100+ Easy Guitar Songs for Beginners | Chord Charts & Tabs Included (2019)

Whether you are just starting to learn the guitar or you’re more advanced, learning your favourite songs on the guitar is an extremely fun experience that will motivate you to keep learning, and grow your repertoire.

By learning to master your favourite songs on the guitar your love for music can only continue to grow. Best of all the next time a guitar comes out at a party or an event, you will be ready to impress your friends and family.

The list of easy guitar songs we’ve assembled below was put together primarily with the beginner guitarist in mind and it includes both acoustic guitar songs as well as electric, with and without the capo.

A capo is a device used on the neck of a stringed (typically fretted) instrument to shorten the playable length of the strings, hence raising the pitch. It is a common … via Wikipedia

Some are as easy as two-chord songs which utilize open chords and are a great starting point for beginner guitar players, others use barre chords, and some have fairly challenging chord progressions and require more advanced technique. The list includes a variety of styles stemming from easy rock guitar songs, country songs, pop songs, Christmas songs and many more (see below for a full list of included styles and genres). Furthermore, it includes links to easy guitar chords, tabs, and strum patterns, although, as previously mentioned, there are several advanced guitar songs that have also been included in our ultimate list of easy songs to learn to play on guitar for beginners.

Easy Guitar Songs

You will probably recognize nearly every single one of these songs and wonder, how in the world are these songs easy to play? You might be surprised at how simple these hit songs are to play on the guitar. Try out our top 20 easy songs to learn on guitar today.

1. Radioactive — Imagine Dragons
2. T.N.T — AC/DC
3. Summer Of 69 — Bryan Adams
4. Times Like These — Foo Fighters
5. Sweet Caroline — Neil Diamond
6. Walk Of Life — Dire Straits
7. Perfect — Ed Sheeran
8. Sweet Home Alabama — Lynyrd Skynyrd
9. I Walk The Line — Johnny Cash
10. Let It Be — The Beatles
11. Fast Car — Tracy Chapman
12. That’s All Right Mama — Elvis Presley
13. How Bizarre — OMC
14. Dance The Night Away — The Mavericks
15. Englishman In New York — Sting
16. Breezin’ — George Benson
17. Ain’t No Sunshine — Bill Withers
18. Guns Of Brixton — The Clash
19. I Shot The Sheriff — Bob Marley
20. Miss You — The Rolling Stones

Featured Easy Guitar Song: Sweet Caroline — Neil Diamond

Beginner Guitar Songs

Brand new to learning the guitar? Learning how to play the guitar is a wild journey that can be as easy or as difficult as you want it to be. Beginner guitar players should start with the basics and work their way up in song difficulty over time as you become more and more proficient. Learn the fundamentals of the guitar with these easy guitar songs for beginners.

1. Stay With Me — Sam Smith
2. Brown Eyed Girl — Van Morrison
3. Sweet Child O’ Mine — Guns N’ Roses
4. Creep — Radiohead
5. Hallelujah — Leonard Cohen
6. Hey Joe — Jimi Hendrix
7. Knocking On Heaven’s Door — Bob Dylan
8. Stand By Me — Ben E. King
9. Mockingbird — James Taylor
10. I Can’t Explain — The Who
11. Die Young — Kesha
12. Sunday Bloody Sunday — U2
13. Dynamite — Taio Cruz
14. Heart Of Gold — Neil Young
15. Time Of Your Life — Green Day
16. Imagine — John Lennon
17. Free Fallin’ — Tom Petty
18. Viva La Vida — Coldplay
19. Wonderwall — Oasis
20. Wonderful Tonight — Eric Clapton

Featured Beginner Guitar Song: Wonderful Tonight — Eric Clapton

Easy Acoustic Guitar Songs

The acoustic guitar is a versatile instrument that you can take with you nearly everywhere. Next time you are at a party, on vacation, sitting around a campfire, have the skills and repertoire to impress your friends with these 20 easy songs to play on acoustic guitar.

