PeacePassion

Leonard Cohen is one of my favourite poets. His first five books of verse were the stimulus for my own writing years ago, as well as his initial albums. I haven't listened to him for years. I guess I'll have to acquire some cd's.

oh nice! i need to read more of his poetry, i picked up Book of Longing when i saw him in concert last march, it's great... i've slowly been collecting his albums as well... he's incredible...

These are the books of poetry of his I am most attached to. It's hard to chose one among them which stands out.
Let Us Compare Mythologies 1956
The Spice-Box of Earth 1961
Flowers for Hitler 1964
Parasites of Heaven 1966
The Energy of Slaves 1972

oooh thanks I will check them out ASAP! nice to meet another Cohen fan :) which albums are your favorite? Right now I've got New Skin For The Old Ceremony on repeat...!

Songs of Leonard Cohen and Songs of Love and Hate will always be my favourites. Songs such as Suzanne, Joan of Arc, Sisters of Mercy, Winter Lady and Famous Blue Raincoat are pieces I admire for their words and their atmosphere. I used to play folk venues and coffee houses many years ago and Cohen was a part of my repertoire.

oh very cool! I love both those albums... Songs From A Room... I should teach myself some Cohen songs. I'm teaching myself guitar, but I guess I'm doing it backwards, trying to harmonize my own songs when I don't even know any songs on guitar! Do you still play? Did you write too?

I don't play very much any more as I don't have a guitar right now, though I plan on purchasing one again soon. I used to write, which is why I want to get a guitar again, though mainly for my own enjoyment.
Teaching yourself guitar is great. It's how I learned, both guitar and bass. Start with some songs which you can know by heart, even if they are simple, because then you can 'teach' your fingers to do the chord changes better. Stick with majors, minors and sevenths first, as most songs are written with these, and then the colour chords and riffs are added later.
I'm still a big Folk fan, but more 'urban' folk, not country folk. Artists such as Joni Mitchell, Simon & Garfunkel, Cat Stevens, Crosby Stills & Nash, etc.

ah, thanks for the tips! actually the first song i'm trying to teach myself is CSN Wooden Ships :) I learned the chords and liked them so much i ended up harmonizing a song of my own with them, so now i have to go back and learn Wooden Ships, lol. but wow, add some dylan and townes van zandt and you basically listed my playlist these days! :)

that's great your going to pick it up again :) if you feel so inclined i'd love to listen to your own songs when you're ready!

and thanks for the encouragement, i was feeling a bit overwhelmed, it's been a few days since i picked up the guitar... better get on it before i loose my calluses..!

Wooden Ships is a bit of a difficult song. How well do you know guitar? Have you been playing long?
I like Dylan as well, but never played any of his tunes except Tangled Up In Blue. I listened to some van Zandt, but he was a bit too 'country'. I was more into the introspective urban-type Folk.

well i learned the chords but that's as far as I got with Wooden Ships so far! i've been playing only a few months really. i only know a few chords really, and the only songs i can play are my own (reallly simplisitc). do you have any advice for learning songs? I was learning Wooden Ships through jamplay.com, but, IDK, it's not that compelling. would i be better off trying to learn by ear, a chord chart and listening to the song or something? and yeah vanzandt's a bit country, more of an exception than the rule :)

If you didn't know, you can get chord 'TAB' for the chords to songs off the Net, just type the song title between " " and the word 'tab' after it. If you like Folk, you could try simpler songs like California Dreaming by Mamas and Papas (Mamas And The Papas - ( California Dreamin tab )) or The Boxer by Simon & Garfunkel (Paul Simon - ( Boxer tab )) or Helpless by CSN&Y (Crosby Stills Nash And Young - ( Helpless tab )).
The chords on these charts are more basic and easier to play. You can progress from here.
Yeah, I know these are really old but...

The Boxer and Helpless are actually two of my very favorite songs! Cool, thanks! I haven't bothered learning tab, sounds like it would be a good idea though! :)

Thanks again!! This is great! I guess I was sort of banging my head against a brick wall before. Progess! Cheers!

Good luck. I taught myself guitar and bass, so any help I can give you, just ask.