20 days to learn guitar and master a song for an international pageant - help please!

Hi Everyone!

Ok PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep the negative comments to yourself... I'm a very determined individual and strongly beleive I can do this... I just REALLY need some direction.

I'm one of ten females that have been invited to participate in this years Miss Kohinoor International Pageant and although I'm a dancer... I don't want to dance for my talent portion (everyones going to be dancing or singing and once you get to know me you'll know... I have to stand out!)

My problem is... I DONT EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START RIGHT NOW, I'm so overwhelmed by all the information and videos online, I don't know whats really importent to know and what isn't.

I would LOVE to be able to learn the simpliest, sweetest hindi song possible. Nothing to old please. Is there anyone here that can give me some direction? Maybe supply simple tabs and kind of tell me what to learn and what to do in order to master it?

I really hope that makes sense :$ It's sooo late and I've been working and stressing all night :(

Ps. Its an acoustic guitar that I have. I attemped to learn electric YEARS ago andwas able to pick up the first few chords of adams song - blinl 182 but didn't try hard enough to pass that

Thanks <3

So do you or don't you know how to play a guitar? If you already know your chords and can do chord changes with relative ease then your task will be a little easier.

Are you talking about playing AND singing, or just playing a song? Just playing the melody line of a song on the guitar doesn't really require talent. To play and sing decently in 20 days you must be proficient in at least one of the aspects, and at least half decent at the other. No point putting up a half assed performance, especially in the talent round of a competition.

Heyy Noppee... don't know how to play and I'd be JUST playing... not singing... I WISH I was that gifted haha

Just playing the melody line of a song on the guitar doesn't really require talent.

On the contrary, that kind of thing is the HARDEST. But that's not the case here :D

If you already know your chords and can do chord changes with relative ease then your task will be a little easier.

To play and sing decently in 20 days you must be proficient in at least one of the aspects, and at least half decent at the other

No point putting up a half assed performance

+1.

@OP - But hey.

If you're not singing (so chords are out),
and melody-only sounds super-idiotic when done,
and you clearly have neither the skills nor the time to do a chord melody or something...
...what's the point? I'm just stating the facts here.

You could do a chord melody kind of thing (playing the melody and accompaniment together on the same instrument, like in any classical guitar performance (like this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJSUgMB3J3k),
but that method
a. needs a lot of practice and training beforehand and
b. takes more time to learn a song/piece than learning the melody or chords separately.

For performances, the right thing to do is to brush up something you already know, not pick up something new and try to master that in a short while (this applies to guitarists doing pieces, too. I wouldn't do something which I've just started off with, but pick up something from my repertoire that I'm familiar with). You say you dance - pick some song you like dancing to and have performed on before. If your dance is truly good+unique, you can stand out that way too.

(as for the vote, its a bit of 'if you commit to live, breath, dream it - yes' + 'No way - you're dreaming'. 'Commit to live, breath, dream it' is a lifetime thing And if you think you can 'commit to live, breath, dream it' for just 20 days and give off a star performance...well...I guess all the guitarists around the world are madmen, giving up their lives for that very goal when it can be had in 20 days by this method. So yer dreamin'.)

I really appreciate the honest responses

K if this is stupid, sorry! :$ would it work at all if I had a song playing in the background and played the melody over top of it? So it wasn't done all alone?



It doesn't nessasarily (typeos sorry I'm on my blackberry here, should be sleeping but hiding under the covers so my kitten doesn't knw I'm awake to play) have to be a superstar performance
Just enough to touch the audiance and somewhat impress the judges
As long as its done smoothly with confidence and a smile or emotion, nothing else should matter in the end I think

Just enough to touch the audience and somewhat impress the judges
As long as its done smoothly with confidence and a smile or emotion

Those are the very characteristics of an epic performance, I think. And it's not easy getting there.

Playing with a backing track is fine. The only trouble that way is that the backing track is almost always MIDI, and almost always very 'computerized'/'video game-ish'/'mechanical'/'artificial' sounding. Idk how many people like/dislike this method (I don't like it.).

