For a beginner to guitar, one of the most exciting things to do is to learn those first few complete songs. The good news though is that once you an strum just a few chords then you are armed with enough to play some really classic and popular songs. You can then begin to build up a repertoire of songs that you can play for people on request. How cool is that! As a musician there is no better feeling than playing songs for people but here's a big tip. LEARN SONGS THAT PEOPLE LIKE AND WILL KNOW! Try not to be too self indulgent and use my Karaoke Factor. What's that I hear you ask?
If you learn to play songs that people have never heard of then they are probably not going to enjoy your performance but if you play songs that people know you will be an instant hit! In fact, you will actually find that your performance is not only enjoyed but your audience may even join in and that is exactly what you need to achieve.
I call it the Karaoke Factor for this reason. I am sure you have seen that classic karaoke situation where a decent singer gets up and sing really well, but sings a song that is not well known or popular. They are just being self indulgent and showing off. Then someone else gets up who may not be blessed with the best singing voice but they play to the audience and sing something well known, like Elvis or The Rolling Stones and steals the show!
When it comes to singing and playing the secret is to be totally familiar with the song and especially the words first, so that you can concentrate on playing the chord sequence. Then break the song into sections, learn one section then move on but do not be too over critical of yourself.
Singing and playing the guitar at the same time is a lot like riding a bike and you will not forget how to do it once you have learned. You will find that it comes quite easy and find that with practice you can even play a picking style riff, like 'Pretty Woman' and still be coordinated. It is like anything that's worth doing. It is not easy but well worth the effort.
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