good songs to play for a 12 string beginner?

[8mileshigher]

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

There have been some great suggestions already put forward.... pick a few from the more "modern" bands that Paulie mentioned such as Echo & the Bunnymen, the Smiths and the Plimsouls; pick a few from some 70s & 80s bands like R.E.M. and Tom Petty and pick a few from the 60s, like the Byrds, the Searchers, etc. And can't forget Hard Day's Night with its famous 12-string intro chord. There's so many 12 string songs to chose from ....

Another aspect is to try a Ric 12-string on songs that the original artists did not use a Ric, and surprise yourself. Think of artists like Badfinger who have neat arpeggio chordal runs on tunes like Baby Blue or No Matter What; think of some of the mellower Pink Floyd songs on Dark Side of the Moon, like Breathe or Brain Damage/Eclipse....

Try a Ric 12 string with an Acoustic Simulator pedal on some clean amp settings ... try a Ric 12 string on some songs known for their Overdrive distortion .... experiment with different effects pedals.

[analogpackrat]

The Waiting is a nice TPATH 12-string song that's not too hard to play. You Wreck Me sounds great with a 12 and a little dirt. This One's for Me (from the sleeper album Echo) is a great 12-string jangler. Listen to Her Heart can also work with a 12 and some chimey/voxey dirt. It sounds like Mike's playing a Rick 12 on Finding Out, too.

There are some good REM 12-string tunes, too (Wolves, Lower; Maps and Legends, Shaking Through). Driver-8 sounds nice on a 12 even though that's not what's on the record. Quite a few of Guadalcanal Diary's songs had Rick 12s on them (Fear of God, Trail of Tears, Ghosts on the Road, Why Do the Heathen Rage, Litany, maybe Lips of Steel). And how could we forget Mitch Easter's 80s band, Let's Active? Waters Part, Blue Line, Horizon all have some 12 on them. Other 80's bands with 12ers: The Mighty Lemon Drops, The Pretenders,

I agree with Rich on stretching the boundaries with the 12. Songs with a lot of arpeggio like House of the Rising Sun sound great on a 12. A little dirt can sound good, too. Speaking of the Animals, try It's My Life which has some kind of 12 on the original record. Some of the wall of sound shoe-gaze stuff can sound great on a 12 (Catherine Wheel, Ride, etc).

Jangle On!

[paologregorio]

What Doug and Rich said!

[Folkie]

As for early R.E.M. 12-string tunes suitable for a beginner, I'd recommend "Gardening at Night" (good tab online by one of our forumites on Ultimate Guitar), "So. Central Rain," which is also easy to learn, "Maps and Legends," which is based on just two or three chords until you reach the bridge, "Good Advices," which has some unconventional chord voicings, but is relatively simple, and "Wendell Gee," which is in the key of C, with a few other easy chords. That's just enough to get you started. Once you develop more technical facility, you'll be able to take on "Pretty Persuasion" and "Green Grow the Rushes."

Robert

[manta]

When I was young (admittedly around the time of the Byrds) I played Mr. Tamborine Man a lot, Bells of Ryhmney and some Leadbelly tunes, which are great for the 12 (Where Did You Sleep Last Night?). John Armstrong also has some 12-string basics on YouHooTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC0QsROa ... ure=relmfu

Many of the mid-60s songs have some pretty simple 12-string parts that can get you started (like "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" by The Animals)

[JakeK]

Another aspect is to try a Ric 12-string on songs that the original artists did not use a Ric, and surprise yourself. Think of artists like Badfinger who have neat arpeggio chordal runs on tunes like Baby Blue or No Matter What; think of some of the mellower Pink Floyd songs on Dark Side of the Moon, like Breathe or Brain Damage/Eclipse....

+1

Yep, a lot of good suggestions. And from The Who and The Kinks:
I Can't Explain
Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
Sparks
Set Me Free
See My Friends
A Well Respected Man
Sunny Afternoon
Autumn Almanac
Waterloo Sunset
Mr. Songbird
Days
Picture Book
Shangri-La
Muswell Hillbilly
Come Dancing

The Waiting is a nice TPATH 12-string song that's not too hard to play. You Wreck Me sounds great with a 12 and a little dirt. This One's for Me (from the sleeper album Echo) is a great 12-string jangler. Listen to Her Heart can also work with a 12 and some chimey/voxey dirt. It sounds like Mike's playing a Rick 12 on Finding Out, too.

I agree with all those, Doug...BUT "Finding Out" was the Red Dog Telecaster:


Here Comes My Girl is a 12-string song, though:



And even if the lead is tough, this video shows the rhythm can handle 12-string, too:

[analogpackrat]

Cool videos, Jake. But compare the album track of Finding Out to the video and you'll find that they are quite different. At 0:14 on the album track the second (or third!) guitar comes in and it sure sounds like a 12 to me.

Good call on the early Who stuff. Can't forget Pete!

[freebyrd]

thanks everyone!! i am already looking forward to a weekend of nonstop JANGLE

i just got home from my guitar lesson. boy, my teacher was so excited to hear about my new baby!

we played "learnin to fly" together for a jangly example. he asked me to bring my guitar to my next lesson mostly so he could check it out

[BuddyDog]

He shouldn't charge you for the lesson if he is oogling your guitar!

Lots of TP&HB songs go well on 12 string. American Girl, Listen to Her Heart, Refugee, Free Fallin, Learning to Fly, The Waiting...

[freebyrd]

considering he is an awesome, talented player in a fairly famous band, i think it'd be rad if he played my guitar! just not for the full hour