Phish / other songs for Guitar (tab, etc)

Non-Phish General
#1

So I recently picked my acoustic back up after neglecting it for the last year or so :thumbup:

I’m a complete amateur, self-taught. And I have tablature printed out for various songs, but I was wondering if any of you real musician types have any tips for finding easy Phish songs to learn for guitar. (I know Kevin regularly performs a few Phish songs in his sets, for instance.)

Other bands tunes would be great too, I’m just looking for more songs I’m familiar with that I can start learning to play. I’m not planning on performing or anything… just looking to find some additional tunes to work on for my own benefit. There might even be some other beginners out there who could benefit from the knowledge of our veteran guitarists as well. :sunglasses:

#2

ooo!! ooo!! ooo!!! :raises hand: help me! help me too!! i need all the help i can get lol… i will have to say that the youtube tutorials are great if you’re a visual learner… as i am :smiley:

#3

Waste, CTD, those are both pretty easy to pick up on. :wave:

#4

sample, bouncin, sparkle, waste,

#5

^ Thanks, good to know. If you guys know chords or anything, that’d be cool too. :slight_smile:

#6

emilstabs.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

#7

rukind.com <-Dead
moelinks.com <-moe. (duh)
tmbw.net/wiki/Category:Guitar_Tabs <-They Might Be Giants (or they might be wiki)

Those are my booked marked ones along with Emils.

Top of my head, these are ones anyone can play (i often start with them if I’m playing with someone I don’t know or haven’t played with). Mostly because there’s little or no changes thru the song so it’s easy to pick up.

Jane Says (Janes addiction) G A (ok at one point it’s A G but you can skip that)
Franklin’s Tower (dead) A G D G
Love Light (dead) E A
Makisupi Policeman A D

I’ll add more later.

#8

Sweet!! Thanks dudes! I’m definitely gonna start on Franklin’s Tower this weekend :sunglasses:

#9

Simple is really, well, simple. Mike’s is fun too. BDTNL, Tweezer, some of their covers, too.

emilstabs.org/wiki/index.php/Covers_%28Phish%29

Oh and Fluffhead, of course! :smiling_imp:

#10

nice. I’ve been on a dead kick lately for some reason. Always wanted to learn the end of Slip to add it to the beginning of Franklins but never have. Dusted off Scarlet Begonias and Bertha this week. My kids for some reason like to run back and forth across the playroom for 10 mins before we read them books and they go to bed. They run from wall to wall, backwards, zig zag, hop, etc. I’ve been trying to play guitar while they do this (so they run and talk to me, I sing and try to respond w/out screwing up the song).

The oldest is 4 so not sure how long this will last, but hey I’ll go with it for now.

“Twist Around” is fun but the rhythm escapes people who aren’t phish heads (Emils has a good explination). Yamar too but for beginners I’d recommend playing open chords for Yamar. A, F#m, B, E. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat.

#11

Justin, can you have this one completed and ready to share with us by Chicago? :wink:

I wish I could play anything…

#12

The first couple minutes of Fluff is actually really easy. Until it goes into the crazy stuff…

I’ve always used Emil’s for Phish tabs.

Top of head:

Dirt- D Am C G then Em G? when it comes around (“You’ll never see my face again”)

Slave is easy if you can learn the bar chords and such.

#13

www.strangedesign.org

i’ve never heard of this “emil”

#14

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Justin, good call on “Dirt” - I totally forgot I’d learned that one years ago, and thanks to you I remember how it goes. :wink: (I think it’s D, Am, C, G for the verses, then Em, C during the “I’ll never hear your voice again” part tho.)

I sort of figured out Franklin’s Tower yesterday, I think. Now that i have my guitar in hand - it IS A major > G > D > G > A, I was just playing the A and G barred. It’s way fun just strumming the simple melody and attempting to sing over it. :astonished:

#15

I figured I would start learning something this weekend… :thumbup:

#16

That’s right…Em C. not Em G.

Good call!

#17

It was pretty much obvious once you actually sit down and hear it, I’m still impressed you remembered all the chords off the top of your head without an instrument in hand. :thumbup:

I’m liking that Emil’s tab site too, thanks for passing that along. OH! I gotta remember to link a vid I found last night - 10 year old kids playing Franklin’s Tower. I shit you not. The kid on guitar was f’ing amazing for 5th grade.

Kevin, Sean, Keith, et al - you’ve already outed yourselves as guitar pros, so fess up here boys. Us amateurs need your guidance :thumbup: Doesn’t have to be just Phish or Dead songs, I’m just looking for any cool tunes that are easy to learn and fun to play.

Random Aside: My cousins - who are brothers - are named Kevin and Sean. I never really thought about that until writing your names side by side. Maybe we’re related :wtf:

#18

Check this shit out Jay. This kid Jarrod Walker was 11 when this was recorded at the 2004 Mandolin Symposium. The tune is Salt Creek, but this is far from a normal melody line. It’s like an 11-year-old Chris Thile or something. :wtf:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_pxZ0z35pc[/youtube]

But yeah, the best stuff to play (IMO), especially on acoustic guitar, is the Grateful Dead. I love playing Jack-A-Roe, Peggy-O, Loser, etc. Some of their stuff is really complex, but a lot of it seems to be tailor-made for acoustic strumming and singing.

#19

Holy crap… that kid is SHREDDING :wtf: Prodigy much?

Here’s the 5th graders playing Franklin’s (with parents, looks like). Not quite on the same order of jaw-dropping but pretty impressive all the same. It’s just so cool to see kids that age playing music like this.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izEwbVla7w0[/youtube]

#20

bittersweet motel is really easy. G D and C. play the chord right on the word that it’s listed before.

when the

G only tool you have is a

C hammer

G everything looks

D like a

C nail, and your

D living, at the bittersweet mo-

G -tel

the the other part goes

C halfway between erie and pittsburgh

G you put me

D through

C hell, on the

D highway, to the bittersweet mo-

G -tel

when the circus comes to town is a fun one on the acoustic too.
the verse is G, Em, C, G

could’ve

G had a chance…the

Em time that you came…could’ve

C had a chance, could’ve

G had a chance

then the chorus is D, G, Em, C, G
or something like that.

D when the lights…the

G day i burn this

Em whole place down when the

C circus comes to

G town

i think that’s pretty close anyways.

there was a thread like this a while back but i couldn’t find it. i think i figured out the chords to joy in it.