Monday, March 5, 2012

5 Songs That Made Me Want To Play Guitar

One of the blogs that I follow is I Can't Brain Today, and today's post covered the five songs that made him want to play guitar. It was great to get a chance to read what songs have inspired him musically, and it got me to thinking about some of the songs that stick out in my mind. Before I get into the songs, I'll give a little bit of background.

No, I don't currently own a guitar. I borrowed one for a few weeks last year and enjoyed it in the brief time I could spare between work and homework, and it confirmed my belief that I want to learn to play and someday get decent at it. And I'm sure I won't surprise too many people when I declare that Guitar Hero really is what got me to thinking about playing the instrument.

I spent months of agony going from struggling on Medium difficulty, moving into frustration by adding the fifth fret, and eventually getting to the point where I could hold my own on Expert with most songs. It comes as no surprise that, during the course of the day, three of the five songs that have stuck for this list were featured in the first Guitar Hero game. It really sparked my desire to play the guitar, and all three of the songs are old classic rock songs.

Hopefully by this time next year I'll be able to write about learning to play the guitar on a real instrument. At this point I'm not picky between Acoustic or Electric, although ultimately I'll be getting an Electric Guitar to rock out on.

I think when we buy a house it'll have to have good insulation in at least one room...

5. Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple



This was the song that inspired me to pick up the Guitar Hero instrument and give the game a chance. The intro to this song is recognizable to almost anyone who has listened to any Classic Rock. In the short time I was borrowing a guitar, I learned those chords and enjoyed playing just a few seconds of the awesomeness that is this song. I can hardly wait until the day when I can play the full song. Then I will know that the Guitar Hero has been replaced by a real Guitarist.

4. Cocaine - Eric Clapton



Eric Clapton is one of the greatest guitar geniuses to ever live. In my early years I had a cassette of Slowhand, and I played the first side of it to death. This song is anti-drug if you listen to the lyrics, the guitar in it is memorable, and the solo is fantastic.

3. Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd



It is hard to choose a favorite Pink Floyd song, but the guitar solos on this song have always been something I was fond of. I have to confess that I've tried to vocally imitate the guitar solos when driving in the car, or while listening to this song while home alone.

2. Texas Flood - Stevie Ray Vaughn



This is a slow, bluesy song by another one of my favorite guitarists. But if you listen to how fast some of those guitar parts are, you realize his fingers are blazing even on this song. If I had to pick a favorite song overall by Stevie Ray Vaughn it would be Pride and Joy, but even the guitar part on that can't compare to this one. This was probably my second-most played song on Guitar Hero, and I loved every minute of frantic struggle to hit all the colored frets almost as much as when I played...

1. Crossroads - Cream



Yes, this is another great guitar part by Eric Clapton. His early years were absolutely brilliant, and his solos reflected how great his talent was. I've read that Cream was marketed to be a band that was better live than in album. Which is probably why a fair portion of their "Wheels of Fire" album contains live tracks, including this song. If you like great guitar solos, you can't go wrong with live versions of Cream because they are all incredible.

So there you have it, the five songs that have inspired me more than any others to learn the guitar. It surprised me, when I got to thinking about it, that my favorite two Bands/Artists didn't make the cut with any of their tracks, but David Bowie and Queen don't need epic guitar parts to make great music.

What are some of the songs whose guitar parts stick out to you?

1 comment:

  1. Well done, David! Comfortably Numb is one of my favorite Floyd songs and it almost made the cut to my top 5.

    Good luck learning guitar! A little searching will turn up some bargain prices on guitars just to get you a starter instrument.

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