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  #16  
Old 09-25-2013, 09:03 PM
slewis slewis is offline
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Originally Posted by Glennwillow View Post
Even though I like listening to John Mayer's music (and I'm 65) I have never made any effort to learn to play John Mayer's songs until I heard "Walt Grace's Submarine Ride" recently. I figured it out by ear from the CD I bought, but it's not too hard. Cool song... I play the song using a Travis pick.

- Glenn
Glenn, I've been a huge JM fan pretty much since day one, but that Walt Grace tune struck a chord with me like few others have, too -- something about the sentiment of it that really hits deep with me, and of course it's a beautiful piece of music too. I mean, it's brought tears to my eyes and I can't even explain why! He's just an amazing, full-package artist, IMO.

I perform four of his tunes regularly -- No Such Thing, Daughters, Born and Raised (my first harmonica tune!) and St. Patrick's Day. I've always thought that SPD was an almost perfect song, and then I read quite some time ago that, at least at that time, he also thought that that song was his high mark to that point, one that he compared all his others to. I've played others of his too, with varying degrees of accuracy, but he does so many unconventional things, every one of my versions of his songs are just the best I can do learning them by ear. They sound fine, as far as I'm concerned, and audiences, I'm sure, don't hear the difference, but I know they're likely not very close to exactly what he plays.

Anyway to the original poster, also add Born and Raised to the list of relatively easy tunes to try. G, Bmin, F and C, mostly, with some basic hammer-ones and pull-offs... Good luck!
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  #17  
Old 09-26-2013, 05:00 PM
limache limache is offline
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Thanks a lot to everyone - glad to see other JM fans too.

Here's the videos i'm watching now to learn if anyone is interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN4h740etfY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6oDmSANUOg
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  #18  
Old 09-26-2013, 06:49 PM
limache limache is offline
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Originally Posted by stevejazzx View Post
I learned Neon once and it **** near broke my hand
Stop this train is doable and also my favorite song of his
I made a complete fingerstyle arrangement of it once - its on my youtube if anyone's interested

Steve
Is Neon really that difficult?

And to the first responder in the thread, no I'm not trying to sing (i wish). I'd be happy just to be able to do the instrumental.
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  #19  
Old 09-26-2013, 09:22 PM
conacher conacher is offline
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Neon is fairly difficult. The right hand technique in order to play the song is hard to grasp for a beginner
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  #20  
Old 09-27-2013, 12:07 AM
londan111 londan111 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by limache View Post
Is Neon really that difficult?

And to the first responder in the thread, no I'm not trying to sing (i wish). I'd be happy just to be able to do the instrumental.
If Steve says something is tough I'd believe him!
I have no idea of the song but yeah it cant be easy.
John Mayer has never done it for me but so many guitarists like him - must check him out.
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  #21  
Old 09-27-2013, 02:53 AM
CyberFerret CyberFerret is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by conacher View Post
Neon is fairly difficult. The right hand technique in order to play the song is hard to grasp for a beginner
Yep - that right hand beat pattern SOUNDS easy, but is a killer to play. I can only *just* get it if I focus really hard and don't do anything else. Goodness knows how he can sing and maintain that pattern?!?

There was a good Youtube lesson video I found once that focused on some exercises you could do to get that plucking pattern right. It is basically a D-U-D-U-U pattern using the p-i-p-a-m fingers with a slap along with the 3rd note.
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  #22  
Old 09-27-2013, 02:57 AM
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SalFromChatham SalFromChatham is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by conacher View Post
Aside from just his early stuff, the following songs I've found to be fairly simple for a beginner.

Paradise Valley
- Waiting On The Day
- On The Way Home

Born and Raised
- Queen of California (a little tricky at first)
- Shadow Days
The last two albums are made for beginners. You don't have to play the songs exactly like he does.

Reminds me of when I learned how to play guitar by myself by listening to the Eagles in the mid 70s.
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  #23  
Old 09-27-2013, 07:18 AM
conacher conacher is offline
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This video pretty thoroughly explains the picking technique employed by Mayer when playing Neon. For those that haven't attempted it or heard the song I would recommend checking it out. Its a very cool song and one that took me a very long time to play (still cant play it perfectly but thats what practice is for).


