Open Question Number One

[tesla]

As is usually the way of these things, having announced that I won't be reading LJ for a bit I find myself in desperate need of your opinions:

What songs shall I learn to play/sing for purposes of music partying? What would you like to sing along to? (Please don't throw rotten tomatoes at your monitors; it won't do anyone any good.)

Comments

Music party stuff

[markiv1111.livejournal.com]

I really know very little about your own tastes (not remembering a lot about stuff you expressed interest in during our lessons, save a vague recollection that you like/liked the Indigo Girls) but it is good to work on some songs that have choruses where people can sing, and a couple of songs with relatively simple chord progressions so that people can play along. One of the best things you can do, IMHO, is bring in stuff that nobody else does. So leaning quite heavily on your own tastes is excellent. I've had to be careful about *not* bringing in stuff that is depressing (and note that nobody has asked Lojo to play *Gloomy Sunday* in 20 years); you may not need to lean away from that. With me knowing nothing about your singing voice, I can't suggest anything that would sound good with you singing it. I wonder if there are some obscure Irish tunes that Paul Regge, and/or Kurt, and/or David Perry would react to with the comment, "Gee, I was thinking about learning that myself!"? And if somebody tells you, "Tesla, you absolutely have to learn this one," turn and run.

Note that your music party is taking place on my 6th wedding anniversary and Louie and I will be out doing stuff. I am sorry to miss it, and definitely want to hear you play and sing again someday.

Nate

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Play stuff that you like a lot.

That may seem trite, but I'll stand by it. You'll have to practice it, over and over. Plus, I really enjoy listening/watching other people's passion, even if it's not to my taste. If you're having fun, chance are good I will too. If you're not having fun, it's unlikely I will.

That having been said: Steeleye Span, Allan Sherman, The Roches and the occasional original. There.

[jbru.livejournal.com]

What I want to eventually learn to play and sing as part of my 40-year-plan to become a blues slide-guitar player are a bit slanted because of my particular tastes. sleigh and chasophonic had some good things to say about what makes a good piece for a music circle not too far back.

The basic advice is to pick something with a simple chorus that repeats frequently as this encourages people to sing along and/or something with a simple and/or standard chord progression as that will allow others to play along and take solos easily. Picking something popular makes it more likely that people will know the song which helps with all the above.

More than anything, pick something that makes your heart leap or ache to hear it. The passion you feel while performing will be palpable to the other members of the circle and passion is catching.

[pied-piper70.livejournal.com]

It's been said already, but really, you need to decide what you want to learn play...Sure, there's the "know your audience" factor, but aside from that, pick a song that you like and then learn it...

I know it's not as easy as that, so pick a song that might be easier to learn, chord-wise...

Also, and this is most important, find a song that will fit into your vocal range and will work with your vocal timbre...This is more difficult and it took me awhile to figure out: I'm never going to sing like Joe Cocker or Tom Waits until I'm at least eighty years old...And as much as I LOVE to play r&b/soul, my voice doesn't fit much of that genre either...So in the meantime, I find song that fit my voice: Neil Finn/Crowded House songs work...So does Squeeze, Beatles, Robyn Hitchcock, most Brit pop stuff...

So the challenge is finding styles that fit what you can sing...and also play at the same time...

Also, don't be hard on yourself with memorizing lyrics...I completely suck at it: it usually takes me five years to get song lyrics right unless I really really really work at it...Your mileage may vary but don't worry about it in any case...

[madtruk.livejournal.com]

Dude, you can Joe Cockerize (well, that bit of wordsmithing goes back to the think tank) your voice by smoking a few cigs and drinking half a bottle of whiskey (any type). At the least, you'll _feel_ like Joe, and that's just as important, I think.

hehe

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

What other have said, also: if there's a song that moves you, if you get choked up when you first try to sing it, that's a song worth learning.

I like to sing along to anything with a chorus. :)

[guppiecat]

First of all, I'm sorry to hear that you're sick. I hope that you recover soon, so that you can enjoy this fine weather and Balticon.

Secondly, while I agree with the majority of your friends here, in that whatever you play from the heart will work just fine in the circle, I believe that you already know this. You know that you have power, both in voice and in playing style, when you're confident enough to let yourself go. So, I am going to assume that you want to know that what you're playing will be accepted by the group, so that you can feel more confident and comfortable as you play.

Luckily, I have just finished adding my folk directory to my "listen in the car" playlist, so I have a reference :).

