Campfire Songs, Horse with no name by America

[macwildstar]

Hi there, well, this may sound totally dense, but I am having trouble with what I believe should be a simple song to pick up.

I was wondering about the campfire songs, and Horse with no name Video.

Is there another, more detailed version of the lesson, other than the free one?

I plan on joining the target program after I get settled into a new apartment (I am in between homes right now) so I have decided to just do one at a time until I can devote at least 1 half hour each day to playing and learning.

So I decided to try to get one lesson and since i'm still working on this simple song, thought I would come over and see if there was anything more than just the free video of Horse with no name..

Thanks.

[willem]

There is only the free one,,but in my opinion it is very detailed..

Willem


EDIT ,,The best way when you have troubles with getting it down just film your self and upload a video,,the whole Community will fall over you,or at least there are a few that will help..

[cosmicmechanic]

Cool Pic!

Well there is no more detailed lesson on this song (the details to the chords and strummingpattern is already in the lesson), so let me ask you, what details are you looking for?

cheers

Vanessa

[macwildstar]

nesh16041972 wrote:

Cool Pic!

Well there is no more detailed lesson on this song (the details to the chords and strumming pattern is already in the lesson), so let me ask you, what details are you looking for?

cheers

Vanessa

Not sure really, I just cannot get it to sound as good as he makes it sound! LOL.

Guess I am going to need to slow it down a bit to pick it up better..

Either my guitar is out of tune, (but the tuner says its not), or I am just not getting the strumming part right.. which is what I think i am doing wrong..

Ok, I will just continue to work on it.. sooner or later I will get it right..


Oh, the pic is from this years Fund raiser for the Grand Rapids Michigan Chapter of Guitars 4 Veterans. We are one of 25 chapters and hope to expand it to 50 by end of next year. And I have recommended this site to the members of that group.

[neverfoundthetime]

Guitars 4 Veterans is just a great idea and I think everyone here at TG has been a fan of your chapters we first heard about it.

My daughter is working on Horse with No Name and, for sure, it will be the strumming rhythm and which strings you are hitting which will make the difference in the sound. Neil covers that pretty well so take another look at it. Slowing it down will help a lot to get the sound clear. This song is deceptive. It may be quite easy to strum but its hard to keep going at an even pace because of the monotonous nature of the chord progression... you have to sing along right from the get go. Have fun.

[jshear]

I happen to be practicing Horse with no Name also. I got the strum rythym down fairly easily as long as I don't go too fast. Now I'm trying to do the bass note on the downstroke of beat 1. I tend to hit two strings instead of 1. One thing I discovered was I was using too soft a pick and going slightly stiffer helps. But I'm not sure the exact technique to use. Should I drive the pick down toward the top so it stops at the A string then lift out? Or should I be lifting the pick away from the top as I pick the E string?
I was watching videos of some bluegrass strumming using alternate bass and I wonder how those guys can accurately hit just a single string as fast as they're strumming. Amazing.

John S.

[tacticaltal]

jshear wrote:

I happen to be practicing Horse with no Name also. I got the strum rythym down fairly easily as long as I don't go too fast. Now I'm trying to do the bass note on the downstroke of beat 1. I tend to hit two strings instead of 1. One thing I discovered was I was using too soft a pick and going slightly stiffer helps. But I'm not sure the exact technique to use. Should I drive the pick down toward the top so it stops at the A string then lift out? Or should I be lifting the pick away from the top as I pick the E string?
I was watching videos of some bluegrass strumming using alternate bass and I wonder how those guys can accurately hit just a single string as fast as they're strumming. Amazing.

John S.

Hitting multiple strings is one of my problems that I'm sure I developed from a lack of guitar education. Hopefully someone has some wisdom here for us, but I, too, find that different picks offer different results.

In the meantime (until someone more knowledgeable jumps in here for the solution), I guess we need to find those songs that give us those troubles, and work on solving the problem. Being aware of the problem is a tremendous help.

Terry

[willem]

tacticaltal wrote:

jshear wrote:

I happen to be practicing Horse with no Name also. I got the strum rythym down fairly easily as long as I don't go too fast. Now I'm trying to do the bass note on the downstroke of beat 1. I tend to hit two strings instead of 1. One thing I discovered was I was using too soft a pick and going slightly stiffer helps. But I'm not sure the exact technique to use. Should I drive the pick down toward the top so it stops at the A string then lift out? Or should I be lifting the pick away from the top as I pick the E string?
I was watching videos of some bluegrass strumming using alternate bass and I wonder how those guys can accurately hit just a single string as fast as they're strumming. Amazing.

John S.

Hitting multiple strings is one of my problems that I'm sure I developed from a lack of guitar education. Hopefully someone has some wisdom here for us, but I, too, find that different picks offer different results.

In the meantime (until someone more knowledgeable jumps in here for the solution), I guess we need to find those songs that give us those troubles, and work on solving the problem. Being aware of the problem is a tremendous help.

Terry

I watch myself while hitting the E bass note,,I hit it and lift out and before I know I was on beat 2 and strummed the whole measer

Willem

[macwildstar]

well considering this is my 1st song from this site, and considering my limited background, yea, this simple yet deceptive tune can be difficult for us beginners. But I REFUSE TO GIVE UP!

I keep watching the video. I even slow it down (the one from you tube) and I am slowly starting to get my sound to sound like Neils.

I think the video needs to be a bit longer, with some extra on the 2 different strums for the 2 chords being played, and not so much time spent on the long names of the 2 easy chords to play. Then at the end, maybe a little bit for the 2 strums needed for the chorus section of the song..

As for hitting the 1 string, yeah I have the same problem as you. I keep hittin' more than 1.

[willem]

I like the mutting on the second chord but...?