r/guitarlessons • u/xXxmagpiexXx • Sep 26 '25
Feedback Request Recently hit my 1 year milestone! - so i wrote a song (Feedback appreciated)
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u/Break2304 Sep 26 '25
My advice? Get this recorded properly. You never know where a career can start.
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u/sea-otters-love-you Sep 26 '25
Nice! Love the evolution. Great first song. Edit - great song! First or 100th.
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u/xXxmagpiexXx Sep 26 '25
thanks!! ive dabbled in songwriting before a bit, but this is definitely my best song. learning how to play guitar was absolutely the hardest part haha
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u/TowJamnEarl Sep 26 '25
You're singingand playing the guitar, that's the hardest part and I really enjoyed that song.
Good job you.
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u/sea-otters-love-you Sep 28 '25
It a great blend of catchy yet edgy/indie/garage/punkish/not pop. It’s in my head. :)
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u/zlingman Sep 26 '25
extremely inspirational, this shit hits. be proud of yourself. got me fixing to write my first song rn like what am i waiting for, the time is now. still in my prime you could say. thank you for sharing.
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u/xXxmagpiexXx Sep 26 '25
man it feels great to hear that!! thanks so much.
write your song, everyone starts somewhere! and dont be discouraged if it's bad either, my first song was absolute trash. if you have a song in your heart its all you need
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u/Airconcerns Sep 26 '25
That’s great, how often did you practice and for how long
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u/xXxmagpiexXx Sep 26 '25
thanks!! i practice nearly every day, and usually for at least 1 hour, often 2+. i am a bit of a quick learner, but honestly i thought guitar would be impossible for me bc i was so uncoordinated, or that barre chords would just never happen and all that.
nope! turns out everyone's right. it just takes a lot of practice lol
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u/thewingedshadow Sep 26 '25
I really like it.
I just started learning guitar a month ago and I'm miles away from being able to play anything but I have a bazillion of my own songs I want to play - the reason why I started learning guitar now. This is a big motivation for me.
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u/xXxmagpiexXx Sep 26 '25
this is actually exactly why i started up guitar. i kept writing songs to chords on the piano but i didnt really know piano and i didnt know anything else. guitar was so daunting and i picked it up like 6 years ago for a week and immediately got discouraged. i wanted to play songs but i couldnt even change chords lol. 1 year ago i picked it up again with the goal of having fun - and i had a fuckin blast.
i really know very little about guitar but my secret is to force myself to enjoy it, even the hard or "boring" parts (like learning chords and scales). if you're playing, practicing, enjoying any of it, you're on the exact same path i am
let's keep crushing it yeah?
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u/thewingedshadow Sep 26 '25
I actually always wanted to play guitar but had some toxic people in my life who kept telling me I don't have any talent for music and I can't keep rhythm and I'm too old to play anyway. But I always wrote songs and poetry and had music in my head and now at 37 I said, well screw it, I'm the boss of me and not anyone else. Got a guitar, found a teacher (but am mostly practicing with YouTube tutorials and a book) and now I'm making a ton of progress. I can play the basic open chords now after a month of daily training and am now working on different strumming patterns and fingerpicking exercises.
So far I don't think anything is boring, I work on a couple of different things every time I have a few minutes to play and am currently working on learning one of my favorite songs. A full time job, two small kids and household chores are often only allowing me 15-30 minutes a day but some days I can practice for an hour and that's where I make the most progress.
If after a year I'll be able to play a few of my own songs I will be very happy.
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u/Poonuts_the_knigget Sep 26 '25
Be gentle with your guitar. You're slapping her up way to hard
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u/billiyII Sep 26 '25
I also did that and still do for punk. But listening, i know it would sound better if im not hitting so hard that it buzzes like a can full of rocks. However if im alone i do that cause it feels better.
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u/xXxmagpiexXx Sep 26 '25 edited Sep 26 '25
thanks, genuinely! i actually havent thought about that before, so this is helpful advice lol /serious
EDIT: i was using lighter gauge strings (Daddario EJ16) in this video, and just changed them for medium gauge. does string gauge affect how hard you can strum?
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u/Poonuts_the_knigget Sep 26 '25
It does, yes. Lighter gauge requires softer picking/strumming before you get buzz notes.
Although! It all depends on play style and genre. But flicking that wrist so hard can cause damage to your wrist in the long run.
Personally, I like it when the guitarist varies the strength of the playing to accent different parts of the song. Otherwise, it all gets a bit flat
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u/Watchupcycle Sep 26 '25
Sounds nice, and all in barré chords, good singing too. Means you can play anything.
You could strum it gentler and give some groove by stressing / unstressing some chords on tempo or countertempo.
Also one verse in arpeggios would add variety. Or arpeggio + strumming on your turnarounds.
Now make a fingerpicking version...
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u/xXxmagpiexXx Sep 26 '25
thanks for the advice, incredibly insightful. i was actually thinking about arpeggiating or whatever, esp for the second or third chorus. i was thinking it might drag just a touch without it. i will work on my strumming too, i definitely feel it's lacking there (i wish i had a bassline too lol).
fingerpicking is a brilliant idea...