What follows are recommendations of songs that I think:

1) You would enjoy learning and playing
2) Others could play along with in circle
3) Not terribly depressing
4) Leans towards American roots (though with a Celtic/British bent, it IS my playlist after all ;)
5) Should be able to be simplified and work with just voice and guitar AND work well when being backed by various other instruments (I'm not a terribly good judge of this, so I'll likely mis-estimate in either direction, sorry)
6) Ideally, would speak to you, so you can play from the heart as well as the brain (You're the best judge of what speaks to you, so I'm just sorta guessing in the dark here. My taste will likely be reflected more than yours. So it goes.)

Abi Tapia - Cried Wolf
Abi Tapia - Drive Away Slow
Abi Tapia - Selective Memory
Alana Levandoski - Prairie Sun
Alana Levandoski - Red Headed Girl
Bejae Flemming -I Am A Diamond
Betsy Rose - Building a House
Bob Seger - Someday Lady You'll Accompany Me
Cara Luft - No Friend of Mine
Casey Neil - Chainlink Fence
Chad Mitchell Trio - Lizzie Borden
Cheryl Wheeler - Same Old Game
Chris Smither - Origin of the Species
Cormac McCarthy - Friend of the Family
Crooked Still - Little Sadie
Crooked Still - Orphan Girl
Curtis and Loretta - Gone Forever
Dan Fogelberg - Nexus
Dan Fogelberg - Language of Love
Dandelion Wine - Mockingbird
Dar Williams - Are You Out There
Dar Williams - Alleluia
Dar Williams - When I Was A Boy
Debbie Dietrich - Blackberry Vine
Dixie Chicks - Godspeed
The Duhks - Four Blue Walls
The Duhks - You and I
Elanor Shanley - Galway to Graceland (really Richard Thompson, but she does it better)
Elanor Shanley - What You Do With What You've Got
Elwood - Sundown
Equation - Strange Love
Four Bitchin' Babes - My Mother's Hands
Fred Eaglesmith - Wilder Than Her
The Golden Ring - Devil in the Garden
Goombay Dance Band - Bang Bang Lulu (when kids aren't around ;)
Greg Klyma - Brothers' Code
Greg Klyma - Let it Play
Harry Chapin - Dirt Gets Under the Fingernail
Indigo Girls - Galileo
Indigo Girls - Get Out The Map
Indigo Girls - I Believe In Love
Jack Hardy - I Ought to Know
Jack Johnson - The Horizon Has Been Defeated
James Taylor - Fire and Rain
Jana Stanfield - Little Red Book
Janis Ian - Take Me Walking In The Rain
Joan Amatrading - You Made Your Bed
John Prine - Fish and Whistle
Johnny Clegg - Woza Friday
JP Cormier - Another Morning
Karla Ruth - If I Had Met You On A Monday
Kat Eggleston - Impact
Lori McKenna - Fireflies
Lui Collins - Moondancer
Luka Bloom - Monsoon
Luka Bloom - Perfect Groove
Magnetic Fields - Long Forgotten Fairy Tale
Magnetic Fields - Acoustic Guitar
Mary Chapin Carpenter - I Am A Town
Mary Chapin Carpenter - I Take My Chances
Mary Chapin Carpenter - The Hard Way
Mary Chapin Carpenter - Simple Life
Mary Chapin Carpenter - Long Way Home
Moxy Fruvous - Present Tense Tureen
Nik Kershaw - The Riddle
Ridley Bent - Pastures of Heaven
Sandy Andina - Ink and Pen
Sarah McLachlin - Good Enough
Stan Rogers - Forty-Five Years
Stan Rogers - Pharisee
Stan Rogers - Watching the Apples Grow
Stephen Fearing - This Guitar
Tom Russell - Navaho Rug
Tom Russell - As The Crow Flies
Waterboys - The Whole Of The Moon
Capercaillie - Claire in Heaven
Capercaillie - The Price of Fire
Gaelic Storm - Swimmin' in the Sea
Great Big Sea - Donkey Riding
Great Big Sea - Ordinary Day
Ian Bruce Band - My Martin and my Motorbike
Alphaville - Middle of the Riddle
Erasure - Blue Savannah Song
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Talking Loud and Clear

(Edited to fix a paste error)

[madtruk.livejournal.com]

Simple songs that you love work best. Find your range, learn to love your capo (until you figure out transposing), and go from there. This is my favorite site for lyrics/chords when I'm feeling lazy and mainstream (it even transposes for you!):

http://www.chordie.com//

You have good instincts and you know your crowd, so your worries should be few :) (but yeah, I know they aren't).