My two cents' worth:
- Get a good acoustic guitar that stays in tune, plus a quality capo.
- Learn how to tune to standard pitch.
- Learn the basic "open" chords--sometimes called "cowboy chords." Like C, G, D and E--the easiest to learn at first. A is a little harder for some. B and F even harder, because you use your forefinger as a capo. Also learn some of the 7th chords: E7, C7, A7, D7, etc. B7 is a good chord to learn early on. Then the minor chords: Am(7), Em(7), Dm. Bm is a great one to learn early on--because a lot of great songs use G, D, A and Bm.
- That capo will help you play the basic cowboy chords in other keys without having to master the more difficult barre chords.
- You can then move on to learning those barre chords. (Those chords require using your forefinger as a capo. B & F are usually the first barre chords a beginner learns. Learn the F chord; that chord is used a lot.)
- Then move on to even more subtle chords--like suspended chords, suspended 7ths, and major 7ths. (Lots of songs by America, the Bee Gees, etc. use major 7th chords--like the E major 7th.)
- These days you can find images of how to "finger" chords online all over the place. I had to learn from friends or books when I was a kid. It is so much easier today to learn fingering on the Internet.
- Once you have down the basic cowboy chords, learn a bunch of two and three-chords wonders. Lots of folk songs (and Rolling Stone tunes) are only three chords. Check out "Helpless" by Neil Young, for example. D, A & G repeated over and over.
- I too recommend checking out the JustinGuitar YouTube videos. I've learned a ton of songs there. He's great!
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[FONT=Liberation Serif, serif]And practice.... most of all: Have fun![/FONT][/FONT]
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[FONT=Liberation Serif, serif]GOOD TIME CHARLIE'S GOT THE BLUES[/FONT][FONT=Liberation Serif, serif]:[/FONT][FONT=Liberation Serif, serif] G C D7 G x2; [/FONT][/FONT]
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Some gotta win...:[FONT=Liberation Serif, serif] Am D7 G[/FONT][/FONT]
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Everybody's goin' away, Said they're movin' to L.A.
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There's not a soul I know around, Everybody's leavin' town[/FONT]
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Some caught a freight, some caught a plane
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Find the sunshine, leave the rain[/FONT]
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They said this town's a waste of time, I guess they're right, it's wastin' mine[/FONT]
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Some gotta win, some gotta lose, Good time Charlie's got the blues
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Good time Charlie's got the blues; interlude[/FONT]
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You know my heart keeps tellin' me, "You're not a kid at thirty-three"[/FONT]
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"You play around, you lose your wife, You play too long, you lose your life" [/FONT]
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I got my pills to ease the pain, Can't find a thing to ease the rain[/FONT]
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I'd love to try and settle down, But everybody's leavin' town...,
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Some gotta win, some gotta lose[/FONT]
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Good time Charlie's got the blues, Good time Charlie's got the blues
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Good time Charlie's got the blues.[/FONT]