If you want to see what are the easiest and best songs to play on guitar, you are in the right place because we created a list in order to ease your research.
Guitar is one of the most popular instruments in bands. This string instrument is one of the must-have in almost every kind of music genre. Today, many bands often have even two guitars regardless whether they are acoustic or electric.
Playing an instrument has a huge impact on your overall health. It can help you relieve stress, improve your social life, build up your confidence, teach you how to be more patient, how to express your creativity, it will improve your memory, develop a discipline, and give you a sense of achievement.
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The process of learning how to play guitar isn’t very simple. When we mention learning how to play guitar we mean learning notes, chords, riffs, scales and many other things. Like every instrument, learning how to play guitar requires a lot of time, practice, and patience, and you need to put a lot of effort if you want to play on a professional level. If you are ready to invest the time needed and you are a fan of rock music, you can also check our list of 7 Easiest Guns n’ Roses Songs to Play on Guitar.
Often, regardless of the age, people who want to learn how to play guitar are giving up at the very beginning. The reason behind this action is because they are choosing hard songs, unlike the easiest and best songs to play on guitar we’ve listed below. Many people are choosing fast and difficult songs and since they cannot get a single note right, they are giving up hope and stop playing.
Because of this, we decided to create a list where you can find songs from different genres suitable for every taste. For one song to be popular and good, it doesn’t mean it has to be difficult for playing. The songs on our list are famous around the whole world and in the same time, they are suitable for beginners who want to learn how to play guitar.
In order to create our list of the easiest and best songs to play on guitar, we used Guitar Blog, Guitar n’ Scales, The Guitar Journal and Guitar Domination as our sources to see what are the easiest and at the same time best songs to play on guitar. Because there are people who like fingerpicking more, we’ve decided to include recommendations for easiest fingerpicking songs to play on guitar as well. We ranked the songs by the number of mentions, and how high they were ranked on our sources. Obviously, the highest ranked and most mentioned songs took the highest places.
25. Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) – Green Day
The American band, Green Day released this song on October 17, 1997, and it was written by their singer Billie Joe Armstrong before they released their third album Dookie back in 1994. This song resulted with a total success as they sold more than 2.6 million copies in the United States.
24. Honky Tonk Women – Rolling Stones
Back in 1969, the Rolling Stones released the “Honky Tonk Women” and shortly after its release became a worldwide hit. This song crashed the top charts in both United States and the United Kingdom as well. It was written by Jagger and Richards but it was produced by Jimmy Miller.
23. Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
The Southern rock band called Lynyrd Skynyrd released the song “Sweet Home Alabama” for their second album titled “Second Helping”. This song was written by Ed King, Gary Rossington, and Ronnie Van Zant and it was produced by Al Kooper. In 1974, this song reached the 8th place on the U.S. chart.
22. Blackbird – The Beatles
“Blackbird” is a song by the Beatles, and it was written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon while the producer of this song is George Martin. The lyrics of the song were inspired by the race relations in the United States back in the 1960s.
21. Lay ‘em Down – Needtobreathe
The Christian rock band called Needtobreathe released the song “Lay ‘em Down” as their first single for the album “The Outsiders”. It was written by Bear Rinehart and Bo Rinehart and it was released in June 2009.
20. Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley
The song “Hallelujah” is originally by Leonard Cohen, but there are many covers by different artists. Jeff Buckley recorded the most popular cover and altogether with Andy Wallace produced it. He recorded this song for his album titled “Grace” back in 1994.
19. House of The Rising Sun – The Animals
“House of The Rising Sun” by The Animals is one of the easiest songs to play on a guitar. They released their version of this song on June 19, 1964, in the United Kingdom and one month later in the United States as well.
18. Born Free – Kid Rock
Kid Rock released their song “Born Free” for their eighth album titled the same, “Born Free”. The song was written by R. J. Ritchie and Marlon Young and it was produced by Rick Rubin. The “Born Free” song was released on October 29, 2010.
17. Doesn’t Remind Me – Audioslave
Audioslave, an American rock group released the song “Doesn’t Remind Me” back in July 2005 for their third album titled “Out of Exile”. The writers of the song are Audioslave members and the producer of the song is Rick Rubin.
16. Folsom Prison Blues – Everlast
Originally, the song “Folsom Prison Blues” belongs to Johnny Cash, who also wrote it, and it is produced by Sam Phillips. However, one of the most popular covers is Everlast’s cover back in 2008 for their album titled “Love, War and the Ghost of Whitey Ford”.
