QUICK HIT: A reference that includes chord and tab resources for 22 easy

acoustic guitar songs that are perfect for beginners getting started and aren't

dead boring to play.

7 minute read

It's unfortunate that a lot of the beginner guitar material available is

somewhat boring and uninteresting to play. While it's true that early

music lessons can't be overtly technical or difficult, that doesn't mean the

songs need to be redundant or lame. Even for the acoustic guitar, there

are a ton of great beginner songs out there that can be easily picked up

by those who know a few basic chords, especially if you boil the song

down to just its raw chord progression.

We'll do that in this article, listing only songs that fit the following

criteria:

• Use only a three to five chords

• Don't require fast chord changes (slower tempo)

• Have a melody line or rhythm that's easy to remember

• Work well for basic acoustic strumming patterns.

In this piece we're limiting our selection to 22 songs, though if you have

additional suggestions, go ahead and leave them in the comments section

below. For each song we've provided as many resources as possible, but

primarily the following:

• Individual Chord Diagrams

• Link to Ultimate-Guitar tab or chords page

• Link to Songsterr tab or E-Chords chord page

There's plenty of easy acoustic guitar songs for beginners to get started

and get their feet wet with some songs that are fun to play. Let's get

started.

Full Professional Song Tutorials

Want to really learn some songs? Guitar Tricks has a library of over 700

professional, full song tutorials shot in crystal clear HD video and

licensed with 100 percent accurate and licensed tab sheets.

Here are a few full song tutorials from GT that I'd recommend checking

out:

• Hotel California (easy version)

• Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles

• Pinball Wizard by The Who

• Daughter by Pearl Jam

• Schism by Tool

• Awake by Godsmack

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1 . " County Boy" by Aaron Lewis (Staind's singer) • Ultimate-Guitar Tab

• Songsterr Tab

• Chord Progression: D, C and G

2. " Open Your Eyes" by Alter Bridge • Ultimate-Guitar Tab

• Songsterr Tab

• Chord Progression: Bm, G, D and A

3. " Love Runs Out" Black Stone Cherry (OneRepublic cover) • Ultimate-Guitar Tab

• E-Chords Sheet

• Chord Progression: Gm, Cm and D

4

4. " Forunate Song" by Creedence Clearwater Revival • Ultimate-Guitar Chords

• E-Chords Sheet

• Chord Progression: G, F, C and D

5. " What It 's Like" by Everlast • Ultimate-Guitar Chords

• E-Chords Sheet

• Chord Progression: Dm, Fmaj and C

6. " Centuries" by Fallout Boy • Ultimate-Guitar Chords

• Chord Progression: Em, G, C, Am, D

7. " Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne • Ultimate-Guitar Chords

• Songsterr Chord Page

• Chord Progression: E, A and B

8. " Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons • Ultimate-Guitar Chords

• E-Chords Page

• Chord Progression: Am, C, G and D

9. " God's Gonna Cut You Down" by Johnny Cash • Ultimate-Guitar Chords

• E-Chords Page

• Chord Progression: Am, C, Dm, Em

10. " Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash • Ultimate-Guitar Chords

• E-Chords Page

• Chord Progression: G, C and D

11 . " Blue on Black" by Kenny Wayne Shepherd • Ultimate-Guitar Chords

• Songsterr Chord Page

• Chord Progression: D, C and G

12. " Blackbird Song" by Lee DeWyze • Ultimate-Guitar Chords

• E-Chords Chord Page

• Chord Progression: Em, G and A

13. " Teardrop" by Massive Attack • Ultimate-Guitar Chords

• Songsterr Chord Page

• Chord Progression: A, G, D and F

14. " Madness" by Muse • Ultimate-Guitar Chords

• E-Chords Chord Page

• Chord Progression: B♭, E♭, G♯ and F

15. " Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum • Ultimate-Guitar Chords

• Songsterr Chord Page

• Chord Progression: A, D and E

16. " Fireflies" by Owl City • Capo 3 Version

• Ultimate-Guitar Chords

• Songsterr Chord Page

• Chord Progression: C, G, Am and F

17. " Runnin Down a Dream" Tom Petty • Ultimate-Guitar Chords

• Songsterr Chord Page

• Chord Progression: A, D, E and G

18. " King of the Road" by Roger Miller • Ultimate-Guitar Chords

• Songsterr Chord Page

• Chord Progression: A, D and E

19. " Stay with Me" by Sam Smith • Ultimate-Guitar Chords

• E-Chords Chord Page

• Chord Progression: Am, F, C and G

20. " We Are Never Getting Back Together" by Taylor Swift • Ultimate-Guitar Chords

• Songsterr Chord Page

• Chord Progression: C, G, D and Em

21 . " RX (medicate)" by Theory of a Deadman • Ultimate-Guitar Chords

• Chord Progression: Em, G, D and A

22. " Beverly Hills" by Weezer • Ultimate-Guitar Chords

• E-Chords Chord Page

• Chord Progression: F, B♭ and C

Conclusion and Other Resources

We've cherry picked songs we like and that we think are easy to get

started with, but the truth is that there are a ton of songs that could go on

this list. If you reduce a song down to a simple bass line or chord

progression, most of them are between three and five total chords.

This means even songs that sound more complex are actually quite

simple and easy for the acoustic guitar to handle.

If you know just a few basic chords, you're good to go.

For more chord help, here's some additional material:

• Main Guitar Chalk Chords Page

• Basic Guitar Chords for Beginners

We have some more song resources as well, if you don't find something

that interests you here.

• 201 Easy Guitar Songs

• 54 Songs with Easy Guitar Solos

Plenty of the material in the easy guitar songs article is ideal for acoustic

players and would overlap with some of what we've listed here. The easy

guitar solos piece is better for electric guitarists and lead guitar players.

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

If you have questions about the songs listed here, the chord diagrams or

additional songs you'd recommend for acoustic beginners, feel free to

drop them in the comments section below so we can continue to improve

and expand this article.