# Easy songs for beginning guitarist **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 9, 2004, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-songs-for-beginning-guitarist/268369 "2004-10-09T15:08:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-songs-for-beginning-guitarist/268369/1 "2004-10-09T15:08:19Z")
My 12 year old son is showing an interest in learning guitar. Can some of you younger dopers (under 35, say) suggest some songs that he might be familiar with that are easy to play? It would be nice if I am familiar with them also. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-songs-for-beginning-guitarist/268369/2 "2004-10-09T22:22:55Z")
Well, most of the traditional “easy songs for beginners” songs are older, as it seems to have become unfashionable to put out two chord songs in the last twenty years or so. That said, the easiest songs are “Smoke On The Water,” “Horse With No Name,” “Before You Accuse Me,” “Blackbird (slightly more advanced fingerpicking,” “Knocking On Heaven’s Door,” et. al. Tablature abounds. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-songs-for-beginning-guitarist/268369/3 "2004-10-09T22:41:13Z")
One of the first songs I taught myself was Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here”. “Take It Easy” by the Eagles is another one that’s not too hard. I would suggest going to a music store and looking for music books that (a) have songs you both like, and (b) have chords or tab that look fairly easy to play. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-songs-for-beginning-guitarist/268369/4 "2004-10-09T22:49:40Z")
The Verve - The Drugs Don’t Work Oasis - Wonderwall The Kinks - Lola The Stone Roses - Waterfall ---
**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-songs-for-beginning-guitarist/268369/5 "2004-10-09T22:50:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, most of the traditional “easy songs for beginners” songs are older Yeah, I know. When I was learning the Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul and Mary were hot and there was a lot of easy and popular stuff to choose from. I’m afraid if I tried to get him to play any of that he’d turn from music forever. ---
**Author:** ![Teelo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@Teelo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teelo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-songs-for-beginning-guitarist/268369/6 "2004-10-10T00:27:35Z")
Anything by the popular pop punk bands **Blink-182** or _Green Day_ is great for learning. I’m sure your son knows both of these bands. Almost everyone of their songs are constructed using a simple chord called a ‘power chord’ its very universal on the guitar and a good introduction to chords. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-songs-for-beginning-guitarist/268369/7 "2004-10-10T00:52:33Z")
[www.guitarnoise.com](http://www.guitarnoise.com) has a great section called “Easy Songs for Beginners”, with isntructions, etc. on how to play them (and some songs (like “Horse with No Name”) have .mp3s to listen to. I found it very useful when I started playing, just to have a few simple songs that I could resort to when practice was getting frustrating. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-songs-for-beginning-guitarist/268369/8 "2004-10-10T00:53:35Z")
For clarity, the site I listed is a free site, and the .mp3s I referenced are of the guy telling you how to play the song (and demonstrating), not of the songs themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-songs-for-beginning-guitarist/268369/9 "2004-10-10T01:17:04Z")
> [@Teelo](#): > > Anything by the popular pop punk bands **Blink-182** or _Green Day_ is great for learning. > I’m sure your son knows both of these bands. > Almost everyone of their songs are constructed using a simple chord called a ‘power chord’ its very universal on the guitar and a good introduction to chords. For that precise reason, that is not a good way to learn the guitar. You learn one chord, not many. You’d get a sense of where different positions on the instrument are, but you’d only know how to make one chord. If **bnorton** ’s son practices those songs using open chords, he’d learn at least a couple per song. ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-songs-for-beginning-guitarist/268369/10 "2004-10-10T03:38:37Z")
Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes is simple to learn. It is pretty much the same during the entire song and is pretty catchy. Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana is also a good one to learn.