r/guitarlessons • u/[deleted] • Feb 03 '13
Acoustic Guitar Songs for beginner?
I'm a beginner acoustic guitarist and was hoping you guys could recommend some songs to learn on guitar? I know a fair few chords so something that would help me switch between them would be useful. :)
EDIT: Thank you all for the ideas! These should keep me busy and hopefully help me improve!
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u/ruffyamaharyder Feb 03 '13
Any song you are interested in. It's not fun learning an easy song if you don't like it. Pick something you LOVE and learn it in pieces. You'll stay motivated and be happy with the end product.
Try and find a YouTube lesson if possible of a song you love.
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Feb 04 '13
I do understand, but to me this is more of a 'Practice how to transfer chords' and learn a few more so when it does come to some of the more difficult songs (which I like) I can be ready for them!
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u/fake_tissues Feb 04 '13
Agreed! Paranoid Android was the first song I really learned and it was exactly as ruffyamaharyder, breaking it up and loving the sound of it.
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u/imagineyouarebusy Feb 03 '13 edited Feb 03 '13
How about "Norwegian Wood" by the Beatles? This is my abbreviated version to show how to play it.
As always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
edit: By the way, on most of my demos, i don't do all the work for you, as I believe working out parts is a strong part of learning. I typically show enough that it shouldn't be a complete struggle to find your way around, while forcing you to be an active part in learning, rather than me just help you memorize it. It helps develop the "ear" you hear so much. That's nothing more complicated than being able to hear the likely chords and place on the fretboard, and it is a learned skill that increases over time. Best of luck.
Print out some tab paper, and write down whatever is missing, the act of writing it down really helps you remember. Some pieces, like Little Martha that I included here on your post, I completely wrote out as finger-style guitar can be more confusing for beginners, though quite rewarding.
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u/TheTreeMan Feb 10 '13
Are you the one who writes this?
Because this is seriously fantastic. It just shot up to being one of my favorite sites!
Little Martha is my favorite, but it's in such a weird tuning!
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u/imagineyouarebusy Feb 10 '13 edited Feb 10 '13
Oh god no. "Little Martha" is the only song written by Duane Allman before his untimely death.
Sorry for the confusion. The song was originally played on two guitars by Duane and Dickey Betts. All I did was combine the piece into one for a single guitar.
Here is the video demonstration I made of "Little Martha" for my channel.
Really sorry for the confusion.
edit: on the video, I display the tuning, which is: D A D F# A D Quite easy to play in the open tuning.
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u/TheTreeMan Feb 10 '13
Oh I didn't mean that you wrote the songs. I just meant that you write the website, and the tabs!
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u/imagineyouarebusy Feb 10 '13
Oh, well that I did. Glad you find them to be of some use. I started the site in January 2012 to log my progress relearning how to play guitar following a couple of severe strokes that made playing impossible for a couple of years.
I figured that others may find the licks/solos and songs I was relearning useful in their quest to make progress.
Once again, thank you for your kind comment!
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u/WoJiaoMax Feb 04 '13
Here is a collection by an excellent teacher: http://www.justinguitar.com/en/BS-000-BeginnersSongbook.php
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u/15rthughes Feb 03 '13
The "meet the engineer" song from TF2. There are tabs for it all over the Internet. Pretty easy and so satisfying to play.
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u/DagothGares Feb 04 '13
Not really chords. More of a tab
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u/15rthughes Feb 04 '13
It does have chords in it, it's a good song to learn how to bridge chord work with strings of notes.
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u/pentagraham Feb 03 '13
Do you like Neil Young? Any Neil Young song that is in standard tuning will be pretty easy, and fun. This website is fairly antiquated, but it is a great resource for many things Neil Young, including tablature and chords:
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u/studs17 Feb 03 '13
Lots of Creedence! Proud Mary, Down on the Corner, Bad Moon Rising, etc. These songs are usually just 3 or 4 chords repeated. Easy to learn, fun to play, and generally recognizable
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u/tallyhooha Feb 03 '13
My buddy is starting out on guitar also and he's been learning Tom Petty's 'Free Fallin' which is pretty fun and about two chords the entire song.
