Hey Tigerpaws, what's wrong with Simple Gifts? It's actually a beautiful tune if played correctly. It's actually a good tune for learning to play with others, it's only 2 chords, and we're encouraged to play it slow. Can't beat that for learning. And many of us (myself included) still haven't mastered it, so it's worthy of continued effort.
Jayboca, i liked that example of Simple Gifts. This brings to memory something Uwe Kruger referred to when he encouraged having fun with these tunes, they aren't held to any one style or pattern. He was all over the neck, and yet stayed in key. Very impressive. The guy looked like the karate teacher from the movie "Karate Kid"...
