Play some guitar and learn some Japanese

I took up guitar a month ago, thanks to a guitar-happy friend. Originally my goal was to play "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, which I had become obsessed with, and which, having only a few chords, seemed conquerable. Well, I still can't play B minor with any competency, unfortunately. But I am now able to play one of my favorite Japanese songs: チェインギャング (Chain Gang) by ザ･ブルー･ハーツ (The Blue Hearts).

I got the lyrics and the chords for Chain Gang at a site called Gakki , which also sells instruments (as you can probably tell by its name). It only has three chords, so it isn't the most complicated song, but I am practicing my Japanese, and learning new words. Once you translate the song, you basically have a sure-fire way to remember new vocabulary and their definitions. Even if you aren't teaching yourself/playing guitar, learning songs is a good way to practice pronunciation (although you'll find some singers who distort their words) and expand your repertoire of words. Some of the songs I'm hoping to move onto, once I finally conquer finally get tired of trying to conquer B minor are:

Luna Sea's Fate, more because it is fun to sing than the guitar part:

The Blue Hearts' キスして欲しい：

Jero's 海雪, even though I'll never be able to sing it:

B'z's Calling:

Aqua Timez's　虹:
 

 Do As Infinity 真実の詩, although it was the ending song for Inuyasha, which I hate with illogical passion：

 ELLEGARDEN's Marry Me, even though it isn't in Japanese at all:

Grammar Point of the Week: ～ぬ Another Negative Form

An antiquated way of saying ないis to use ぬ. If you know how to form the plain negative form of Japanese verbs, simply take of that ないand replace it with ぬ. You can hear this in many enka songs,　for example, one of my favourites here. One part of his lyrics are 届かぬなら (if it doesn't arrive). If we take this apart you can see how it's been formed is just like the ないform you are so used to. (The plain form of 届かぬ　is 届く.)

とどか  -ぬ

とどか -ない

Using ぬ　instead of ない　can also make your words sound more polite, the way speaking with old-fashioned words does in English. Here is a line from ひとつのタブー by Hoshi Shinichi, using the Xないようにお願いする form which you will often hear in trains, etc (Please don't leave anything on the train = お忘れ物のないよう、お願いします). In this case, the line says ｢あわてたりなさらぬよう、お願いします」. I would translate it as something like "Please remain calm", or "We ask that you please remain calm". I guess you can break it down as "We ask that you conduct yourself so as not to panic and the like."　Notice that the sentence is made more polite by the use of the keigo form of suru, which is nasaru.