21 Super Easy Guitar Songs For Beginners

Learning new songs, especially when you’re starting out, is super important for your development as a guitarist.
Super easy guitar songs for beginners

Equally important is to make that process easy and fun, which is why we made this list of super easy guitar songs for beginners.

I used to spend countless hours reading guitar tabs and listening to my CD’s ( yeah, I’m that old) in order to learn new songs, and even though those methods are great for learning I can definitely understand why some people lose interest. That is NOT going to happen to you!

What makes a song easy?

Judging what is easy and what isn’t is very subjective, I know, so there were definitely guidelines we considered when putting this list together. Learning songs should first and foremost be a lot of fun, so of course we picked the ones we loved to play when we started out. Also, we stayed away from songs containing barre chords, or other difficult chords. We also skipped songs with advanced strumming patterns, tricky changes and odd time signatures.

So these 21 songs are all very easy to learn for beginners. In fact, I bet you will nail most of them pretty quickly.

Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison

Good riddance (time of your life) by Greenday

Wanted dead or alive by Bon Jovi

Free fallin by Tom Petty

Every rose has it’s thorns by Poison

Knocking on heaven’s door by Bob Dylan

Wonderwall by Oasis

Have you ever seen rain by Creedance Clearwater Revival

Wish you were here by Pink Floyd

Save tonight by Eagle Eye Cherry

I’m gonna be ( 500 miles) by The Proclaimers

Learning to fly by Tom Petty

Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Smells like tee spirit by Nirvana

Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams

In the end by Linkin Park

All the small things by Blink 182

My own worst enemy by LIT

When I come around by Greenday

Keep away  by Godsmack

What about strumming?

Not to worry, we’ve got you covered. If you struggle a little with basic strumming techniques, just watch this short video below before tackling any of the songs, and you should be good to go.

And chords? No problem, here’s a little reminder in case you need it.

Now, let’s have some fun and start playing. To keep it simple we separated the songs into acoustic and electric guitar respectively. If you want to see the video tutorials, just click the title of the song.

Accoustic

Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison

Key: G

Chords: G, C, D, D7, Em

Tabs: Ultimate-Guitar.com

Such a classic song, and a must have in your repertoire as a budding guitarist.

Good riddance (time of your life) by Greenday

Key: G

Chords: G,C,D Cadd9, Em

Tabs: Ultimate-Guitar.com

Very easy, very fun. And if you don’t feel like playing the chords in the beginning as they’re played in the song, just strum away.

Wanted dead or alive by Bon Jovi

Key: D

Chords: Dm, D, Dsus4, C, G, F, Csus4, G7

Tabs: Ultimate-Guitar.com

Slightly more complex than most other songs on this list, but not as difficult as it looks.

Free fallin by Tom Petty

Key: F ( capo on 8 th fret)

Chords: A, D, E, Asus4

Tabs: Ultimate-Guitar.com

Most Tom Petty songs have simple chord progressions, and this one is no exception. A great song for a beginner!

Every rose has it’s thorn by Poison

Key: G

Chords: G, Cadd9, D, C, Em

Tabs: Ultimate-Guitar.com

Awesome ballad to play around the campfire. Very easy and straightforward.

Knocking on heaven’s door by Bob Dylan

Key: G

Chords: G, D, Am, C

Tabs: Ultimate-Guitar.com

A Bob Dylan song is a MUST on a list like this, and this is one of the very first songs I ever learned. Enjoy!

Wonderwall by Oasis

Key: Em

Chords: Em7, G, Dsus4, A7sus4

Tabs: Ultimate-Guitar.com

Don’t let the weird chords throw you off, this is really not a hard song to play, I promise

Have you ever seen the rain by Creedance Clearwater Revival

Key: C

Chords: C,Am, G, F, C/B, Am/G

Tabs: Ultimate-Guitar.com

Just like with Tom Petty, CCR has a bunch of easy songs with  straightforward strumming patterns, and this is one of them.

Wish you were here by Pink Floyd

Key: G

Chords: Em7, A7sus4, G, D, C, Am

Tabs: Ultimate-Guitar.com

An absolute classic!

Save tonight by Eagle Eye Cherry

Key: Am

Chords: Am, F, C, G

Tabs: Ultimate-Guitar.com

Absolutely love this song, and it oddly enough never feels repetitive. Watch the video tutorial for the strumming and pick attack, as it really makes the song sound great.

I’m gonna be ( 500 miles) by The Proclaimers

Key: E

Chords: E, A, B

Tabs: Ultimate-Guitar.com

Repeat the same three chords and you have a winner! Happy, up-tempo song that makes everyone want to sing along.

Learning to fly by Tom Petty

Key: C

Chords: F,C, Am, G

Tabs: Ultimate-Guitar.com

Only 4 chords straight through the entire song makes this one super easy to learn. You might as well learn the lyrics too…

Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Key: D

Chords: D, A, G

Tabs: Ultimate-Guitar.com

How’s three chords for easy? This one you’ll pick up pretty much right away.

Electric

Smells like tee spirit by Nirvana

Key: F

Chords: F, Bb, G#, C# (all power chords)

Tabs: Guitaretab.com

Considering how easy this song is to play, and how much fun it is, it had to make this list. 90’s grunge rock at it’s best!

Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams

Key: D

Chords: D, A,G, Bm, F, Bb, Dm

Tabs: Ultimate-Guitar.com

If you’ve plugged in your electric and are ready to rock, you definitely need some classic Bryan Adams, and it doesn’t get more classic than this 80’s hit. Great fun to play.

In the end by Linkin Park

Key: Em

Chords: C, D, Em, G

Tabs: Ultimate-Guitar.com

If heavier music is your thing, you probably want to rock out to this gem. Super easy, just tune your guitar a half step down to Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb.

Key: C

Chords: C5, G5, F5

Tabs: Guitartab.com

From their celebrated album “Enema of the state” comes this cool hit song, that sounds great almost immediately after you start practicing. A bit of a strain on your right hand from all the down strokes, but hey…

My own worst enemy by LIT

Key: D

Chords: D5, A5, G5, E5

Tabs: Guitartab.com

Might as well continue with more easy-to-digest indie rock

When I come around by Greenday

Key: G

Chords: G5, D5, E5, A5, C5

Tabs: Guitartab.com

What can I say, Greenday makes perfect songs for beginners. Rock on!

Keep away  by Godsmack

Key: D

Chords: D, F, G, G#, C, A, Bb

Tabs: Guitartab.com

This list wouldn’t be complete without an easy drop D song. So crank up the distortion and tune your low E to a D. Here is a piece of groovy, hard hitting metal that’ll get you headbanging in no time. The very first song that made me tune my guitar to a drop D.

What to do next

Now that you have added some cool songs to your repertoire you might want to work on your technique a little. So be sure to check out our guide on the best free online lessons and courses for guitar or head straight over to Rocks Off Mag and their awesome article covering the best classic rock albums of all time to get a little more inspiration.

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