If you have...
-an electric guitar, a looper pedal (and I think an amp with an effects loop COULD be required), or
-a very fast and reliable laptop (a Mac Book Pro for instance) and an audio interface and some processing software like GuitarRig,
...then you could use the loop method - record yourself playing stuff and that pedal/setup would play it back exactly as you played it (with all the nuances, unlike MIDI), while you play away on top (melody and whatever else; this and this is the kind of stuff that's possible), but I don't think that's the case here (besides, this looping method is pretty cracked for a beginner's situation, lol.).

Good luck.

First of all, Nov 20 is 37 days away, not 20... Might work if you're just going to learn an easy three chord-type song... Problem is the first few months are the hardest; technical weaknesses crop up and need to be resolved, your fingers pain (you don't have calluses when you start off). Many things look impossible in the beginning (Like the rite-of-passage F chord) but become achievable later. These issues resolve over time. Which you don't have.

Although it won't impress anybody if you're just playing those three chords without any vocals... If you can sing as well, you might be able to put up a half-decent performance if you work hard. If you're learning just a few easy chords, chords+vocals of a decent level is achievable in a month, I think. Mind it, if you work hard.

My recommendation: Find a good guitar teacher and ask him for advice, the time frame is probably too short to try to learn by yourself over the internet. Even if you do manage to learn, it might just come off as weak and amateurish and ruin your aspirations. Standing out is a great thought, but you probably should have thought of it months ago and prepared earlier... Not putting you down, but that's the truth.

Also,

Originally Posted by ultrabot90

For performances, the right thing to do is to brush up something you already know, not pick up something new and try to master that in a short while (this applies to guitarists doing pieces, too. I wouldn't do something which I've just started off with, but pick up something from my repertoire that I'm familiar with). You say you dance - pick some song you like dancing to and have performed on before. If your dance is truly good+unique, you can stand out that way too.

Originally Posted by guitardoctor

First of all, Nov 20 is 37 days away, not 20... Might work if you're just going to learn an easy three chord-type song... Problem is the first few months are the hardest; technical weaknesses crop up and need to be resolved, your fingers pain (you don't have calluses when you start off). Many things look impossible in the beginning (Like the rite-of-passage F chord) but become achievable later. These issues resolve over time. Which you don't have.

Although it won't impress anybody if you're just playing those three chords without any vocals... If you can sing as well, you might be able to put up a half-decent performance if you work hard. If you're learning just a few easy chords, chords+vocals of a decent level is achievable in a month, I think. Mind it, if you work hard.

My recommendation: Find a good guitar teacher and ask him for advice, the time frame is probably too short to try to learn by yourself over the internet. Even if you do manage to learn, it might just come off as weak and amateurish and ruin your aspirations. Standing out is a great thought, but you probably should have thought of it months ago and prepared earlier... Not putting you down, but that's the truth.

Also,

What's a really nice 3 chord hindi tune to learn ?
And any good excersises to start and then how to learn those 3 chords?

Is it stupid if I play on top of the actual original track?

I really don't want to dance :( I'd rather learn some magic tricks or something

I'm trying to get in touch with some teachers in my area now

I said 20 days because - want it done in 20 days and spend the last week or so just completely mastering it so it flows naturally

to me this looks simple but obviously that's an outside look at it
would something like this be acheivable?
and just play on top of the track?

(check the "reason for editing" line for the url, unable to post it in this area)

Originally Posted by desi_vixen

What's a really nice 3 chord hindi tune to learn ?
And any good excersises to start and then how to learn those 3 chords

I'm not sure... Not into bollywood stuff. Try asking in the Hindi tabs forum.

Chord exercises: Learn the chords, and practice switching between them accurately and fast.

Originally Posted by desi_vixen

to me this looks simple

Well, you have a guitar, try it out... See if you can manage it.

As for playing the chords with the song running in the background... Do people do that? I don't think that will look at all impressive...

Is it stupid if I play on top of the actual original track?

Back in my post, by 'backing track' I meant a track which plays the whole song except for the part of the performer.