1. Stairway to Heaven — Led Zeppelin
2. Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) — Green Day
3. Wanted Dead or Alive — Bon Jovi
4. Patience — Guns N’ Roses
5. Free Fallin’ — Tom Petty
6. More Than Words — Extreme
7. Have You Ever Seen the Rain — Creedence Clearwater Revival
8. Layla — Eric Clapton
9. She Talks to Angels — The Black Crowes
10. Everlong — Foo Fighters
11. Let Her Go — Passenger
12. Nothing Else Matters — Metallica
13. Hey There Delilah — Plain White T’s
14. The House of the Rising Sun — The Animals
15. Crazy Little Thing Called Love — Queen
16. Over the Hills and Far Away — Led Zeppelin
17. Ring of Fire — Johnny Cash
18. I’m Yours — Jason Mraz
19. Silent Lucidity — Queensrÿche
20. Every Rose Has its Thorn — Poison

Featured Acoustic Guitar Song: Free Fallin’ — Tom Petty

Electric Guitar Songs

The electric guitar can produce incredible sounds you will recognize anywhere. Learning the electric guitar doesn’t need to be an overwhelming feat, below you will find 20 of the most hard hitting electric guitar songs you need to add to your repertoire so you can lay down some heavy riffs.

1. Iron Man — Black Sabbath
2. Whole Lotta Love — Led Zeppelin
3. “Master of Puppets” — Metallica
4. This Means War” — Avenged Sevenfold
5. Sin City — ACDC
6. Cherub Rock — Smashing Pumpkins
7. I Can’t Quit You Baby — Willie Dixon
8. It Hurts Me Too — Elmore James
9. Smoking Gun — Robert Cray
10. Girls Just Want To Have Fun — Cyndi Lauper
11. Smoke On The Water — Deep Purple
12. Blitzkrieg Bop — The Ramones
13. Wild Thing — The Troggs
14. Two Tickets To Paradise — Eddie Money
15. Smells Like Teen Spirit — Nirvana
16. Still Got The Blues — Gary Moore
17. Doesn’t Remind Me — Audioslave
18. Born Free — Kid Rock
19. Rockstar — Nickelback
20. Fire Flies — Owl City

Featured Easy Electric Guitar Song: Iron Man — Black Sabbath

Classical Guitar Songs

Classical songs when played on the guitar have the unique ability to captivate and inspire the audience like no other instrument. Unfortunately few guitarists choose to learn classical guitar songs due to a lack of mainstream popularity. Stand out from the crowd of guitarists and showcase your skills with by learning how to play some of the worlds most famous pieces of classical music on the guitar. These classical songs on the guitar have a special place in our heart, check out our top 20 classical songs to play on the guitar.

1. Cavatina — Stanley Myers
2. Lonely Shepherd — Gheorghe Zamfir
3. Canarios — Gaspar Sanz
4. Guitar concerto in D — Vivaldi
5. Libertango — Piazzolla
6. La Catedral — Augustin Barrios Mangoré
7. Capricho Arabe — Francisco Tarrega
8. Recuerdos de la Alhambra — Francisco Tarrega
9. Gran Vals by Francisco Tárrega
10. Fantasia №10 by Alonso Mudarra
11. Ave Maria — Schubert
12. Malaguena by Michael Lucarelli
13. Fur Elise — Beethoven
14. Moonlight Sonata — Beethoven
15. Prelude in D — Caracassi
16. Ode To Joy — Beethoven
17. Air On The G String — Bach
18. Theme From Water Music — Handel
19. Lullaby — Brahms
20. Bourree Op. 17, №5 — Le Couppey

Featured Easy Classical Guitar Song: Fur Elise — Beethoven

Country Guitar Songs

Country music is a blast to play and the guitar is the country artists instrument of choice. Country songs are some of the easiest to learn how to play on the guitar and with a little bit of practice, you can be picking right alongside your favorite guitarists. Learn how to play some of our favorite country hits from Willie Nelson to Carrie Underwood with our beginner’s list of the top 20 country songs to play on the guitar.