John Mayer- Neon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCZlZgFSRag


Tutorial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z01M_4R80Wg
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  #24  
Old 09-27-2013, 11:46 AM
stevejazzx stevejazzx is offline
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Originally Posted by limache View Post
Is Neon really that difficult?

.
Oh yeah, mental actually. Mayers sense of rhythm is incredible.
He's an excellent guitarist. It's probably more doable then I remember - had to get it down as I was playing with a singer so it had to be tight. That was tough.
Great artist
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  #25  
Old 09-27-2013, 10:20 PM
limache limache is offline
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I've been learning "Your Body is a Wonderland" and so far I think it's fairly straightforward. Wanted to share the tutorial I've been watching .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klSMpvs4Zag
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  #26  
Old 09-27-2013, 10:33 PM
Monk of Funk Monk of Funk is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by limache View Post
Hey I really like John Mayer's songs and would love to learn them. I am a pretty new as I've only been playing for about 2 months and just learning basic chords, strumming etc.

I searched tutorials for "no such thing", "neon", "body is a wonderland" but I realized they are a bit more difficult than I thought. I really like those songs but does anyone have suggestions for his songs that are more at a beginner level (or are all his songs really advanced?) Oh and would also love to hear any other artists that are similar to him that would be cool to listen to .
i don't know how hard you think guitar is, but it's more tough than you think in general. I've not learned any john mayer song's so I can't help you there, but especially in the beginning, guitar is difficult on the hands.

there is a learning curve there, I think you will need some watered down versions of some songs, and some really simple songs that you like.

It is good to seek out songs you want to learn. Don't get me wrong, that's the best way. But 2 months into it, it's going to be a little tough, your hands can't really do guitar yet.
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  #27  
Old 09-27-2013, 10:39 PM
Monk of Funk Monk of Funk is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by conacher View Post
This video pretty thoroughly explains the picking technique employed by Mayer when playing Neon. For those that haven't attempted it or heard the song I would recommend checking it out. Its a very cool song and one that took me a very long time to play (still cant play it perfectly but thats what practice is for).


John Mayer- Neon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCZlZgFSRag


Tutorial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z01M_4R80Wg
Thank you for showing me that, I didn't know john mayer could play that way.

This is next on my list for songs I'm going to learn. Sweet.

EDIT: dang nabbit, he uses an odd tuning. I'm less enthused. but may give it a go anyway.
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  #28  
Old 09-28-2013, 09:57 AM
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Originally Posted by Scotch View Post
Free falling is easy.
Well, originally it's Tom Petty's. Isn't it?
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  #29  
Old 09-28-2013, 09:30 PM
conacher conacher is offline
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Originally Posted by Monk of Funk View Post
Thank you for showing me that, I didn't know john mayer could play that way.

This is next on my list for songs I'm going to learn. Sweet.

EDIT: dang nabbit, he uses an odd tuning. I'm less enthused. but may give it a go anyway.
Its just drop C. Leave everything else standard and tune the Low E to the 3rd fret A string.

I highly recommend checking out "Where The Light Is Live from the Nokia Theater". It is a great showcase as to the talent John Mayer has.
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  #30  
Old 09-29-2013, 12:07 PM
Monk of Funk Monk of Funk is offline
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Originally Posted by conacher View Post
Its just drop C. Leave everything else standard and tune the Low E to the 3rd fret A string.

I highly recommend checking out "Where The Light Is Live from the Nokia Theater". It is a great showcase as to the talent John Mayer has.
I'm not worried about achieving the tuning, I just hate tuning in and out to fit certain songs. But I might try this one. It might be a little bit fresh to have a new fretboard, but I know mine now, quite well, and I know where the chords sit on it and stuff like that. This will impede some of my ability to freestyle. I'll have to sort of learn new stuff, or remember that low E is different. Which will probably be kind of cool, but also a bit of a pita.
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