Easy J-Rock songs to start with when learning how to play guitar

[Maiku 4]

@Mr Bacon: That song is super easy. xD I've never liked MUCC though. D:

[roninbuddha 0]

Loveletter by panic channel/panic★CH or however you spelled them. is pretty easy to learn by ear

[Seiji 156]

omae ni sasageru minikui koe by girugämesh isn't really hard either

[Pretsy 1343]

Pretty much most of Kiyoharu's solo songs (yup, way more chord-based than Kuroyume's music)

Also: Buck Tick's post-millennium acoustic songs

@Seiji:

Well,

All new Girugämesh songs have easy-weezy chords...(listen to "Beast" for example, you will get tired of it easily)

[sugibo 403]

LUNA SEA - TONIGHT

[ricchubunny 2013]

i'm guitar beginner too, recently i've played An Cafe Escapism, thats too easy, Kiryu's another side, not too easy but good to practice and UNiTE's Midlle Note. Its funny

[Pretsy 1343]

Technically speaking, any song which stays in the scope of particular key is somewhat easy to play once you get the gist. E.g. heavier Lycaon songs are usually done in Bm (which is not hard when done in drop B ), which makes them rather effortless sans specific Slash tribute moments by Satoshi (which require a bit more practice, frankly speaking).  Or the hell, majority of obviously nu metal-inspired fares in VK (DEG's six Ugly-WtD era as a case in point) won't require much from electric axemen tbh...

 

@sai is not necessarily hanging around here anymore, so I am addressing anyone with similar intents: in order to develop your skills in any kind of field, you need to look for "fittingly challenging" scenarios - or repertoires and/or specific collections in terms of musicianship. This means that you shouldn't necessarily go for "easypeasy" tracks but more or less "medium" ones.

 

Go for songs where you'd be somewhat able to realize specific influences and "rules" of the particular genre they are played in. A decent chunk of knowledge about keys, scales and other factors belonging to the basis of music theory will be as useful and perhaps even necessary before delving into the art and practice of rock music AND J-rock respectively (unless you aspire to become a wizard of djent/prog/avant wankery).

 

Tl;dr: if you didn't bother to read much of the stuff said above - my personal picks for each and specific style I could think of for an aspiring musician with enough patience to assess this songcraft:

 

Rock ballads:

 

- Gazette's Cassis (just play the chords, forget the Uru parts for a while)

- Dir en grey's Undecided (half-ballad but slow down a little bit and practice the (essential) chord structure)

- Luna Sea's ANOTHER (very accessible ballad from guitarist's perspective in a very rookie-friendly setting, go with this one for basic understanding about key changes etc.)

- L'Arc~en~Ciel's Pieces (assessment of Japanesque pop melodies requires you to get familiar with unusual concepts  like "Royal Road progression" etc. This ballad follows the said progression a little bit with its intriguing key and chord changes along the way. Fittingly challenging after two formerly mentioned tunages)

 

"Rockers":

 

- Penicillin's Romance (very distinct chord progression, moderate key changes, must-cover for almost every self-respecting JAYRAWK hobbyist)

- hide's ROCKET DIVE (descending/ascending guitar riff here shouldn't be hard to decipher but assess the pop punk aspect here - you will need it for oshare songs etc.)

- Kuroyume's Miss Moonlight (welp, kote/pop territory! Practice necessary hook solos for older and perhaps newer J-rock songs here)

- Janne Da Arc's Shining Ray (...deeper and deeper into the basic axeman shredding and riffage! Practice your essential progressions once again AND usage of electric shreds etc. here)

- Raphael's Hana Saku Inochi Aru Kagiri (in case you are willing to get familiar with doodlings for Bearsighs and other fast-paced acts, get used to this one)

 

Not exactly the most recommended choices here but I had to think of "coverable" numbers anyway! NOTE: practice standard/Eb tuning first - go for drop tunings only if you have to (since starting out with drops is blatant cheating/clear sign of laziness)

 

Edited May 2, 2016 by Alroy

[TJK. 27]

I wish I could be more help on this subject, but I'm a bassist, so majority of songs are simple to learn if your not doing a whole lot of runs or progressions. 

As far as the songs go, Carmelzors pretty much has a good variety for anyone learning guitar to really sink their teeth in or just get their feet wet. I still suggest Ellegarden songs since the pop punk style is more catered to the power chord structure, however I only suggest that as a start up to play. 

Also, my advice. Just keep playing and don't be afraid to try new things. Also, don't get worked up or down if you don't get it down pat. Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day. 

[SethItari 24]

I've recently been working on my guitar from a composer's perspective (with a focus on chord progressions) and discovered something that would fit well into this topic while playing along to a few songs.

 

Notably, for those who'd like to play along to a relatively complex sounding (musically) arrangement but that is easy for beginners,  [Alexandros]'s new track "New Wall" can effectively be summed up into 4 chords.
You can get by for pretty much the whole song (save maybe the bridge, if  I recall). 

 

G D Em C
I V   vi    IV

So definitely a great choice to practice simple chords for a beginner.

 

I notice this is a fairly old topic that frequently gets revived but if there's any interest in these kinds of simple chord progression play-alongs I could post them as I come across them, or start a new topic I'll keep updated? (I expect to discover many more as I study them).

 

Edited June 11, 2016 by SethItari