Last Updated on May 26, 2023 by Teemu Suomala
When starting out, easy-to-play guitar songs are THE KEY. Mastering some easy guitar songs right out of the gate gives you a nice motivation boost and makes you want to learn more. If songs are too hard, your motivation can die quickly and the guitar starts to gather dust in the corner.
I want you to keep playing, for the rest of your life. That’s why I made this post. But remember, go out of your comfort zone once in a while, and learn some hard songs, riffs, solos, and licks too. That’s how you get better.
Now, let’s see what this post has to offer…
This post includes easy guitar songs for beginners:
- From the year 1725 to 2017 (that’s not a typo)
- From many different music genres(from flamenco to metal)
- Songs to play on classical-, steel-string acoustic-, and electric guitar.
The rhythm, scales, chords, strumming patterns, and keys vary between songs, but in general, all of these are easy songs to play on guitar. At the end of this post, I also reveal:
- ”what makes some songs easy to play”,
- ”3 steps that help you to learn hard songs”,
- and “the #1 guitar practice mistake you should avoid at any cost”.
Let’s get started!
Author: Teemu Suomala
Easy Guitar Songs for Beginner Guitar Players
How to use this post:
Songs are organized by music genre. These genres are included:
- Pop
- Country
- Rock
- Metal
- Jazz
- Blues
- Funk & Soul
- Classical
- Flamenco
- Punk
Under the genre, songs are organized by release year. From oldest to newest.
If you click:
- the song name, you can listen to it on YouTube.
- the ‘’chords’’, you will be directed to the page where you can learn chords for that songs.
- the ’’tab’’, you will find tabs for that songs (if you don’t know how to read tabs, check this guide).
- the ”chords & tabs”, you will be directed to the page where you can find both.
All the chords and tabs are provided through trusted ”ultimate-guitar.com” or “songsterr.com”.
For some songs, I only found chords or tabs(not both), but you can still easily learn from one of those.
If you don’t yet know how, learn how to read guitar chord charts here.
Note that some songs are played with a capo. Capo is used to raising the pitch and changing the key of the guitar and songs. That ables you to use the same open chords from the different locations of the fretboard. Capo can definitely make things easier for you.
If you don’t own a capo, I recommend this(I use it): Dunlop, Black Capo. (works with regular-sized electric-, and steel-string acoustic guitars).
If you want to know more about guitar capo’s and want to know how to use them, watch this video:
Enjoy the list, and if you have any questions or recommendations for this list, leave a comment down below!
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Easy Pop Songs for Guitar
Most pop songs are easy to play. In most cases, you need only 4 chords in order to play a song. Of course, some chord shifts can cause headache at first, but when that happens, slow up the tempo a bit and hone your chord shifting. You are able to learn any song you want, you just need to practice!
Here are some easy Pop songs for you:
| Let It Be – The Beatles (1970) | Chords | |
| Imagine – John Lennon (1971) | Chords & Tabs | |
| With or Without You – U2 (1987) | Chords | Tabs |
| Wonderwall – Oasis (1995) | Chords | Tabs |
| Oops!… I Did It Again – Britney Spears (2000) | Chords | |
| Clocks – Coldplay (2002) | Chords | Tabs |
| Lazy song – Bruno Mars (2010) | Chords & Tabs | |
| Die Young – Kesha (2012) | Chords | Tabs |
| Let Her Go – Passenger (2012) | Chords & Tabs | |
| All of Me – John Legend (2013) | Chords | Tabs |
| Stay with me – Sam Smith (2014) | Chords | Tabs |
| Ride – Twenty One Pilots (2015) | Chords | Tabs |
| Perfect – Ed Sheeran (2017) | Chords & Tabs |
Easy Country Songs for Guitar
Country songs are usually quite easy too, there are some exceptions of course.
