Hey,

I have my first ever guitar lesson on wednesday coming (im 28) and, although I know im not ready for it yet, does anyone know any simple songs by johnny that would/should be the first i learne.

I love delia's gone, and many of the old folk american songs he performed. Some songs although they sound easy i spose are quite trickey and vica versa.

(p.s - im gonna buy a black guitar)

Well Delia's Gone may not be the best choice since it has a lot of chord changing. The first song I learned was Ring of Fire . Try a three chord song by Johnny Cash. Pickin' Time would be the easiest song since it only uses two chords. I think Folsom Prison might be a good way to start out. You should have lots of fun with your guitar, the only bad thing is your fingers aching. All in all its not so bad.

I would try give my love to rose,you'll do fine if you can keep your interest up

Yeah, stick with it and you'll have a blast. You won't regret the sore fingers. However, you will regret it if you quit......Also, try Hank Williams' Jambalaya. It's two chords, back and forth for the entire song and it's a great song.

Hi,
I start learn playing guitar when I was 45.
I learned to play by notes and melody.
My very first song was " I Still Miss Someone" . Later came I Walk The Line, Ring Of Fire etc.
After stopping learning in 2006 I will have my first lesson again next week Friday.


And : I think you are never to old to learn something .
I wish you a great start and a black guitar is a very good choice.

I believe "San Quentin" and "I saw a man" would be good starter songs. They are not too difficult in matter of chord changes.
Good luck! You'll enjoy learning! Later, you'll find that a capo can be very helpful...
When I started to teach myself (1983), I played every day for one hour rhythm guitar, one year every day, just looking at the chord diagrams in my old JC songbook. That was good enough for me... ...and it worked. If you practice; it's really a day-to-day-thing.

Hey that's cool, just learn some chords listen to the music and stick with it! First cash songs I started to play were "walk the line", "Folsom prison blues" and stuff like that. Pick the songs you like the most they'll work the best!!

Just a short addition:
What surprised me a lot was the fact that I had almost to start over again when I changed from sitting to standing in playing guitar. There's a huge difference.
I started sitting + playing; later I decided to play standing because I could move better. And I found that this change was VERY difficult, because of the slightly larger difference between eye control and the fingers on the guitar neck playing the chords. It really took me a long time to get to the old standard which I had established from playing in the sitting position. I was not prepared for that, and nobody had told me.
So maybe it is good if you start your lessons standing right from the beginning - or you decide to keep playing while sitting.
What do the experts say? Any similar experiences?

Good luck!!! That sounds like a lot of fun..

I suggest you get the Johnny Cash guitar chord songbook from Hal Leanoard. It is great and the chordsd are easy to play. It has his biggest hits and some other not so big hits which is really nice. It was the first book I used when I started to platy and I leanred greatly from it.

Keep in mind that you can play thousands of songs on a guitar or other musical instrument with just three chords. Johnny, Peter, Paul, & Mary, Bob Seger, Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, The Lovin' Spoonful, The Beatles, and everyone else-------practically everything they wrote and played can be played with 3 chords (4-5 at the maximum, but you could get by with three). And "yes," there are many songs with dozens of chords, BUT, all of those chords are no more than variations of the basic chords that you are going to learn.. Of course, the more chords you learn, the more you will be able to add little riffs and nuances into your songs (those sweet little notes you often hear picked between verses and/or during pauses, etc). I think the more you learn and play, the more you will want to learn because you'll stay excited about it........ But then again, you might get yourself into a comfortable rut like I often do and just be happy with what you are doing.

Thanks for the advice folks.

Will take all the advice on board, hopefully i will stick with it, im very excited.

Hi Pip!
Best wishes on your musical journey! This IS exciting and I hope you'll enjoy many years of great music making along the way.

One suggestion I have for you. If your current guitar teacher doesn't like Johnny Cash stuff or won't teach it to you, Get Another Teacher! It's important to get a teacher that teaches what you want to learn. Otherwise what's the point? You obviously have a desire to learn his songs and anything else you want will be one of the most important elements for you to stay interested in your instrument. So make sure your teacher matches YOU not some pre-described lesson plan THEY have!
Have fun!
Lisa