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Are you looking for easy songs to play on guitar for beginners? Wondering what songs you should learn on the guitar first?
As you begin to learn the guitar, it’s important to start playing and practicing with familiar songs. If you’re learning guitar chords and are practicing your strumming, it’s important to find some songs that are easy to handle. The first songs you play shouldn’t use too many chords or have too many changes throughout the song.
Fortunately, we’re here to help. In this article, we’ll list 5 easy songs you can play on the guitar.
1. Horse With No Name (America)
The classic song, Horse With No Name, by a band known as America is also one of the easiest songs to play on a guitar.
The song primarily centers around the Em chord but also uses some simple variations of the D chord as well. Each of these chords only requires one or two fingers to pull off, so that makes this a great song to start playing and strumming if you’re new to the guitar.
For the best experience, of course, you’ll want to sing along while strumming this classic soft rock tune.
Check out the Ultimate Guitar chords page by clicking here.
2. Anyone Else But You (The Moldy Peaches)
Perhaps even easier to play than Horse With No Name is Anyone Else But You by The Moldy Peaches. Many people will recognize this song as the acoustic guitar ditty that was played by the lead characters in the popular indie film, Juno.
Fortunately, this song is very easy to play and it’s also a great song to hum along with, whether you’re by yourself or with friends. You also don’t be a good singer to pull this song off either, so this is a perfect song to use to get your feet wet as a new guitar player.
The song uses only 2 chords and switches throughout between a standard G chord and a variation of a C chord. The C chord is only slightly different from the G you’ll be playing.
Check out the Ultimate Guitar chords page by clicking here.
3. Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Guns N’ Roses/Bob Dylan)
While many people are familiar with Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door as one of the greatest hits by Guns N’ Roses, it was actually written by Bob Dylan for the 1973 movie Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. A more acoustic, stripped-down version of this song sounds great, so it’s so wonderful song to learn if you’re learning the ropes on the guitar.
For this song, the chord you’ll need will be G, D, Am, and C and the same pattern repeats throughout the song. These are all pretty standard and easy-to-play chords, so you should be able to pull this song off pretty well if you’ve been playing for a couple of months.
Check out the Ultimate Guitar chords page by clicking here.
4. Born in the U.S.A. (Bruce Springsteen)
Another song that you can play with just a couple of chords is Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen.
This song alternates between B and E chords throughout, making it an easy one to jam out with. However, B, in particular, can be tricky if you’re just a beginner at the guitar.
To make it easier on yourself, you may want to put a capo on the 4th fret and play it with G and C chord shapes instead. This will make the song as easy as possible to play as a beginner since G and C shapes tend to be a little bit easier for most players.
Check out the Ultimate Guitar chords page by clicking here.
5. Wagon Wheel (Old Crow Medicine Show/Darius Rucker)
While this song is a little bit more difficult than the previous ones listed here, Wagon Wheel is still a pretty simple one to play.
With this song, you’ll need to know four chords: G, D, Em, and C. The song repeats these chords throughout both the verses and the chorus, so once you get it down, you’ll have exactly what you need to ace it.
On the other hand, however, you may want to only play this song alone in your bedroom. The song has been overplayed by many acoustic musicians in recent years and so many people at open mics and public spaces are getting pretty tired of hearing it.
Check out the Ultimate Guitar chords page by clicking here.
Final Thoughts
If you want to start strumming some full songs and perhaps singing along, then you should start with learning one of the songs above. Each of these songs is among the easiest out there to play and just requires a handful of chords to get the hang of.
Looking for more ways to boost your guitar skills? Check out this article now to find out about the most useful online resources for guitarists.
Hi, I’m Harrison! I created this website to help musicians navigate the ins and outs of their craft and to help them choose new instruments and gear to add to their collection. I have 15 years of experience as a guitarist and singer and have also played many other instruments throughout the years including the bass guitar, piano, banjo, mandolin, and harmonica.