[dfield2000]

Hi,

I'm keen to get as much practice in as possible with my acoustic guitar, and I want to play along while listening to songs to improve my strumming technique, but I'm having problems thinking of songs where an acoustic guitar is strumming all the way through.

I'm thinking of stuff like Pinball Wizard, Squeeze - Is that Love, Floyd - Wish You Were Here. Can anyone suggest any more songs which feature acoustic strumming all the way through ?

Also, I'm thinking of buying an Ovation guitar - although my mate is trying his best to put me off by saying that their sound is thin and weedy. I've been looking on ebay for a bargain and most of them appear to be the 'celebrity' model which is the cheapy one made in Korea. Anyone got any thoughts / comments on ovations ?

Thanks

[DazJWood]

Do you need to hear an acoustic guitar in a song in order to practise strumming?

I guess if you want to copy or learn the same style strumming that is performed on a song then you obviously would need songs that are predominantly acoustically performed.

I play rhythm guitar but very rarely play along to tracks. I tend to work out the chords and then just play them myself. That way any song whether it is performed / recorded with guitar or not can be played with a guitar.

Having said that if you prefer to listen and play along to tracks and copy their strumming techniques / style then most guitar based bands will have some tracks that have acoustic guitar playing either soley or as an additional instrument in a song.

Try the obvious bands like Oasis; Wonderwall, Round Are Way, etc... should all be play along tracks, where you can copy the guitar strumming. The Longpigs also have a number of tracks that have acoustic guitar to play along to; On and On is a great track that has a good acoustic guitar sound that involves strumming, picking and hammer ons.

As for Ovation I can't comment. I have two guitars one semi-acoustic by Academy, which is a fairly lesser known guitar manufacturer, that I have had for around 12 years now. I also have a 12-string Takamine, which, although has a great full sound to it, I find hard to play having got fairly small hands and the 'D' shape to the neck is fairly large too. This makes playing barre chords fairly awkward for me plus muting the low strings with my thumb is harder too. I have also played some of the Yamaha guitars and these are of very high standard and also have a full rich sound. I am going to try and exchange my Takamine for a 12-String Yamaha as I have played the Yamaha and it is full sounding and easier to fret.

Hope this helps,

Daz

[dfield2000]

Thanks for the advice. Wonderwall is exactly the type of thing I mean - I'll download the tab tonight and try to learn it for my 'party piece' repertoire.

I want to play along while listening to the tracks as my timing needs improving - I've also thought about buying a metronome thingy which I suppose might help.

I've also got a tachomine, http://www.takamine.com/?fa=detail&mid=178&sid=352#, it's a nice spruce top cutaway dreadnought size guitar which also has pickups. If you have fairly small hands why don't you try the ovation 12 strings, as the necks aren't as wide as most other guitars and have a reputation for being easy to play.

[gaz.thomas]

I'd recommend (in addition to the above) Bob Dylan, Ben Harper and Jack Johnson. It'll give you an idea of just how much you can do with an acoustic guitar and your vocal cords :-)

Gaz
-x-

[huwg]

Led Zeppelin III has some good ones on, but you'll probably have to retune for each song

[karkus30]

Buy the guitar mags with the free discs.

For bands to strum to:

Travis
Nirvana
Stereophonics
Crowded House
Beatles
Bowie
Eagles
Meat Puppets-go on I dare you, if you want to listen to some of their stuff its on Nirvanas live unplugged album and theres loads of Nirvana stuff to strum too.

I use a Taylor Big Baby and love it. As its quite small you can carry it around easily. Great big sound that everyone that hears it , likes. I cant get it back from my 'jamming mates' when they visit.

[the_pauley]

Tell your mate he's deaf!

But seriously, I have an Ovation Balladeer - sounds as sweet as a nut and has done for many years.

Electro-acoustic model with six individual built in pick ups under the bridge, so that when amplified it sounds richly acoustic, like it has been miked instead of getting that flat "electric" sound one usually gets when placing a pickup under the strings in an acoustic guitar's soundhole.

If you want to stretch yourself try some middle period Joni Mitchell from "Blue" through to "Hejira". Some fabulously open sounds obtained through some fairly exotic tunings. Ditto Ry Cooder.

If you're looking at developing picking techniques, Paul Simon is a greatly underestimated acoustic axeman. Check out "Anji" on the "Sounds of Silence" album.

And of course the composer of said tune and one of Simon's guitar heroes Davy Graham should keep you up nights scratching your head. Just spotted a cheap career retrospective CD of Graham in the HMV sale I think - about a fiver or so. Had everything of his you'd want on it.

Should find details of tunings and music / tablature on the net fairly readily.

[dfield2000]

Thanks again for the suggestions.

I just found a niftey application on the web which I thought I should share with you - it's called Power Tab. You basically search for a song in one of the many libraries and then load in into the Power Tab application. It then plays the song while displaying and highlighting the tab/music as it goes along, so it's ideal for playing along to.

Pauley - do you mind if I ask how much you paid for your Balladeer.

Cheers

[the_pauley]

£600 - but that was back in 1985. Not a clue what they go for now.

[Bristol Pete]

I have an ovation. Its a great guitar. However, personally, I do think it sounds better when played through my amp via a processor. Then it sounds great.

It still sounds nice unplugged but I would describe the sound as less full than a traditional body acoustic.

Cap.

[the_pauley]

With the merest hint of enhancement from my Boss chorus pedal, the Ovation chimes like a harpsichord!

Luverly!

[Warpaint]

Lots of good advice here. Also have a look at the demo version of Guitar Pro. Its also a tablature program which displays the music as it plays. I think the demo version can do everything except print and you can only create a small number of bars if you are writing, but it will play perfectly and has lots of features to help improve your technique.
http://www.guitar-pro.com/eng/Downloads.php

There are loads of tabs available at http://www.mysongbook.com/
where I'm sure you'll find songs from every musician mentioned above.

Have fun!

Crowded House have some very nice strummy songs:

Mean To Me, Distant Sun, Better Be Home Soon....

Also other songs that spring to mind...Give A Little Bit (Supertramp), U2's cover of Everlasting Love, Go Your Own Way (Fleetwood Mac). Great to jam with...