1. Ring of Fire — Johnny Cash
2. Take Me Home, Country Roads — John Denver
3. Tennessee Whiskey — Chris Stapleton
4. Guitars, Cadillacs — Dwight Yoakam
5. Wagon Wheel — Darius Rucker
6. Bottoms Up — Brantley Gilbert
7. On the Road Again — Willie Nelson
8. Sweet Home Alabama — Lynyrd Skynyrd
9. Broken Halos — Chris Stapleton
10. Chicken Fried — Zac Brown Band
11. Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain — Willie Nelson
12. Sunday Morning Coming Down — Johnny Cash
13. Bad Moon Rising — Creedence Clearwater Revival
14. Whiskey Lullaby — Brad Paisley
15. Les Nuits avec mon ennemi: Brown Eyed Girl — Van Morrison
16. Fast as You — Dwight Yoakam
17. Angel of the Morning — Juice Newton
18. A Satisfied Mind — Porter Wagoner
19. Before He Cheats — Carrie Underwood
20. Good Directions — Billy Currington

Featured Easy Country Guitar Song: Sweet Home Alabama — Lynyrd Skynyrd

Christmas Guitar Songs

Christmas time is nearly upon us once again and it is time to break out the guitar and start to string our favorite Christmas songs. Gather your friends and family near the Christmas tree and have them sing along to the best Christmas songs on the guitar. The classical Christmas carols we all know and love are actually incredibly easy to learn how to play on the guitar. Here are 20 of the best Christmas songs you should learn how to play on the guitar.

1. Jingle Bells
2. Drummer Boy
3. White Christmas
4. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
5. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
6. The Christmas Song
7. O Come All Ye Faithful
8. A Merry Little Christmas
9. Joy to the World
10. O Little Town of Bethlehem
11. Winter Wonderland
12. Last Christmas
13. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
14. All I Want for Christmas Is You
15. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
16. Blue Christmas
17. Wonderful Christmas
18. Sleigh Ride
19. Santa Baby
20. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Featured Easy Christmas Guitar Song: Jingle Bells

Easy Guitar Chord Songs

Learning chords on the guitar? If you are a beginner guitar player or just want some easy songs on guitar, you’ve come to the right place. These 20 songs with easy guitar chords are perfect for practicing and getting the fundamentals down before moving on to more advanced pieces. Be sure to practice and the chords and switching between chords for each song as it will speed up your learning process tremendously!

1. Fire — Bruce Springsteen
2. The one I love — REM
3. Eleanor Rigby — The Beatles
4. Three little birds — Bob Marley
5. Zombie — The Cranberries
6. Chasing Cars — Snow Patrol
7. Otherside — Red hot Chili Peppers
8. Brown eyed girl — Van Morrison
9. Tush — ZZ Top
10. I Can’t Quit You Baby — Willie Dixon
11. My Best Friend’s Girl — The Cars
12. What I Got — Sublime
13. Low — Cracker
14. Cherub Rock — The Smashing Pumpkins
15. Not Fade Away — Buddy Holly
16. I Need My Girl — The National
17. Skinny Love — Bon Iver
18. Rock Me Baby — B. B. King
19. He Didn’t Have To Be — Brad Paisley
20. (Don’t Fear) The Reaper — Blue Öyster Cult

Featured Easy Guitar Chord Song: Chasing Cars — Snow Patrol

Easy Rock Guitar Songs

There’s nothing as thrilling as your fingers blazin’ across the strings while strumming a good rock song. As a beginner guitarist you obviously want beginner songs, but they should also be a ton of fun to learn how to play. Our list of the top 20 rock songs on guitar not only covers that, but it also gives you a set of awesome rock songs to add to your repertoire.

1. Stairway to Heaven — Led Zeppelin
2. Layla — Derek and the Dominos
3. Smoke On The Water — Deep Purple
4. Sweet Child O’ Mine — Guns N’ Roses
5. Smells Like Teen Spirit — Nirvana
6. Free Bird — Lynyrd Skynyrd
7. All Along the Watchtower — The Jimi Hendrix Experience
8. Sultans of Swing — Dire Straits
9. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction — The Rolling Stones
10. Seven Nation Army — The White Stripes
11. Sweet Home Alabama — Lynyrd Skynyrd
12. Johnny B. Goode — Chuck Berry
13. Walk This Way — Aerosmith
14. Eruption — Van Halen
15. The House of the Rising Sun — The Animals
16. Beat It — Michael Jackson
17. Wild Thing — The Troggs
18. Heartbreaker — Led Zeppelin
19. Whole Lotta Love — Led Zeppelin
20. Sunshine of Your Love — Cream

Featured Guitar Rock Song: Stairway to Heaven — Led Zeppelin

Guitar Love Songs

Is there anything more romantic than to serenade the love of your life with a beautiful guitar love song? We’re willing to bet she will get goose bumps along her arms and tears in her eyes but that she’ll also never forget that time when you played her a love song on your guitar. We’ve put together 20 guitar love songs that you can learn with ease. Pull out your guitar and start strumming along to these beautiful love songs and watch your sweetie’s heart melt.

1. Can’t Help Falling In Love — Elvis Presley
2. Like I’m Gonna Lose You — Meghan Trainor
3. Love Story — Taylor Swift
4. Crazy Little Thing Called Love — Queen
5. I’m Yours — Jason Mraz
6. More Than Words — Extreme
7. Just the Way Your Are — Bruno Mars
8. She Will Be Loved — Maroon 5
9. Your Body Is a Wonderland,” John Mayer
10. Thinking Out Loud — Ed Sheeran
11. You’re Beautiful — James Blunt
12. Crash Into Me — Dave Matthews Band
13. Wonderful Tonight — Eric Clapton
14. Marry Me — Train
15. Heaven — Bryan Adams
16. Wanted — Hunter Hayes
17. I’ll Be — Edwin McCain
18. Stay With Me — Sam Smith
19. Something — The Beatles
20. Everything — Michael Bublé

Featured Easy Guitar Love Song: Love Story — Taylor Swift

Easy Guitar Tab Songs

Guitar tabs for beginner guitarists should be easy and fun. Guitar tabs are a simplified form of musical notation that is easy to share. This list of songs with easy guitar tabs is comprised of popular hits that are easy for a beginner student to quickly pick up on, and learn how to play the guitar.

1. Are You Gonna Be My Girl — Jet
2. Cocaine — Eric Clapton
3. Smells Like Teen Spirit — Nirvana
4. Walk This Way — Aerosmith
5. Taking Care of Business — BTO
6. Harder To Breathe — Maroon 5
7. The Joker — Steve Miller Band
8. My Generation — The Who
9. Iron Man — Black Sabbath
10. Pretty Woman– Roy Orbison
11. Crazy Train — Ozzy Osbourne
12. Sweet Home Alabama — Lynyrd Skynyrd
13. Stairway to Heaven -Led Zeppelin
14. Seven Nation Army — The White Stripes
15. Blackbird — The Beatles
16. Nothing Else Matters — Metallica
17. The House of the Rising Sun — The Animals
18. Come as You Are — Nirvana
19. Smoke On The Water — Deep Purple
20. Hallelujah — Jeff Buckley

Featured Guitar Tab Song: Smoke On The Water — Deep Purple

Christian Guitar Songs

Are you looking for ways to incorporate your love of the guitar with your love of God? You have your choice of popular Christian songs, but many new guitar players struggle finding songs they want to play at their appropriate skill level and become discouraged. These 20 easy Christian guitar songs are easy to play for a beginner guitarist but are also very popular, members of your church will be sure to be singing along with you.