15. Paranoid – Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath is a British rock band who recorded the song “Paranoid” for their album of the same name, Paranoid and it was released back in 1970. The writers of the song are Butler, Iommi, Osbourne and Ward while the producer is Rodger Bain.
14. Wherever You Will Go – The Calling
The song “Wherever You Will Go” that ranks 14th on the list of easiest and best songs to play on guitar was recorded by post-grunge American band, The Calling. They released this song for their album titled “Camino Palmero”. The song was written by Alex Band and Aaron Kamin and it was produced by Marc Tanner.
13. Losing My Religion – R.E.M
An American alternative rock band called R.E.M. released the song “Losing My Religion” for their album “Out Of Time” on February 19, 1991. Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe wrote the song while Scott Litt altogether with R.E.M. produced it.
12. Shape of My Heart – Sting
In 1993, the English artist known as Sting released the song “Shape Of My Heart” for his album titled “Ten Summoner’s Tales”. Sting co-wrote the song with the guitarist Dominic Miller. Shortly after its release this song became a huge hit and it was used in the movie Leon.
11. Free Fallin’ Tom Petty
Tom Petty wrote the song “Free Fallin’” altogether with his writing partner for the album, Jeff Lynne. The song was written and recorded in two days for the album “Full Moon Fever”. It was produced by Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and Mike Campbell and it was released on October 27, 1989.
10. Highway To Hell – AC/DC
Another song which found its way on the list of easiest and best songs to play on guitar is “Highway To Hell” by AC/DC. The Australian rock band released this song on July 27, 1979, for their fifth international album. The song was written by Albert and Atlantic and it was produced by Robert John “Mutt” Lange.
9. Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
We are continuing our list of easiest and best songs to play on guitar with The song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” that is the opening track on their second album titled “Nevermind” which was released back in 1991. The song was written by the band, produced by Butch Vig and released on September 19, 1991.
8. Before You Accuse Me – Eric Clapton
Originally, the song “Before You Accuse Me” is by Bo Diddley, but Eric Clapton recorded a cover of this song twice. There is an electric version for the album “Journeyman” and a live acoustic version for the MTV Unplugged series. If you are a beginner, it will be easier for you to start with the unplugged version.
7. Have You Ever Seen The Rain – Creedence Clearwater Revival
The roots rock band called Creedence Clearwater Revival recorded the song “Have You Ever Seen The Rain”, the next one on our list of easiest and best songs to play on guitar for their album titled “Pendulum”. The song was written and produced by John Fogerty and it was released in January 1971.
6. Nothing Else Matters – Metallica
The American metal band Metallica recorded and released their song “Nothing Else Matters” back in 1992 for their fifth studio album titled “Metallica”. The song was written by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich and it was produced by the two of them altogether with Bob Rock.
5. Fast Car – Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman is an American singer as well as a songwriter who released the song “Fast Car” for her self-titled album back on April 1, 1988. The song that ranks 5th on our list of easiest and best songs to play on guitar was written by her and it was produced by David Kershenbaum.
4. Ain’t No Sunshine – Bill Withers
Written and recorded by Bill Withers, the song “Ain’t No Sunshine” became a number one hit worldwide shortly after its release in 1971. The producer of this song is Booker T. Jones. Bill Withers recorded this song for his album titled “Just As I Am”.
3. Smoke On The Water – Deep Purple
Every guitar player knows that this song is one of the easiest and best songs to play on guitar which also sounds amazing. It was released by Deep Purple back in May 1973 for their album titled “Machine Head”. The song was written by Ian Gillan, Ian Paice, Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord and Roger Glover and it was produced by the band itself.
2. Come As You Are – Nirvana
Another song from Nirvana that also found its way on our list is “Came As You Are”. The band released this song back on March 2, 1992, for their second album “Nevermind”. This song was written by the frontman of the band Kurt Cobain and it was produced by Butch Vig.
1. Knocking On Heaven’s Door – Bob Dylan
One of the easiest and best songs to play on guitar is “Knocking On Heaven’s Door” by Bob Dylan. Bob wrote and recorded the song for the movie Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid as a soundtrack back on July 13, 1973. One of the most popular and best covers of this song is recorded by the American rock band Guns N’ Roses.
This was our list of easiest and best songs to play on guitar. We hope we managed to show you which are the best songs which also sound great.
