Song suggestions to play in French to learn to speak french

[AusSi]

Hey All,

So i am learning french while I live in Montreal and want to use playing and singing as a way to help me learn.

I am finding it extremely difficult to find something acoustic that sounds nice and will motivate me to actually learn it. I am more into romantic style slow stuff but anything nice would do.

So yeah if you guys can suggest anything that would be amazing.

[Wyllys]

Perhaps Michel LeGrands score /songs from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg might be of interest. The entire dialogue is sung, the music is great and since you like more romantic stuff, this should be of some interest.

[Gitfiddlemann]

Originally Posted by AusSi

Hey All,

So i am learning french while I live in Montreal and want to use playing and singing as a way to help me learn.

I am finding it extremely difficult to find something acoustic that sounds nice and will motivate me to actually learn it. I am more into romantic style slow stuff but anything nice would do.

So yeah if you guys can suggest anything that would be amazing.

I think that's an excellent way to do it!
French Canada has a rich musical history, with roots in celtic, danse and French folklore music, and not much of it is known throughout the rest of English speaking North America.
Based on your description of what you like to play and sing, I can think of no better place to start than to familiarize yourself with the music of the many "Chansonniers" (and Chansonnières ) whose repertoire (usually with guitars or piano) was mostly romantic and nostalgic in character, and very melodic. The most popular among them is probably Felix Leclerc, and Gilles Vigneault (check out his "Mon Pays"). But that goes back 50 years or so. The modern music scene there is still very vibrant, and if you live in Montreal there are lots of small pubs with "open house" style musicians which you may want to check out for sources.
To start, here is a list of the more famous Chansonniers from Quebec.
Chansonniers
From there, just YouTube your way around for inspiration. Lots and lots of great material to choose from which I'm sure will be helpful in your French study.
Great idea, and good luck with it!

[ctgagnon]

A favorite of mine:

http://lyricstranslate.com/en/yester...ais-jeune.html

Roy Clark's English version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEY4LxORCeo


Chords here:
http://www.classic-country-song-lyri...icschords.html

[mc1]

what? 4 replies in and no 'frere jacque'!?!

seriously, kids songs for learning french are there for a reason.. maybe surf around youtube. what kind of music do you like? edith piaf and charles aznavour are both famous, romantic, and would lend themselves to acoustic music. my parents liked them.

Originally Posted by Wyllys

Perhaps Michel LeGrands score /songs from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg might be of interest. The entire dialogue is sung, the music is great and since you like more romantic stuff, this should be of some interest.

that movie makes me sad, especially when he leaves on the train and they sing 'i will wait for you' (well, in french).

and after i watch it, i go around singing my speech all day long.

[Andreas Fischer]

Au claire de la lune

[AusSi]

Seriously you guys have no idea how much i appreciate your input. Its just so dam difficult to find good songs when you don't speak the language.

I was looking for something a little more modern, and maybe not a kids song hahaha however these are a great start.

I was thinking maybe i should find one of those you tube video classes in French, i bet they have some really good stuff and the lessons come with!

[Kray Van Kirk]

If you're feeling ambitious, there are things like Pierre Bensusan's La Nuit de Meteores, but the guitar would probably be more difficult than the French! :-p But it's a wonderful and romantic song.

[Wyllys]

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD735757DB5CF7D4C

From a Google search "Chansons Populaire"...

[frankmcr]

Meeeeee-shell, mah bell ...

[pf400]

This goes back a bit but I find it very enjoyable and easy enough to learn the chords. Roch Voisine became internationally renown by, as I recall, going over to France. His song Hélène:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FD6i79z2YI

[niko]

well, you should listen to these guys, they are among the most reknown singers/songwriters iplaying the guitar in France. I give 2 examples for each of them (all these songs were hits), but they wrote tons of songs, and their lyrics are superb

Georges Moustaki (was one of Edith Piaf's lover...)
https://youtu.be/9Hv6R2fEdfA
https://youtu.be/ZNa3wuYXxbI

Maxime le Forestier (especially his early songs)
https://youtu.be/2lIFl_9pfng
https://youtu.be/0rxGgX7HknA

Georges Brassens
https://youtu.be/rslShTbqNbo
https://youtu.be/rrZPVQN8QDY
but a lot of his songs are satirical ("le gorille", "le nombril de la femme de l'agent de police",...)

Dick Annegarn is also a very fine guitar player. He's from Netherlands, but lives in France since 30-40 years.
https://youtu.be/QZMUwL4sK0M
https://youtu.be/tpfxxpIGHMY

Some other very good singers/songwriters, but not specifically guitar oriented :
Jacques Brel ( https://youtu.be/n2kkr0e_dTQ I'm sure you know this song !)
Boris Vian (was also a great writer)
Serge Reggiani
Leo Ferre

Nicolas

[mr. beaumont]

Two words: Yves Montand

https://youtu.be/Hrd1wV1ztb0

[txstrathack]

Jack Johnson - Belle
https://youtu.be/bgt-XaZWB8w

[Notguildy]

Originally Posted by AusSi

Hey All,

So i am learning french while I live in Montreal and want to use playing and singing as a way to help me learn.

I am finding it extremely difficult to find something acoustic that sounds nice and will motivate me to actually learn it. I am more into romantic style slow stuff but anything nice would do.

So yeah if you guys can suggest anything that would be amazing.

Hi

Drop me some names of artist you like (English speakers) and I'll try to find some correspondence for you among French artists.

Nicolas