Someone taking up the guitar will have a nearly limitless song selection from which to choose, but many are complex and require months and years of practice to play proficiently. Many take up an instrument with the initial goal of learning a few simple songs which they can play for their friends and family.
The quickest way to expand a repertoire is to pick songs with simple repeating structures. The following three songs can be played by anyone with a basic knowledge of guitar chords.
To learn a few more straightforward songs, check out these three articles:
- Five Easy Guitar Songs for Beginners
- Learn to Play Three Easy Guitar Songs
- Three Easy Guitar Songs for Beginners
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill by The Beatles
This quirky song off the White Album contains the only lead vocals sung by a woman in the entire Beatles catalog. Yoko Ono belts out one scratchy line towards the end of the song and is never heard from again (on an album, at least). The song, written by John Lennon, was composed as a mockery of a rich American woman and her son whom he had met at Maharishi Yogi's ashram in India.
The woman and her son came to the ashram seeking spiritual enlightenment but took a brief sabatical to hunt and kill a few tigers in the surrounding jungle. Lennon was abhorred by the hypocrisy of slaughtering animals while simultaneously seeking the meaning of life and the song's lyrics echo his resentment. The song has two separate chord progressions for the verses and the chorus. The chorus follows this progression:
- On First "Hey....": C, G, C, Fm, C, Fm, G
- On Second "Hey...": A, E7, A, Dm, A, Dm, E7
The verses go as follows:
- First and Second Lines: Am, C, F, G
- Third Line: E, G, Am, Fm
Isis by Bob Dylan
This is a song about marriage which originally appeard on the album Desire. Isis has largely been overshadowed by the song that immediately precedes it on the album, Hurricane. However, it is still a surrealistic classic and is very easy to learn.
There is no chorus and no bridge, just 13 verses which all follow the same chord progression. As with many of Dylan's songs, the most difficult part of playing Isis is remembering all the lyrics. This one can be played with a number of chord combinations, but the easiest is:
- A, G, D, A (repeat through the whole song)
Dear Mr. Fantasy by Traffic
Traffic's most recognizable tune features one of rock's easiest licks and simplest chord combinations. The bridge and the solo can be ignored while learning the basics of the song's chords:
- A, G, D, A, lick
The lick is played by barring the index finger across the bottom four strings of the second fret to form an A chord and using the middle finger to hammer-on the open base E string once, then the open A string twice. It sounds great when played smoothly.
These songs will allow for a new player to quickly assemble a respectable repertoire. If these songs come easily, try using other online resources to expand on the chord progressions in this article. Assistance with chord fingerings and soloing technqiues is widely available on and offline and will help a new player develop the skills necessary to play at least a few songs like a pro.
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