#161910  by old man down
 
Right out of the blocks, … with nothing to warm up with, … go to song time and again is … You Win Again.

Can't go wrong with it.

It is etched in stone in my mind.

It always sounds good.

And that little triad riff repeated throughout it is so heart warming, and it always comes off so perfect every time — and all the time, and from way back in time from when I can't remember. (but at least as early as 1973 when Europe '72 first caught my attention)

And Hank Williams wrote it, too. (1952)

I especially like the high-note-lead note-triplets that Jerry punches out, which anyone can render, and which pierce the night, and always turn heads if you're not alone.

But more than all of this, … someone hands you an acoustic guitar and says, "I hear you can play guitar." Maybe you've had a few beers, maybe you're not in the mood, maybe a million things, but you can still accept the guitar, play one song, and if it is the Europe '72 version of You Win Again, when you hand the guitar back, you'll hear a polite, "Thank you."

And maybe you'll hear some clapping from nearby, too.
TI4-1009 liked this
 #163497  by tntawney
 
Althea since I learned how to strum it when I was a teenager.
 #163506  by Jon S.
 
For some reason I'm not entirely clear why, I'll often, when I first pick up my guitar, warm up with the ending chord sequence to That's The Way (Led Zeppelin III).
tcsned, lovetoboogie liked this
 #163511  by tcsned
 
My latest favorite starting tune is As the Crow Flies by Walter Hiatt. Awesome songwriter.
 #163514  by paulkogut
 
For years, I've fallen into a routine of warming up for my jazz gigs by playing 'solo acoustic' versions of Dead tunes. I don't want to spend a bunch of time playing on the tunes for the concert and ruin their freshness, but picking out an old familiar Dead chestnut and seeing where it goes seems to flex all the right creative muscles while I sit around the hotel room. I taped a Birdsong/China Doll a while back, that I may have shared here before https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPYK9ICCzJ8 . I've got enough of a repertoire that I'm thinking it deserves to be a project of its own, so one of my goals for next year is figuring out when/where/how to record something and what appropriate venues might be available for performances. Hopefully I'll have some news about it as winter turns to spring....

All the best,

PK
8-6-71 for me liked this
 #163516  by Jimv
 
Ha!
Fun thread. I never thought about it... I guess I almost always pick up my guitar and play a C or Gmajor scale then move about and land in A or B, noodle up to E then back down to land in something im working on. Lately LTGTR or Staggerlee. Funny... like almost every time.
 #164393  by pablomago
 
It's different every time. And it depends on which acoustic I'm playing. The 12 string triggers different songs then the 6 strings. I do have a 12 string version of Stella Blue that I like to play starting from up the neck making it's way down with some ringing open strings. Such a pretty song.