h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Where do the songs go? I've been playing guitar since 1986 and have learned a shedload of songs. I've played in punk bands, rock bands, jazz-funk bands and continuously been strumming an acoustic (which probably irritates those in the bus queue) but, when I'm in a room with a bunch of people, a few beers and a guitar, I can never think of a bleedin' thing to play. I know I'm not alone in this.

Does anybody else suffer from this? If so, where do *you* think the songs go? I've never quite got my head around it.

I suppose the obvious thing to do would be to ask for requests. But that runs the risk of: (a) horrible silences; or (b) you not knowing the requested item at all! So a simple cheat/answer is to stick a list of your favourites onto the back of the guitar. Could it be that you're not so much a memoriser as an improviser anyway?

I do generally improvise, but I know there's a large lump of songs lurking in there, it's just there never there when I need 'em!

But that's the same with "worms" (ie words) and everything. It's not a memory-recall phenomenon which is specific to music.

It is related to the tip on the tongue thing. The amount of times I strum a G chord or an A minor while waiting for a memory to strike...

Usually ends up being 'Last Train To Clarksville' or 'Karma Police' respectively.

Perhaps you need to learn some different starting chords then!

I know what you mean, too. I'm not really a performer anyway, my guitar playing's more of a general hobby, but when I have played with oher musicians my mind goes blank too. Must be nerves.

Maybe its a good idea to think of the ones you like playing best, and the ones that you're most good at. Those are the ones that seem to come most easily to me. Songs I usually end up playing first (even when I'm practising, just to warm up) are usually Weather With You (Crowded House) or '39. The simple ones are best, just to get going. I think so anyway.

What are the chords to Last Train to Clarksville?

G, C & D in varying quantities. I play the little arpeggio bit as:

E:-----------
B:---X---X--X
G:--X---X----
D:-3---2---0-
A:-----------
E:-----------

You can do that while holding the rest of the G chord around it. I'm not sure it's right and I've never played it very well!

Sorry: the 'X's in that tabby bit should be '0's.

Unless you are playing noughts and crosses with your tabby ...

Don't worry, I've learnt most of my songs through a mix of internet tabs, working it out myself, or just by sheer luck. Most of the stuff I write down in tabs is never 100% accurate. I've never been very good reading music, in whatever form, really, so most of the time I rely on my ear. Mind you, relying on ears is often the safest bet. I read an interview with David Gilmour recently, and he can't read music.

I could do with some guitar lessons really, to brush up a bit, but its finding the time, and a good teacher.

Where did that posting come from?

It has an air of the dreaded 'Post 21' to it but we're not even over the page yet!

I was lucky in that I got into guitar on the back of piano lessons so had some idea how the whole thing worked. I recommend getting a few lessons: they can help you make sense of the bits you know.

I play piano too. But then I guess it makes sense for guitarists to learn piano and vice versa.

I don't know why, but there are a lot of musicians who play both. Jools Holland took up guitar.

I never understood the point of learning scales on piano, but they seem to be more useful on guitar. Maybe that's cos fingering is more important. I've learnt some guitar scales, but my fingerings still not brilliant, and that's a bit of an issue if you want to get into playing solos I guess.

Your fingering comes with playing* (some call it practice, but it isn't: it's playing. Practice is what you do because you need to, playing's what you do because it's in the blood).

I used to hate practicing scales on the piano but I'm glad that I did it: they help you get an idea of tonality and also do wonders for the manual dexterity.

*oddly, there's no innuendo intended there whatsoever. I must be unwell.

Well, practising, playing, whatever, the two are pretty much interchangable I reckon.

I've never ever practised scales on the piano. I'd say most of the stuff I've learnt on piano has been through years of working stuff out by ear: just knowing what sounds good. I've never had a big problem with fingering for piano anyway. Most of it's common sense. I think you can get away with different ways of playing certain pieces, and it doesn't tend to have a massive effect on the end sound. But, I find if I don't use proper fingering for some songs on guitar it can sometimes muck up a whole chunk of a song. Maybe I just haven't found a way to bluff my way through convincingly enough yet!

It is always important to practise scales, arpeggios and broken chords. They are helpful for getting the correct fingering whilst sight-reading and playing pieces.