good songs to play for a 12 string beginner?

freebyrd · Post by **freebyrd** » Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:24 pm

not quite sure if this is the right forum, but the music forums seem dedicated to specific bands or eras and i'm pretty open to all.

any recommendations for some starting songs with some fairly basic lead lines while i'm getting used to doubling my joy? uh, don't quite think i'm up to tackling mcguinn proper yet, though i can do the opening to mr tambourine man.

had some fun with "the one i love" but have been mostly playing chords. some of the tabs i checked out seemed tough or wrong. i bet a lot of people here play by ear but maybe you wouldn't mind at least sharing some easier stuff you like to play to help increase my personal jangle factor.

Folkie · Post by **Folkie** » Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:34 pm

Jessica,

You might try "My Back Pages," "Bells of Rhymney," or "She Don't Care about Time." All three are based on simple licks and open chords, and have solos which won't take you too long to learn. Once you grow accustomed to flatpicking these songs, you can try them in true McGuinn-style (that is, fingerpicked). But first I would tackle the chords to "Mr. Tambourine Man," which should be easy, now that you've got that intro down.

Robert

freebyrd · Post by **freebyrd** » Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:48 pm

this is strange, but even when i was struggling to play chords, i taught myself to fingerpick the beginning of "more than a feeling" and it's one thing that's always stuck with me. so maybe someday the inner mcguinn will be unleashed! but hitting the 12 with a pick is enough of a challenge now for me.

thanks! bells of rhymney, an all time fave.

i'm probably going to play the tom petty homework my guitar teacher gave me (my guitar teacher is really cool) on the 12 as well as my 6 tonight too.

C'sPop · Post by **C'sPop** » Mon Apr 02, 2012 10:17 pm

You may find a much lighter pick is a help on the 12. All my 6's get the same heavy, but the 12 string gets a very light Dunlop. Helps avoid getting caught in the bear trap. Good luck!

teb · Post by **teb** » Mon Apr 02, 2012 10:42 pm

In my opinion, the best way to increase your jangle factor has little to do with lead lines, tabs, etc. It's learning not to strum chords, but rather to pick through them and develop simple, kind of walking transitions from one chord to the next. Whether you're fingerpicking or flat-picking (like I do) developing a quick right hand really helps. You can make an incredible amount of sound with a Rickenbacker twelve and it's kind of a shame to strum anything but the final chord of a song.

sample clips of what I'm talking about:
http://webpages.charter.net/tbradshaw/M ... amples.mp3

jimk · Post by **jimk** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 12:31 am

How about "My Back Pages"? The guitar solo is one of McGuinn's easiest. And you can then return to finger picking the chords.
JimK

paologregorio · Post by **paologregorio** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 1:02 am

If you want to try some 12 string-y stuff that's slightly newer...

Echo and the Bunnymen: "Killing Moon" and "Seven Seas."
Smiths: "This Charming Man"
Plimsouls: "A Million Miles Away."
The Las: "There She Goes."

jps · Post by **jps** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 1:21 am

And You And I

freebyrd · Post by **freebyrd** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 2:33 am

killing moon and there she goes.. some of my all time fave tunes.. why did i never think of the rick factor before on those? especially with the opening of killing moon.

a million miles away is a great tune too. my back pages also fantastic. just relistened to the solo. simple indeed! and i'm sure i'll be flummoxed trying to play it.

goddamn people who play rickenbackers write good songs. i worked too late tonight to get much in! breakfast, lunch and dinner all at my desk. not rock and roll!

thanks for the great suggestions!

freebyrd · Post by **freebyrd** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 2:52 am

i couldn't resist. i grabbed my guitar and am playing the solo to killing moon (semi)along with the track. this is living!

ken_j · Post by **ken_j** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 9:28 am

Feel a Whole Lot Better is another fun song to tackle on a 12.

Folkie · Post by **Folkie** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 11:08 am

C'sPop wrote:You may find a much lighter pick is a help on the 12. All my 6's get the same heavy, but the 12 string gets a very light Dunlop. Helps avoid getting caught in the bear trap. Good luck!

I agree with Ken: You'll get more chime and shimmer (and find it easier to arpeggiate chords) with a very thin flatpick. (I use a Dunlop .50mm).

Folkie · Post by **Folkie** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 11:20 am

ken_j wrote:Feel a Whole Lot Better is another fun song to tackle on a 12.

The only problem I've had with "Feel a Whole Lot Better" is that there are at least two guitars on the solo break, so it's hard to replicate that sound by just letting those B and E unison pairs chime. However the chords and the outro are very easy. Not a bad choice for a Ric beginner.

8mileshigher · Post by **8mileshigher** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 5:40 pm

There's a lot to chose from..... running an RRF search for "12 string songs" yields 984 entries....

Folkie · Post by **Folkie** » Tue Apr 03, 2012 5:57 pm

Wow! That's quite a few! Any favorites for Jessica to start with, Rich?

Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum