When you think of classic guitar songs, examples that readily come to mind might make you feel intimidated if you are trying to play them as a beginner. Learning guitar songs for beginners can be daunting. Bands like Boston, Nirvana, and Fleetwood Mac are known for iconic riffs and platinum hits, and you may feel that there is no way you could play their songs.
In some cases, you may be right. Professional musicians spend decades perfecting their craft. However, there are songs by legendary groups over the last five decades that sound incredible and are easy to master. When you first pick up a guitar and embark on the personal journey of learning how to play, you probably have several hits in mind that you would like to play someday. To reach that point, you will need to practice consistently and find ways to motivate yourself as you continue to work on your technical proficiency. The following songs listed below involve simple scales and chord progressions. These songs can be learned in hours or days (instead of months or years).
Classic guitar songs for beginners that can be learned in a fraction of the time
- More Than a Feeling – Boston
- Landslide – Fleetwood Mac
- Every Rose Has Its Thorn – Poison
- I Love Rock ‘N Roll – Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
- Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
- Wonderwall – Oasis
- Are You Gonna Be My Girl – Jet
- Hey There Delilah – Plain White T’s
- My Old Man – Zac Brown Band
- Gun Song – The Lumineers
The list is composed of two songs from each decade, starting in the 1970s and ending in the 2010s. When you are learning to play the guitar, feeling like you are improving can serve as motivation to continue working on it. Getting better is all about putting in the effort. Over time, you will begin to notice how much you have improved. Once you have mastered songs like the ones listed in this article, you can begin working on harder songs such as those by Eddie Van Halen or Jimmy Page.
Before you leave to start jamming out…
I hope you find this list helpful and that you feel confident trying to learn your first songs on the guitar. Make no mistake: learning how to play the guitar is not easy and it can be frustrating at times. With that said, even the greatest of guitar players had to start somewhere. Take the first step toward learning guitar songs for beginners and book a lesson with us today.