When I was 17 and learning guitar, the first song I learned was Feelin’ Alright, by Traffic. Nothing but A7 and D, easy peasy, a good one to get started on. Next up were some simple Stones, Dylan, Hank Williams, and Van Morrison tunes.
I wonder what songs young people of today start out with? Those old chestnuts, or some new stuff I’ve never heard of?
I’ll bet it’s still “Blowing in the Wind” and “I Can See Clearly Now”. When I was teaching high school two decades ago, all the newbie’s were noodling the riff to “Heart Shaped Box” more than 10 years after it came out.
I ran into my roommate from freshman year of college ('72) who said “Oh, man, I hope you finally figured out the guitar part to that YES song… ‘Roundabout’? You only practiced it in the stairwell every night for the whole semester.”
I’ve heard that Sweet Child 'o Mine is popular (the lead, so not for beginners) as are some Metallica tunes.
What, are you going to teach over the summer?
The opening to Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” is a good lesson in open strings and entry-level hybrid picking, though some of the chords are not for beginners.
My teen daughter started out with Mylie’s The Climb and some Taylor Swift songs.