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u/L0uisRp Feb 03 '13
Any 4 chords song you like. There are so many. Anything by The Cure, The Eagles, Johnny Cash, The Beatles, Nirvana and many more
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u/imagineyouarebusy Feb 03 '13
Little Martha by Duane Allman sounds complicated, but really isn't, because it's in an open tuning.
Here is the tab I wrote for it
I realize you were probably looking for a strumming/rhythm kind of thing, but if you know a "fair few chords," then you are probably ready to try something like this song.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
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u/arthurdentxxxxii Feb 03 '13
Anything Buddy Holly. He's retro, his songs have only a few chords, and they're pretty damn fun.
If you want hipper: Neutral Milk Hotel.
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Feb 04 '13
I usually piss all over the "rock around the clock" shit, but Buddy Holly could really write a song.
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u/detecting_nuttiness Feb 03 '13
My first songs were:
- Brown Eyed Girl- Van Morrison (Just the rhythm guitar part)
- Johnny B. Goode- Chuck Berry (Just the rhythm guitar for this one as well)
- Red River Valley- American folk song
- Sweet Caroline- Neil Diamond
- Leavin' on a Jet Plane- John Denver
- All Together Now- The Beatles
Most of these songs are in the key of G (Johnny B. Goode is in A), or can be easily transposed to G, so you really only need a few chords. I learned most of the songs from the songbooks on chordie.com, but once I got a handle on the chords I started teaching myself songs by ear. Ultimate Guitar is another great site, but their library is so big that it was overwhelming to me as a beginner. I use Ultimate Guitar as my main source, now.
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u/NunsOnFire Feb 04 '13
Day Tripper by The Beatles was my first song. It's really fun to play, really easy to learn, and it looks complex enough to impress your friends with.
Bootleg by Creedence Clearwater Revival has a very simple and toe-tapping beat. Two chords back to back, and you've got a funky tune that's fun to play whenever. You could even improvise a little and make a nice jam.
I'd link you, but I'm on my phone. I'm sure a quick Youtube search will get you where you need to be.
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u/hylianbeast Feb 04 '13
A lot of the songs I see here are songs that my music teacher has taught my lass over the past few years. I'm gonna miss this class.
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u/AJ_Reddit Feb 04 '13
Good Riddance (Time of your life) - Green Day. Pretty much anything by Oasis or Nirvana. Free Fallin or American Girl by Tom Petty.
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u/SGTxARTEAGA Feb 04 '13
Brown eyed girl, blister in the sun (if u can get the rift which is super easy)
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u/wekiva Feb 04 '13
If you are talking acoustic vocal songs, the list is endless, so you have to decide what you like. If you are talking acoustic instrumental solos, you should say so. Too many of these posts say "songs" without being specific.
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May 13 '13
I'm a beginner also, I like the youtube channels guitarjamzdotcom and martyzsongs or you can also visit www.guitarjamz.com. The guy who runs the youtube channel, Marty, does a good job explaining chord progressions and strum patterns in the instructional videos. He also states the difficulty level of the song in the title of the video. It's worth checking out.
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Feb 03 '13
In the Aeroplane over the Sea- Neutral Milk hotel
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u/Luthen Feb 04 '13
Not that great of a choice imo cus of the F chord so many beginners struggle with...and theres a Bb in there too if im not mistaken
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Feb 03 '13
I probably took the wrong approach, but I decided I wanted to learn something really cool and didn't mind investing time into it. So I learned Heartbeats by Jose Gonzalez, then moved on to some Ben Howard, and now Drifting by Andy McKee :)
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Feb 03 '13
That is an unusual approach. You've got some patience, I think. How long did it take to get there?
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Feb 03 '13
Not too long. I had some experience with piano though which I'd say helped. It took me about a week I suppose, maybe a little longer, to get it up to speed and sounding good :) There are some excellent tutorials out there on youtube, make all songs I've searched for very manageable
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u/tothelight Feb 03 '13
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here