Guitar Songs For Girls – DESPERADO

Guitar songs for girls – DESPERADO is designed to help you create a repertoire of mixed popular songs to perform for family, friends and professionally. If you want to be a great guitarist/singer you need to learn songs.

Everyone has to start somewhere. So now that you have decided to learn a song. Which one should you start with?

It will depend on your voice and what sort of vocal range that you have but you can always put a capo on the neck of your guitar to alter the key of a song. If you don’t know what I’m talking about have a quick read about capos here before you move on.

How Many Songs Do I Need?

If you are planning to perform with a band and do gigs, you will eventually need about 36 songs for a 3-hour gig (3 lots of 12 songs, 40-minute brackets with two 15 minute breaks.)

But let’s get real! If you are a brand new girl guitarist/singer you need to start with one song. Make it a song that you like and one that you can find on YouTube. Why, do you ask? Because if you don’t like the song then you will not enjoy learning it and may even quit on your dream. It is more fun to play along than to go it alone.

If you are not already playing the guitar ask yourself this important question. It doesn’t matter which you choose as you will probably want to learn to do both eventually but learning to strum when you first start playing will help you will learn the rhythm.

If this is all new to you or you want to make sure you are heading in the right direction have a read of my strumming post, it will only take a moment.

Will I be strumming or fingerpicking my songs? 

Two app resources that can help you with finding and collecting chords are Ultimate Guitar and Onsong.

Ultimate Guitar App.

The quickest way to collect songs on a tablet for playing is to Google the Ultimate Guitar app. It’s perfect for storing all the songs you love on your tablet. What you need are the words and the chords and many fine musicians have contributed these basic songs.

They are not in a chart form that you would use with a band or orchestra but definitely enough for simple playing at home and with friends.

Unfortunately, you can’t change the chords if they are wrong in Ultimate Guitar but there is a solution.

The Onsong App.

This is a free app. that you can transfer songs to from Ultimate Guitar. Once you have loaded it on you just look up the song in Ultimate Guitar and download the words and lyrics. Then when you notice a chord is wrong you can edit the song and add notes for your needs.

I’ve even bought a blue tooth foot pedal, which will scroll the music up while I am playing. So this app. will grow with you.

A Classic Song To Get You Started – Desperado – By The Eagles

Don’t worry that the backing is piano, the chords are the same for piano and guitar. By studying the singing and playing along on your guitar you will learn a lot in a short time.

• Take notice of how Linda Rondstadt phrases her sentences
• Where she pauses and adds a break
• How does she make her voice more interesting (use of trills and volume dynamics)
• Learn a new song in two pieces. Separate the words from the chords.
• Practise the chords on your guitar and hum the tune under your breath.
• Play the chords along with the video (make sure you put your capo on the 2nd Fret or it will be in the wrong key to play along. The chords are in A but when you capo it up two frets it becomes the key of B. More on this later.)
• Each chord on the sheet lower down is played on or near the word below, so hold the previous chord until you need to change.

Let’s Look At The Chords and Lyrics

DESPERADO

Capo 0n 2nd Fret

Intro:     A/A7/D/Dm/A/F#m/B7/E7/

             A        A7                          D                 Dm                 A                          

Desperado, why don’t you come to your Senses. You’ve been out riding

F#m            B7        E7                                 A       A7                            D

fences for so long now. Oh you’re a hard one but I know that you got

          Dm                        A                             F#m                           B7  E7

your reasons these things that are pleasing you can hurt you

          A   C#7                  F#m                                       C#m

somehow     Don’t you call on the queen of diamonds

D                           A                                F#m                      D

Boy, she’ll beat you if she’s able The queen of hearts is always

             A    E                     F#m                          C#m                               D

your best bet. Now it seems to me some fine things have been laid

                    A                      F#m               B7                                E7

upon your table but you only want the things you can’t get

               A     A7                     D                    Dm              A                         F#m

Desperado, oh you ain’t getting no younger Your pain and your hunger

               B7               E7                     A       A7               D

they’re drivin’ you home and Freedom, well that’s just some

             Dm           A                F#m                                B7     E7        

people talkin’ your prison is walkin’ through this world all

A    C#7                   F#m                              C#m                   D                    

Alone Don’t your feet get cold in the wintertime the sky won’t snow

               A                                 F#m                      D

and the sun won’t Shine. It’s hard to tell the night time from

A  E                       F#m                   C#m                                D                

day. Now you’re losin’ all your highs and lows. Ain’t it funny how the

A                 Bm7 E7         A            A7                         D                 Dm              A

feelin’ goes away. Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses. Come down

                    F#m            B7               E7                    A   A7                              D

from your fences and open the gate. It may be rainin’ but there’s a rainbow

          Dm                        A                           F#m           D                           Bm7

above you. You better let somebody love you Let somebody love you

 A                          C#7             F#m      Bm7    E7          A/Dm/Dm7/A

You better let somebody love you before it’s too late.

Here is the PDF to download and print.DESPERADO 2 in A

Important Chords To Learn For This Song

In every song, there will be a few chords that you don’t recognise. Don’t let it stop you from being excited about the new song, you will be learning. There is a simple plan you can follow to learn new chords.

Chord Box Sheets to print

• Download the above blank chord chart with little boxes and print it off, in fact, do several copies.
• Write the name of the song on the top of the sheet
• Write the first chord of the song above the first box and Google it, (e.g. A, A7, D, Dm, A, F#m, B7, E7 these are the chords for the Introduction.)
• I will include a few barre chord shapes here that would be a good choice for the F#m, B7 and C#m these are the ones I use because they are easy for me but there are many to choose from. Choose chords on the frets close to each other, that’s what the professionals do.
• You can use simpler chord shapes, so find the ones that you can do.
• Please contact me if you really get stuck!
• Once you have filled in each chord that you will need to play, it’s time to try the song for the first time.
• Play the YouTube of Linda Ronstadt singing.
• Sing along and learn the words.
• Now play it again and strum the chord once, as you see them come up above a specific word. When you get lost, look at the words and the chord above it. This will help you find your way back to the timing. Play along and learn the chords.
• Hum the tune as you play along, later sing and play along.
• Practise! Practise! Have fun and mess around. It’s not a performance just learning.

A Mistake is a Step Towards Perfection!

Take your time and enjoy your progress. Make your own learning plan. Perhaps you find it easier to listen to music in the car and sing along to learn the words. (I do!)

Find another YouTube that you like, maybe it is in another key or the original key. Change the key for the chords in Ultimate guitar or straight Google the chords and lyrics on your computer. All of this you can tailor to suit yourself.

But Keep It Simple!

Learning should be enjoyable and although you will need to practise to get better make it fun. This will keep you coming back for 15-20 minutes each day. Before you know it you’ll be singing and playing like a pro.

Spoil yourself with a new guitar at the lowest price!

 

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‘Til next time

LILY