Here are a couple of easy country classics for you:
| Together Again – Buck Owens (1964) | Chords | |
| City of New Orleans – Steven Goodwin (1971) | Chords | |
| On the Road Again – Willie Nelson (1980) | Chords | Tabs |
| Drive – Alan Jackson (2002) | Chords | |
| Complicated – Carolyn Dawn (2004) | Chords | |
| Blown Away – Carrie Underwood (2012) | Chords & Tabs |
For more easy country songs, check this post: 37 Easy Country Songs on Guitar
Easy Rock Songs for Guitar
Rock songs are harder to play than Pop and Country in general. But there are still a plenty of really catchy and easy Rock sounds for you to master:
| House of the Rising Sun – The Animals (1964) | Chords | Tabs |
| Whole Lotta Love – Led Zeppelin (1969) | Chords | Tabs |
| Have You Ever Seen the Rain – Creedence Clearwater Revival (1970) | Chords | Tabs |
| Smoke on the Water – Deep Purple (1972) | Chords | Tabs |
| La Grange – ZZ Top (1973) | Chords | Tabs |
| The one I love – REM (1987) | Chords | Tabs |
| Knockin’ on heavens door – Bob Dylan (1987) | Chords | Tabs |
| Everlong – Foo Fighters (1997) | Chords | Tabs |
| Otherside – Red Hot Chili Peppers (1999) | Chords | Tabs |
| Boulevard of Broken Dreams – Green Day (2004) | Chords | Tabs |
| Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand (2004) | Chords | Tabs |
| Still Counting – Volbeat (2008) | Chords | Tabs |
For more easy rock songs, check these posts: 47 Easy Rock Songs on Guitar & 27 Easy Hard Rock Songs on Guitar
Easy Metal Songs for Guitar
Metal songs can be super hard and fast. But I tried to find some pretty easy headbangers for you: (Some of these include easy-to-play riffs, but the solo is hard. Don’t worry. You can first learn the rhythm parts and learn solos later.)
| Iron Man – Black Sabbath (1970) (songs from Black Sabbath are pretty easy) | Tabs | |
| Breaking the Law – Judas Priest (1980) | Chords | Tabs |
| Crazy Train – Ozzy Osbourne (1980) (solo is not easy) | Chords | Tabs |
| Am I Evil – Diamond Head (1980) | Tabs | |
| Holy Diver – Dio (1983) | Chords | Tabs |
| For Whom the Bell Tolls – Metallica (1984) | Chords | Tabs |
| Symphony of Destruction – Megadeth (1992) (solo is not easy) | Chords | Tabs |
| Toxicity – System of a Down (2001) | Chords | Tabs |
| Bad Company – Five Finger Death Punch (2009) | Chords | Tabs |
| This Means War – Avenged Sevenfold (2013) (solo is not easy) | Chords | Tabs |
For more easy metal songs, check this post: 27 Easy Metal Songs on Guitar.
Easy Jazz Songs for Guitar
Finding great, easy, and new jazz songs is not an easy task because the best years of Jazz were in the ’50s and ’60s, and there are not that many tabs available nowadays. But here are some hits from those golden years:
| Summertime – Billie Holiday (1936) | Chords | |
| Blue Monk – Thelonius Monk (1954) | Tabs | |
| Autumn leaves – Nat King Cole (1955) | Chords | |
| So What – Miles David (1959) | Chords & Tabs | |
| Fly Me to the Moon – Frank Sinatra (1964) | Chords | Tabs |
Easy Blues Songs for Guitar
Sadly, blues is not so popular nowadays. If you want to play slightly newer blues go and check out Gary Moore. Gary’s songs are not so easy for beginners, that’s why I didn’t include his songs on this list. But here are a couple of relatively easy blues masterpieces for you:
| T Bone Shuffle – T Bone Walker (1947) | Chords | Tabs |
| Boogie Chillen – John Lee Hooker (1948) | Tabs | |
| Mannish Boy – Muddy Waters (1955) | Tabs | |
| The Thrill is Gone – BB King (1969) | Chords | Tabs |
| Ain’t No Sunshine – Bill Withers (1971) | Chords | Tabs |
| Alberta – Eric Clapton (1977) | Chords | Tabs |
Easy Funk, and Soul Songs for Guitar
These genres include some really catchy and rhythmic songs. Here are a couple of easy ones for you:
| Stand by me – Ben E. King (1961) | Chords | Tabs |
| Night Train – James Brown & The Famous Flame (1961) | Tabs | |
| I Feel Good – James Brown (1964) | Chords | Tabs |
| I Second That Emotion – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (1967) | Chords | Tabs |
| Crazy For You – Adele (2008) | Chords | Tabs |
Easy Reggae Songs for Guitar
This genre originating from the Caribbean island Jamaica offers really simple sing-along songs. Here are a couple of great ones for you:
| No Woman No Cry – Bob Marley (1974) | Chords | Tabs |
| Three Little Bird – Bob Marley (1977) | Chords | Tabs |
| Redemption Song – Bob Marley (1980) | Chords | Tabs |
| Stranger In Town – Gregory Isaacs (1982) | Chords | |
| Night Nurse – Gregory Isaacs (1982) | Chords |
Easy Classical Songs for Guitar
Classical songs are definitely not the easiest to play, but mastering a classical song is really satisfying. And gladly, there are classical songs that are easy to play, here are a couple of them for you: (Note that these songs are usually played with fingers, not with a pick.)
