First Song

[gruuv]

"Ants Marching" by Dave Matthews Band.  I was entering high school and wanted to learn to play bass guitar.  My father's response when I asked him to buy one was, "Well, your brother wanted to learn guitar when he was in high school, and it's been sitting under his bed ever since.  If you can learn to play something on that, I'll consider buying you a bass."  So, I basically set out to learn something from the radio at the time.

[George]

I started playing when I was about 4 or 5 years old.  That was a loooong time ago, so I don't remember what I was playing, but most likely something in G...

[flaggerphil]

I started playing in late 1964.  The first song I played for anyone was "For Your Love".  The second was "House of the Rising Sun" and I played it quite a bit better.  I still play it these days...though it's my own arrangement.

[ctkarslake]

I thought everyone's first song was Smoke on the Water!

[timfitz63]

I thought everyone's first song was Smoke on the Water!

Only the opening riff...   And for "24 or 6 to 4" too...

[donlyn]

ctkarslake wrote, "I thought everyone's first song was Smoke on the Water!"

generation gap; good possibility if it had been around way back when. 

[azslacker]

Gee thanks. Now I gotta have "Smoke On The Water" rolling around in my head for the next several days! Well, it sure beats some others I suffer with. Been living with the "Mama's Don't Let Your Babies" song for years. Then there's this kid's song that I can't even type.....Oh No!....Rubber Ducky Da Da Da.

[Jersey tuning]

so far there have been 6 real replies to the original posted question, not counting my second reply which was really my comments to earl's post.

i find it very significant that 3 of the 6 mentioned 'house of the rising sun'.  i think this points to both the widespread popularity of the song and also to the unique appeal the song has to beginning guitarists.  there is something there that catches your ear and just won't let go.  i will also mention that when a lot of my playing was on electric guitar, i added stuff from the 'frijid pink' version.  and as far as playing for somebody / everybody, it certainly has instant recognition.  simply put, it's a crowd pleaser.

edit> another thought. i figure jersey and i are about the same physical age and guitar age.  for reference, i am 68 and have been playing for just shy of 50 years.  john, no pressure to answer if you don't wish to, but are you in that ballpark too?  either way, it would be interesting to hear a little more of your history with the song.

I am 66 and have been playing since 1967.  Yes, I played arpeggios on that song four decades before I understood what an arpeggio was.

 One attraction of House of the Rising Sun is the key -- I had a particular affinity for songs in minor keys in general and A minor in particular. I believe a friend in my dorm suggested I try it.     Another song that I played frequently in A minor was S & G's Sounds of Silence--because of that song, A sus 2 with its ambiguous major/minor nature  became another staple decades before I knew what I was playing.  It's now a great friend in songs like Joni's "Urge for Going" and the Who's "Behind Blue Eyes" (replacing a major chord in both cases).

  My favorite rock band was (is) the Doors, who dwelled heavily in the land of minor keys.  And I had an interest in Israeli folk music, which also had a majority of songs in minor keys.

[donlyn]

well said about minor keys jersey.  for a nice variation on minor key songs, maybe you might remember 'mecca' by gene pitney.  for better or worse, i play it in d minor.  intro, in phrygian mode, was a hammer-on/pull-off of repetition of d/e-flat/d followed by a descending octave in d phrygian.  or at least something like that.  lot of surf music uses same/similar scales.

. . . incidentally, ventures "walk don't run" seems to use a lot of major chords, including the "hit the road jack" intro.  i find i am liking substituting a couple of minor chords for major, notably a-minor for a-major at the end of the 'verse' lines (ascending from open a up an octave to a and c beyond it.  also the note pattern seems to mostly  follow a lot of c-major/a-minor note steps.

[Sedated]

"Helpless" - Crosby, Still, Nash & Young

[asguitar1]

I think my first song was "Tom Dooley" because I am so old and that song was popular. 

[mgap]

Irish Washerwoman Nice Celtic song that was my first song I learned start to finish, second was Rake of Mallow.  Still play them

[K-G]

Smoke on the water 
Because it's so simple.

And later on Stairway ... of course