, and very evidently an electric song. I'm currently trying to find an acoustic cover).

2. Closer to Fine- Indigo Girls (simply, a very fast-paced song, and a little too advanced for me at the moment).

3. Who Will Save Your Soul- Jewel (entirely finger-picking, and not a song that I've found can be pulled off with simple chords).

4. Even If It Kills Me- Motion City Soundtrack (electric and finger-picking).

5. Face Down- Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (even the acoustic version is throwing me off with the strumming pattern during the chorus).

6. The Islander- Nightwish (the one acoustic Nightwish song, and it's finger-picking).

7. Story of a Girl- Nine Days (this one is a possibility, if I can replace the bar chords with something comparable).

8. Winter Song- Sara Bareilles with Ingrid Michaelson (a beautiful song, but played entirely on the piano).

9. World Spins Madly On- Weepies (pretty fast strumming, and difficult chord transitions).

10. Goodbye Days- Yui (numerous bar chords, and I'm still trying to figure out the chord transitions).

On the other hand, we've found some pretty simple songs that might go on our set list for the next Open Mic Night. Among those are: You and Me (Lifehouse), Kiss Me (Sixpence None The Richer), With Me (Sum 41), and a number of Death Cab for Cutie songs.