| In the Hall of the Mountain King – Grieg (1874) | Tabs | |
| Minuet in G – Bach (1725) | Tabs | |
| Swan Lake (1877) | Tabs | |
| Lagrima – Fransisco Tarrega (unknown) | Tabs | |
| Country Dance – Ferdinando Carulli (unknown) | Tabs |
Easy Flamenco Songs for Guitar
Flamenco is similar to classical music, played without the pick, and can be tricky, but satisfying.
Here are a couple of easy flamenco songs for you:
| Españoleta – Gaspar Sanz (unknown) | Tabs | |
| Tempestad (Rumba Flamenca) – Juan Serrano (unknown) | Tabs | |
| El Porompompero – Manolo Escobar (1979) | Tabs | |
| La Gitanita – Jurg Hochweber (1989) | Tabs |
Easy Punk Songs for Guitar
Punk is not about complex scales and chord progressions, it’s more about dirty riffs full of energy. So in general, punk songs are pretty easy to play and great for beginners. Here is some punk for you:
| Blitzkrieg Bop – The Ramones (1976) | Chords | Tabs |
| Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana (1991) | Chords | Tabs |
| When I Come Around – Green Day (1994) | Chords | Tabs |
| Last Caress – Misfits (1996) | Chords | Tabs |
| The Kids Aren’t Alright – The Offspring (1998) | Chords | Tabs |
What Makes Some Songs Easy to Play?
Main things affecting how hard a specific song are:
- rhythm and tempo(speed) of the songs
- what and how many chords are used
- how fast are the shifts between chords
- does the song include rhythm changes
- are there complex and fast guitar solos
Most of the songs in this list had a slow tempo, few chords were used and you have plenty of time to change between the chords. Some were harder than others, but all can be mastered pretty easily(except couple solos).
How to Learn Hard Songs? – 3 Simple Steps
The hardest parts for me are usually fast chord shifts and super fast and complex guitar solos. If I find myself struggling with some songs, I usually do this:
- learn to play the song correctly at very slow speed
- speed up the playing with small steps
- practice the hard parts more than others
These steps have helped me to learn many hard songs, riffs, and solos. The time period spent practicing varies, but eventually, songs start to sound right at the correct speed. That’s how real skills are developed, with practice, practice and practice. But the end goal is worth all the hard work.
The #1 Guitar Practice Mistake When Learning Songs
Please, check this short video I crafted so that you can avoid the #1 practice mistake I made when I started playing:
Conclusion on Easy Guitar Songs for Beginners
I hope that you found plenty of easy guitar songs to master from this post. If you didn’t find any good ones(hows that possible?), here is another ‘’easy songs for guitar-list’’ that I recommend.
Keep playing and having fun with the guitar!
Teemu”the play easy songs” Suomala
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My all time favorite is Perfect song by Ed Sheeran.. I wish I had read this article much before so that i could have used this site to learn the chords as i feel the content in the site is more relevant than the one I learned from
Anyways, hope to go through all the links and learn more.
It’s a great song for sure! Awesome that you liked this post, and I personally usually use the ultimate guitar to learn from tabs, the website is easy to use and tabs are pretty accurate, great site. Although there might be more fancy options available… Thanks for commenting Anand!