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A forum dedicated to The Gaslight Anthem - Brian Fallon says: ''For consistent and up to the minute stuff, Dimestore Saints is a great place to check out and hang with some really nice people.''
Posts : 13 Join date : 2014-08-06 Age : 29 Location : Princeton
Subject: A good starting point Wed Aug 06, 2014 3:40 pm
Bought my first accoustic guitar this past year and've been noodling around on it quite a bit, finding little tunes on my own. That being said, I'd really like to try piecing together some Gaslight songs. I've very little understanding of sheet music but can kind of figure it out usually.
So where's a good song to start?
fatbench Red In The Morning
Posts : 38 Join date : 2012-04-10 Location : NY
Subject: Re: A good starting point Wed Aug 06, 2014 3:52 pm
A good place to start is by forgetting about sheet music. Ultimateguitar.com has pretty much every tablature you will think to search for, and doesn't install adware on your computer. Just some slightly irritating banner ads.
As far as Gaslight songs go, be prepared to either tune your guitar down a FULL step, or play barre chord versions of your favorite songs which will make them sound a little off. A few entry level songs that I enjoy playing are Navesink banks, here's looking at you kid, Diamond Church Street Choir, and Wherefore art thou, elvis (This one is tough to play/sing simultaneously).
General guitar advice: Keep your guitar handy (next to your couch or wherever you hang out), and pick it up every time you sit down and practice playing chords/scales before trying to learn songs. Do this until your roommates hate you.
Debonair First Among Equals
Posts : 4161 Join date : 2011-08-31 Age : 32 Location : New Jersey
Subject: Re: A good starting point Wed Aug 06, 2014 4:13 pm
Am F C G pretty much all early stuff use these chords in some fashion. and old white Lincoln uses those chords the whole song. Great song to start with.
And yes for the earlier stuff you would need to drop tune. But honestly I've played the chords in standard or other tunings. It sounds slightly different. But you'll be able to know what you're playing. At least for me, bed room singing, I don't mind.
StitchesOnTheRadio First Among Equals
Posts : 3009 Join date : 2012-04-13 Location : New Jersey
Subject: Re: A good starting point Wed Aug 06, 2014 6:42 pm
I started with Red At Night, that one's the easiest one I've encountered so far.
@fatbench or anyone, where can I find good tabs/chords for Navesink Banks? Did you get that one of ultimateguitar.com?
Harbortown The Navesink Banks
Posts : 6784 Join date : 2011-04-13 Age : 33 Location : yes
Subject: Re: A good starting point Thu Aug 07, 2014 9:22 am
StitchesOnTheRadio wrote:
I started with Red At Night, that one's the easiest one I've encountered so far.
@fatbench or anyone, where can I find good tabs/chords for Navesink Banks? Did you get that one of ultimateguitar.com?
Intro/verse Am - F x2 C - G Am
Chorus C - G- F
Bridge F - G C - F
It's actually in G# minor, which means it's one half step below (to the left of) A-minor, but it's easier to write this way.
The_River A Contender
Posts : 291 Join date : 2013-10-07
Subject: Re: A good starting point Thu Aug 07, 2014 9:30 am
This is pretty great too, especially for "Cow girls..."
On a side note, what's your guitar exactly ? Might give you a couple of useful advices in order to use it the best way.
JimmyB The Navesink Banks
Posts : 5619 Join date : 2010-10-27 Age : 32 Location : Pennsylvania-The land of the Three Rivers.
Subject: Re: A good starting point Thu Aug 07, 2014 9:33 am
Yeah, red at night is the easiest Gaslight song. The first Gaslight song I learned was actually Old White Lincoln and "Cassanova, Baby!" Those are fairly easy-ya just need to get the timing correct.
Leigh Red In The Morning
Posts : 13 Join date : 2014-08-06 Age : 29 Location : Princeton
Subject: Re: A good starting point Thu Aug 07, 2014 7:34 pm
The_River wrote:
On a side note, what's your guitar exactly ? Might give you a couple of useful advices in order to use it the best way.
Yamaha FG730S solid top acoustic. Real boat of a guitar.
magnificentdreamer Red In The Morning
Posts : 29 Join date : 2014-06-26 Location : North Carolina
Subject: Re: A good starting point Fri Aug 08, 2014 2:15 am
Howl is also a really easy (and fun!) song to play. The progression is just Am-G-F-C for the "hey" part then C-G-F-G for the verses. http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/t/the_gaslight_anthem/howl_crd.htm
The_River A Contender
Posts : 291 Join date : 2013-10-07
Subject: Re: A good starting point Fri Aug 08, 2014 4:39 am
Leigh wrote:
The_River wrote:
On a side note, what's your guitar exactly ? Might give you a couple of useful advices in order to use it the best way.
Yamaha FG730S solid top acoustic. Real boat of a guitar.
Sweet. At some point you'll end up restringing your guitar. I recommand you to use these : Elixir Medium Gauge Phosphor Bronze NANOWEB. They are pricey but definitly worth it. Check out some videos on how to restring an acoustic guitar on youtube. You have plenty of those, and the ones made by Taylor Guitars are really great.
Go for the .013-.056 gauge if you have regular fingers, or .012-.053 if you have small fingers. That's what I recommand for a dreadnought shaped guitar.
The starting point is to learn open chords : http://mos.musicradar.com/images/Guitar%20Techniques/162/open-chords.jpg So play these on and on again. And play with a metronome, and get a tuner. If you have a smartphone, the GuitarTuna app does both pretty well for free.
Also start writing your own songs or play with a drummer/band as soon as possible. And pratice, all the time, always.
Subject: A good starting point 
Wed Aug 06, 2014 3:40 pm