1. Above All — Michael W. Smith
2. I Surrender — Hillsong Worship
3. Holy Is the Lord — Chris Tomlin
4. Good Good Father — Chris Tomlin
5. Lord, I Need You — Matt Maher
6. O Come to the Altar — Elevation Worship
7. Hosanna — Hillsong United
8. God of Wonders — Third Day
9. At the Cross (Love Ran Red) — Chris Tomlin
10. Come as You Are — Crowder
11. Your Grace Is Enough — Chris Tomlin
12. This Is Amazing Grace — Phil Wickham
13. Came to My Rescue — Hillsong United
14. Forever — Chris Tomlin
15. Nothing Is Impossible — Planetshakers
16. So Will I (100 Billion X) — Hillsong United
17. Everlasting God — Chris Tomlin
18. Reckless Love — Cory Asbury
19. Do It Again — Elevation Worship
20. Build Your Kingdom Here — Rend Collective

Featured Easy Christian Guitar Song: Good Good Father — Chris Tomlin

Kids Guitar Songs

Teaching kids to learn and love playing the guitar doesn’t need to be hard. Kids want to play songs they know and love but can become discouraged if their initial learning process is filled with boredom and difficulty. Teaching kids the basic guitar fundamentals with simple, familiar guitar songs can be an excellent learning experience that will grow their interest and confidence in learning the guitar. Check out these 20 guitar songs for kids that only use a few chords, these songs will give them to confidence and motivation to continue learning.

1. The Ants Go Marching
2. Yankee Doodle
3. Three Blind Mice
4. The Muffin Man
5. Ring Around the Rosies
6. Little Red Ridinghood
7. London Bridge Is Falling Down
8. Hot Cross Buns
9. Gingerbread Man
10. Happy Birthday
11. Cinderella
12. B-I-N-G-O
13. The Bear Went Over the Mountain
14. Hokey Pokey
15. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
16. Mary Had a Little Lamb
17. Row, row, row your boat
18. Old Macdonald
19. Head Shoulders Knees And Toes
20. Im A Little Teapot

Featured Easy Kids Guitar Song: Happy Birthday

Easy Pop Songs On Guitar

Many guitarists picked up their first guitar because they thought it would be awesome to learn how to play their favourite pop songs on the guitar, and they weren’t wrong. A big stumbling block for people looking to get their start learning the guitar can be picking the appropriate song for their skill level. Slow and steady is the motto for long term success and it definitely applies to learning the guitar. You can still learn how to play your favourite pop songs on the guitar you just need a little help finding the right ones. We’ve compiled a list of easy pop songs for the guitar that you can begin to pickup in only a few minutes, check out our list below.

1. I’m Yours — Jason Mraz
2. Brown Eyed Girl — Van Morrison
3. Blackbird — The Beatles
4. Thinking Out Loud — Ed Sheeran
5. Hey There Delilah — Plain White T’s
6. Dust in the Wind — Kansas
7. Every Breath You Take — The Police
8. Wonderful Tonight — Eric Clapton
9. Under the Bridge — Red Hot Chili Peppers
10. Love Yourself — Justin Bieber
11. Crazy Little Thing Called Love — Queen
12. Yellow — Coldplay
13. Take Me Home, Country Roads — John Denver
14. Zombie — The Cranberries
15. Let Her Go — Passenger
16. Hey Jude — The Beatles
17. Here Comes the Sun — The Beatles
18. A Horse with No Name — America
19. Photograph — Ed Sheeran
20. Can’t Help Falling In Love — Elvis Presley

Featured Easy Guitar Pop Song: Thinking Out Loud — Ed Sheeran

The post 100+ Easy Guitar Songs for Beginners | Chord Charts & Tabs Included (2019) first appeared on Merriam School of Music

2359 Bristol Cir #100, Oakville, ON L6H 6P8

merriammusic.com

(905) 829–2020