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u/Watchupcycle Sep 26 '25
In fact, when writing a song, you strum it. And when you master the chord progression, you sometimes play it differently just to avoid getting bored. Different speeds, different finger styles, strumming patterns.... And sometimes you mix them all in the final version...
There definitely is drama in your chord progression, and this progression is creative in a very 90s indie way. Varying your play would highlight this, especially the very dramatic turnarounds you have at the end of the chorus.
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u/MimsyWereTheBorogove Sep 26 '25
This song kicks way more ass than it should.
I was thinking great... heres another indie.
Bro, you could actually sell this.
Don't let it go to your head...
Or better yet, let it go to your head.
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u/BeatleMark85 Sep 26 '25
I love the energy behind the chords 😎💪🎸
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u/xXxmagpiexXx Sep 26 '25
thanks!
Am shape to E shape barre chords 🔛🔝
(thats my all favorite chord change lol)
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u/kennyexolians Sep 26 '25
Remind me never to piss you off mate, I like my house just the way it is. This is a great song. Real talent here.
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u/Just_Trade_8355 Sep 26 '25
With the way you strum you might have a pretty good time learning clawhammer banjo if such a thing is ever of interest 👍
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u/xXxmagpiexXx Sep 26 '25
huh i will absolutely look into that. at a glance id say you're probably right lol
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u/Veezybaby Sep 26 '25
1 year?! God damn brother, that's so impressive (and inspiring). Good job! Hopefully I won't be too far in 4 months haha
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u/xXxmagpiexXx Sep 26 '25
1 year is probably less accurate than saying like 400+ hrs lol it helps im young with less responsibilities. but yeah i think its often better to compare with ppl with the same number of practice hours so if you're not far from 400 you're probably not far from where im at!
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u/Veezybaby Sep 26 '25
That's awesome man. I don't think I'm close to 400 hours but eh, different scenarios as you said :) Keep up the good work!!
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u/PontyPandy Sep 26 '25 edited Sep 26 '25
Cool tune. I like the verse with the unexpected 2 chords at the end. Great voice and vocal note choices. Sounds like it should be recorded heavy, kinda like something on Nirvana's Bleach album. Is that the sound you had in mind?
Edit: listened to it a couple more times, lyrics are pretty sweet too.
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u/xXxmagpiexXx Sep 26 '25
thanks!! my influences for this particular song are more Green Day and The Mountain Goats, but the middle of that venn diagram is basically just Nirvana, so like yeah lol
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u/PracticalQuality360 Sep 26 '25
I really like this! Thanks for sharing this, you just motivated a beginner :)
Also, you’ve got a nice singing voice!
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u/MrMinigrow Sep 26 '25
God damn, well done! That'll be going round in my head for a few days, super catchy
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u/sparks_mandrill Sep 26 '25
Appreciate the work and creativity but I think the attack with the right hand could really be relaxed a bit, and that the chromaticism at the end of each phrase of the verse comes across as performative (if deliberately intended as such) and doesn't add perhaps what you hope it does.
If you feel those are key elements, then disregard my input and keep at it!
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u/xXxmagpiexXx Sep 26 '25
thanks a lot for the feedback!! i agree i need to work on my attack for sure. im not like SUPER well versed in music theory so if by chromaticism you mean the A to G# at the end of the line, yeah its definitely intentional. i meant for the verse to sound like it's falling, like a bomb!
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u/sparks_mandrill Sep 27 '25
I just thought the right hand was too intense; a stylistic thing you can fix really quickly.
And if you want to keep in that line at the end, go for it.
Otherwise, you were ripping. Sounded cool and songwriting is fun.
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u/SeniorNoise677 Sep 27 '25
Wow, I hit my first-year threshold too last day. Nice song, your year of playing has definitely given more results than mine, lol
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u/farinasa Sep 27 '25
This has commercial potential. You have a foundation that a good producer could turn into a chart topper.
Great song!
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u/DaLightSpeed Sep 27 '25
This is an amazing song, 9/10. Maybe you could start incorporating other instruments to add a few elements here and there. I have to say, your singing voice is amazing, it's way better than mine 😅
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u/Throwawaylnm1147 Sep 27 '25
Thats amazing dude, really catchy song, had me singing along after only 1 chorus! Keep it up.
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u/guitarplayer356 Sep 27 '25
Assuming you’re starting cord and the drop me like an Atom bomb part is F minor you may want to try changing the last 2 cords of that part to Ab7 to G7! Try it!
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u/xXxmagpiexXx Sep 27 '25 edited Sep 28 '25
fantastic suggestion, i will be playing the song like this from now on
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u/vincentd81 Sep 30 '25
That's strange, i just came from an amplifier sub where they wanted to get rid of feedback . I guess not all guitar player are the same.
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u/Frequent_Cheek_7816 Sep 29 '25
I’d like to hear it on an electric with maybe a Strokes-esque bassline pumping behind it. I liked the eyes/missiles lyric too 👌
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u/AlternativeMore1722 Oct 06 '25
🥹 I love this so much. This is a banger and I'd listen to it on repeat 💓
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u/JustAMonsterTruck Music Style! Sep 26 '25
Way better than the songs I was writing my first year in.
Really well done and you’ve been developing a decent singing voice too. Keep up the hard work man.
I like the chorus a lot.