So I am going through the beginner lessons and learning to strum and getting good clear chords.
Music you like is paramount and although I love some of the american west style cowboy music at heart i was doing my most concerts during the 1990s and watching bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains very much the Grunge scene.
I want to like what I play instead of playing stuff I have never heard of, it makes it harder for sure.
Is it possible to find three chord, perhaps even four chord grunge songs?
My strumming is at lesson 1 so i really need easy stuff, but what better way to learn than by following what made you want to pick up the guitar in the first place.
This might be a question for a similar grunge music lover.
Appreciate in advance any time you can share with me.
Hi Simon - Not sure how far into the course you are but I suspect you will want to learn power chords. One chord shape covers any chord you want to play. The guitarist in our band also plays in a grunge band, so we end up doing a lot of grunge covers of regular songs. We did a power chord based grunge cover of āCanāt get you out of my headā at the last gig
Nirvana, for one, used more then 4 chords in many songs.
Iād suggest getting the basics down first in order to progress to playing the songs you like.
The open chords, major and minor are essential. Also powerchords like @mathsjunky suggested are very much needed.
Hereās Teen spirit, in tabs. 4 chords, but one is a minor chord. https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/nirvana/smells-like-teen-spirit-chords-807883
Thanks for the link, I will use this as something to strive towards and get my manjor and minor chords and strumming up to a reasonable level, that might take a while but I just want to hear that sound I love so much come from my guitar
There is a simplified version of Pearl Jamās āBlackā on the site thatās just a few chords. āElderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Townā is also just a few simple chords. They might be unfamiliar at first (e.g., Cadd9 and Asus2) but they are not difficult and sound great.
Pearl Jamās Last Kiss is a 4 chord song that uses relatively easy chords and also actually uses the āOld Faithfulā strumming pattern. Many lessons I find instruct to use that strum straight through, but to vary it up, I do a muted strum on the last G chord of each verse and chorus. Itās not exactly what they do in the recording, but itās closer to what they do than strumming straight through.
I would suggest some Hole songs. 4 chords usually with the verse and and choruses often the same chords just switched up. Then Cortney will switch up the bridge some. The only issue you may have as a beginner is after the first verse and chorus she will go from open chords to power chords and full on 16th note down strokes. You can easily get around this by doing open chords with down/up strokes and still have the cool sound and get a feel for the sound. Hole totally rocks, people always forget about them.
Other cool grunge era bands that play somewhat easy music are the Pixies, 4 none blonds (try zombie, super easy song). I would also try playing some clash, the cult obviously the ones that have been stated prior.
Once you get you Stuck cords down you can play elderly women and a bunch of other cool songs.
You too, can say no to wonderwall!
Remember a lot of alt rock from the 90s play in Eb Tuning and other types of altered tuning. Dont be afraid of them. Richard has a solid intro to alternative tunings Club lesson. Cheak it out.
Check out āSong 2ā by Blur. Iām still on Module 1 but I picked that song up pretty easily. They werenāt known as a Grunge band but they wrote that song in response to the popularity of āSmells like Teen Spirit.ā Justin doesnāt have it in his app of songs but he did a YouTube video on it. I donāt like the way Martyguitar plays it, but this guy Jon MacLennan has a great video on it as well: How To Play Song 2 On Guitar | Blur Guitar Lesson + Tutorial + TABS
OMG that would be good, yes I have been playing with those stuck chords for that song, I have the chords down but not the strum, I am a bit away off from that, bloody Wonderwall haha
