Learn to Play Easy Acoustic Guitar Songs

Acoustic Guitar vs. Electric Guitar

First, you should understand the differences between an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar. Electric guitars are designed to be plugged into an amplifier, so they don’t resonate much on their own. They also tend to be thinner, because they don’t have a sound hole.

Acoustic guitars are much more resonant. They’re wider and a bit bigger, so they can be a bit more difficult to hold. In most cases, the strings are firmer as well, making them hard to bend and manipulate. Accordingly, acoustic guitar playing often focuses on strumming chords and playing basic melodies, rather than shredding complex solos or riffing with power chords.

What Makes an Easy Acoustic Guitar Song?

Easy acoustic guitar songs tend to have a few things in common, including:

• Open chords. There aren’t any complicated melodies to play or nimble finger work to try and execute. Instead, these songs tend to primarily center on open, easy-to-play chords.
• Common chords. As you’ll see, a small collection of common chords are used in a wide variety of acoustic guitar songs. If you can learn this set, you’ll be able to play thousands of different songs.
• Repeatable sections. A traditional song model, including a repeated verse and repeated chorus, is much easier to learn than a song that drifts across many different sections.
• A stable, manageable tempo. We’re not breaking any speed records here. Good acoustic guitar songs for beginners tend to have stable, slow tempos.

Easy Acoustic Guitar Songs to Learn

Try these amazing acoustic guitar songs when you’re ready to take the next step of your journey as a musician:

Love Me Do (The Beatles)

Who doesn’t love the Beatles? This is one of their earlier tracks, so you’re not going to find any strange instruments or experimental recording techniques. Instead, you’ll find a straightforward pop song that utilizes just 2 simple chords in the verse: G and C. When you get to the bridge, you’ll have to learn a third chord, D, but the simplicity of the song remains.

Once you get the strumming pattern down by listening and experimenting, you should have no issue playing this song from beginning to end.

Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison)

This is a stereotypical “guitar guy at a party” song, but it’s a hit for a reason. G, C, and D, which you learned in Love Me Do, are featured prominently throughout this tune. The only other chord you’ll need is E minor, which is another simple and common chord.

Don’t worry about the harmonizing introduction or the guitar melody line when you’re first learning this song. Instead, just try to play the basic chords and get the strumming pattern right. Feel free to sing along when you’re feeling more confident.

Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty)

The introduction of this song may sound complicated, but it’s a simple modification of the A chord with a capo attached at the 8th fret. From there, you can follow along with the basic chord shapes for A, D, and E. The strumming pattern is simple and the tempo is moderate, so you should be able to master it after just a few cycles through.

As an added bonus, you can try to sing along. If the key is too high, you can move the capo down and try it in a lower, more comfortable position.

The House of the Rising Sun (The Animals)

You ought to recognize this song instantly when you hear is signature arpeggiated chord plucking pattern. For now, don’t worry about mimicking the sound exactly; instead, focus on the basic chord progression. It’s a little more complex than some of the other songs on this list, but the chords you’ll need to play are rudimentary. The hardest part will be memorizing the sequential pattern.

Once you feel more confident playing all the right chords in the right order, you can work on the arpeggios; essentially, you’ll be using your pick to pluck all the notes of the chord individually on your way up and down.

Perfect (Ed Sheeran)

If you’re looking for something more modern, consider picking up Perfect by Ed Sheeran. It’s an ideal song to sing along to, especially when you get the rhythm down. If you want to nail the guitar work perfectly, you’ll need to get the fingerpicking pattern correct. But as a beginner, you can play through the song while focusing on getting the core chords correct.

Those core chords are many of the same ones you’ve already learned – G, E minor, D, and C. The only catch is you’ll need to place a capo at the first fret to get in the right key.

Hey There Delilah (Plain White T’s)

The main riff in this song is based on a 2-chord progression (D and B minor), and the majority of the song focuses on a small handful of basic chords. The tricky part is using your fingers to mimic the alternating plucking pattern.

If you’re not ready for that, you can follow along with the basic chords and strum them in time with the central rhythm.

Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

The core structure of this song is ridiculously easy, as is the case with many classic southern rock songs. If you can learn C, D, and G, which you’ve likely done already if you’ve been following this list, you can play this and sing along to the verse.

That said, Lynyrd Skynyrd has some amazing guitar work throughout their repertoire. It will take you some time to get the hang of that sweet introduction, and the wild solos in the middle are best reserved for your later years as an intermediate guitarist.

From Easy Acoustic Guitar Songs to Intermediate

Once you feel you’ve mastered these simple, chord-heavy acoustic guitar songs, you can move onto more intermediate tunes. Consider expanding your skills with the songs listed above; for example, you can learn how to play the extra melodies, solos, and fingerpicking sections on top of the basic chords you know. From there, you can look up more advanced acoustic guitar songs or start fleshing out your electric guitar repertoire.

Are you ready to master the acoustic guitar? You’ll need to spend considerable time practicing on your own, no matter what. But the journey is much easier when you have the help of online acoustic guitar lessons. With our knowledgeable musicians, you can start with the basics of music theory and easy acoustic guitar songs, then gradually work your way up to more intermediate and expert-level tunes. Sign up for your first lesson today!