If you are new here you may want to subscribe to my RSS feeds!

Not all songs come naturally to you

In: ACDC, Rocking in the free world Monday Jun 2,2008

acdc electric guitars At the last rehearsal with my band we decided to try ACDC’s song “You shook me all night” so yesterday I found a little time to listen the song carefully and work it a bit. I was amazed of how easy the song is. The guitar riffs are almost folk-like, just that played on an overdriven guitar. Nothing difficult there, plain G, C and D just that in a particular sequence like for ex G C G C G D, G D G D…

But I got annoyed the first times when trying to learn the sequence, because after a few tries, my mind slipped away when trying to sing along and I started to make mistakes in the sequence. That made me actually think of this post, because I realized that this song does not come naturally to me, like other songs do.

I should tell you I don’t like those songs where the song is based on a sequence of fast and repetitive chords where you need to change something at a given moment, I just don’t like them. I remember hating the song “Proud Mary(Rolling on a river)” because I needed to remind a particular sequence that didn’t come natural to me. I work better with songs that have more air. It’s not a matter of technical skills, obviously, it’s a matter of preferences. I guess everybody has a way of doing things that is preferred over the others.

I guess some of you love full chord songs, like this song, or Beatles’ songs. Others love songs with power riffs, like Megadeth or Metallica while others love Deep Purple’s style of riffs, like in Black Night, for ex, I think you know what I mean.

So, how do you feel about those sequences of chords? Love them or hate them? What’s your preferred style? Let me hear you!

PS: after playing the song a couple of times, the sequence comes natural now, but the idea of this post still stayed in my mind and decided to write it here.

Bookmark It

Other people also liked these articles:

If you are new here you may want to subscribe to my RSS feeds!

10 Responses to “Not all songs come naturally to you”

Pribek
June 2nd, 2008 at 9:54 am

That song is deceptively simple. The structure, in theory, is simple. It sounds simple because those guys are playing effortlessly, it’s natural as cornbread to them.
It’s a case where “learning” the song isn’t enough, you have to repeat it enough to develop the muscle memory, to make it flow.
I always have songs that fit what I do more naturally and others I have to work until they feel natural.
One thing I’ve found, is that sometimes, the one I have work through like that, becomes one I look forward to playing and the one that seemed effortless, right off the bat, is the one that becomes boring.
Ovidiu
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:10 am

Indeed, Jack, after I played it a couple of times this song, it started to get into my “muscle memory” and started to seem more natural to me. Now I really enjoy playing it

I guess that if a song does not make you get involved, then after a while, you probably get bored of it, but if you work a bit to learn it and struggle to nail it, it seems interesting even after a longer while.
oracle
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:21 am

The song does seem simple, but I don’t have a guitar on me to try out playing and singing at the same time… but anyway, it got me thinking about full chords.

I remember a friend saying how chords are stupid, and it was weird because I never considered them particularly hard. When I picked up guitar about 4 years ago at the ripe old age of 22, I didn’t know a great deal about it, and I taught myself chords using chord sites (chordbook and chordguide) so I always only knew full chords. After I became proficient at chords, playing power chords didn’t seem necessary at all, and they didn’t sound great. Of course, now that I have bought an electric 6 months ago, and they sound much better on it.

One song in particular I remember playing a lot was Get Off by The Dandy Warhols, simply because it features the open chords Am, E, D, C, and G, with a quick change between those last 2 chords as a recurring theme, so I got pretty quick at being able to change between C and G, even when I used to play G with fingers 1 2 3, instead of 2 3 4.
axlfuckinrose
June 3rd, 2008 at 1:44 pm

about vocals. it’s hell even for steven. i can hear his voice, actually it’s not so naturally…
Ovidiu
June 3rd, 2008 at 2:19 pm

@axlfuckingrose: Yep, but you will need to sing it!!I worked it out, how about you?
Sammy
June 4th, 2008 at 7:14 pm

Is it just me or did Steven Tyler just butcher that song?
Ovidiu
June 4th, 2008 at 8:38 pm

Well, Sammy, he “interpreted” it, in his own way, I wouldn’t say he butchered it. I appreciated the fact that just before the chorus, on the lines with “we were making it” he didn’t sing and just listened. I liked that!
Stratoblogster
June 5th, 2008 at 12:40 am

Angus is a Zen master. He’s always played that SG through a Marshall and has never been a gear freak. In fact, he once said that his favorite effect is the cord.

Guitar Shop Magazine (long gone) used to have those signal chain diagrams. The Angus Young diagram was hysterical– literally an SG>cord>Marshall.

Those tunes are so simple, but you gotta keep the whole song in mind in order to lock it in. It’s easy for me to accidentally slip into an AC DC medley. But the lyric line can keep you on the tune. Just feel it.
MG
June 5th, 2008 at 6:59 am

Yeah I have that issue with some chord sequences-esp when they are not “natural feeling” (like going back and forth from a D-4th string root to G -6th string root then A 5th string root-quickly, etc. I find it more natural for me to go the opposite way.
I like full chords-that’s why I like ACDC-they seem to always feature the full E, D, C G chords not the two-finger ones. To me they sound fuller and more expressive. The Scorpions did this also-earlier on-letting the minor thirds of the chords ring out-it added to the songs. Of course with fast changes, you have to use the power chords but I’d rather use the full, open if possible chords.
Ovidiu
June 5th, 2008 at 9:26 am

@MG: Well, I think it comes with the music you listen. I love metal music so power chords are something that sound more natural to me and I have always had a problem with playing full chords over overdrive, it didn’t sound right to me, but in this case, I must admit, after playing it for a short while started to become interesting.

@Stratoblogster: I am not a gear freak also, but he is way too Zen for me. I would never plug my guitar into the amplifier without my processor, I would feel I miss a hand or something. Once I forgot my gear bag at home and the amp has that overdrive setting, aaarghhh, I hate it, even if I managed to have the rehearsal going, but it felt so unnatural to me. No delay on solos, no compressor…

Not all songs come naturally to you

10 Responses to “Not all songs come naturally to you”

Leave a reply