As I suspected, one of the hardest parts of starting my project was picking the right song for it. I love a ton of different music so the sample space is huge. That in itself, creates a problem of indecisiveness. However, the bigger issue lies in being able to determine whether or not I can pick up the song on 2 different instruments let alone be able to sing it. Even if I love the song, the limitations of my abilities likely eliminates some possibilities. On the other hand, there is room for tweaking the song to fit my level of playing skill or vocal range. Furthermore, I have on many occasions learned a simplified version of several songs, including those that didn't seem like they could include piano or guitar. Finally, and this is not completely mandatory, but I want to make sure I pick a fairly recognizable song so I can critique myself. If no one knows the song, it's hard to validate one's success in learning the song.
Coming into this, I knew what most of my research would consist of online tutorials, videos, or websites. For instance, given a song, my go-to source for guitar tabs is usually http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/. This site relies on user input for its tabs but is pretty reliable as it offers a star ranking system. More importantly, if offers hundreds of tabs for almost any artist or band you can think of. Conversely, because I can't read sheet music, most of my piano songs are learned by ear or through Youtube videos. While the pickings are slim for certain tutorial material, there are still several videos for both guitar and piano as well as thousands of cover song examples. It's easy to find some great talent on the web including videos that give you some visual evidence of where your hands and fingers need to be. If you look even further, you can find some great tutorial pages. Here's a list of some of my favorite Youtube Channels I go to for a song:
So with all this information and more at hand, I feel that the best best way to narrow my song selection down is to do some research through these videos and begin exploring songs that I like. In doing so I can get a feel for whether or not I can pull it off and whether the song is is interesting enough fro me to learn. As a start to my search, I thought I'd list some of my initial ideas and go from there.
Songs I already know on one instrument: (Kind of cheating yes, but the songs listed are some that I'm truly interested in recording a version of myself)
Doable songs from my favorite bands or musicians:
Popular songs and covers I found on Youtube:
Coming into this, I knew what most of my research would consist of online tutorials, videos, or websites. For instance, given a song, my go-to source for guitar tabs is usually http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/. This site relies on user input for its tabs but is pretty reliable as it offers a star ranking system. More importantly, if offers hundreds of tabs for almost any artist or band you can think of. Conversely, because I can't read sheet music, most of my piano songs are learned by ear or through Youtube videos. While the pickings are slim for certain tutorial material, there are still several videos for both guitar and piano as well as thousands of cover song examples. It's easy to find some great talent on the web including videos that give you some visual evidence of where your hands and fingers need to be. If you look even further, you can find some great tutorial pages. Here's a list of some of my favorite Youtube Channels I go to for a song:
- Joe Raciti - Has hundreds of piano tutorial videos of both popular and classic songs. Normally has overhead view for easy sight of chords and hand placement.
- PianoJohn113 - Same with this guy. Easy overhead view. Limited on his genre, but fantastic if you want to learn complicated songs from the likes of Elton John, Billy Joel, and the Beatles.
- Marioverehrer - There are several pages like this. Not my favorite but it is possible to find some gems with channels like these.
- Boyce Avenue - These guys have gained fame for their incredible covers on Youtube and have amassed almost 8,000,000 subscribers. No tutorials here, but since almost all their videos are closeups of themselves, it's perfect for catching a few chords and filling in the rest on your own. Other than that, they're really good and entertaining. They're among the gold standard for covers on Youtube.
- So other quality cover artist channels: Tyler Ward , Alex Goot, Christina Grimmie
So with all this information and more at hand, I feel that the best best way to narrow my song selection down is to do some research through these videos and begin exploring songs that I like. In doing so I can get a feel for whether or not I can pull it off and whether the song is is interesting enough fro me to learn. As a start to my search, I thought I'd list some of my initial ideas and go from there.
Songs I already know on one instrument: (Kind of cheating yes, but the songs listed are some that I'm truly interested in recording a version of myself)
- "Wonderall" by Oasis
- "Hey Ya!" - by Outkast (Acoustic by Obadiah Parker)
- "Follow You into the Dark" - Death Cab for Cutie
- "Apologize" - One Republic
- "Slow Dancing in Burning Room" - John Mayer
- "Time of Your Life" - Green Day
- "Buddy Holly" - Weezer
- "Hotel California" - The Eagles
- "Hey Jude" - The Beatles
- "Clocks" - Coldplay
Doable songs from my favorite bands or musicians:
- "Wish You Were Here" - Pink Floyd
- "Karma Police" - Radiohead
- "Talladega"- Eric Church
- "Rocket Man" - Elton John
- "Blackbird" - The Beatles
- "Carolina in my Mind" - James Taylor
- "All Along The Watchtower" - Bob Dylan (Hendrix Version)
- "Purple Haze" - Jimi Hendrix
- "Stubborn Love" - Lumineers
- "I Will Wait" - Mumford and Sons
- "New Slang" - The Shins
- "Angeles" - Elliot Smith
Popular songs and covers I found on Youtube:
- "Thinking Out Loud" - Ed Sheeran
- "Stay With Me" - Sam Hunt
- "No Rain" - Blind Melon
- "Someone Like You" - Adele
- "Everlong" - Foo Fighters
- "Heart Shaped Box" - Nirvana
- "Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan
- "When You Were Young" - The Killers
- "Little Talks" - Of Monsters and Men
- "Royals" - Lorde
- "Pumped Up Kicks" - Foster the People