Songs to Learn on Guitar: Progressing and Perfecting

• October 26, 2016
• Guitar Songs

So you’re just getting started? You’ve got your first guitar with your tuner out and you’re looking for songs to learn on guitar. Yes, it’s most important to tune your instrument. If you don’t, nothing is going to sound right to you. Get some help if you need to and get in tune.

Now, maybe this isn’t your first song at all and you’re just looking to learn something new. Great! There are some staple songs every guitarist should know how to play. From Americana classics and classic country and rock to classical, there are endless song titles to pick from and some are easy enough for a beginner.

Baby Steps - Songs To Learn On Guitar

This is a very generic list because there are literally thousands of song out there. We say start with some of these traditional classic americana songs because they might sound familiar to you and that could help you grow more quickly.

Songs like “Down In The Valley,” “Freight Train,” “Mary Had A Little Lamb,” “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” “He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands,” “Amazing Grace,” “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” “Old McDonald,” “This Little Light of Mine,” “Jingle Bells,” and many more are perfect for getting your hands acclimated to the fretboard. You’ve heard these tunes since you were a child, so it should come easy to you if you apply just a little effort. These songs to learn on guitar are pretty simple indeed.

Simple Classics - Songs To Learn On Guitar

Now you’ve got a half dozen super easy two-three chord songs under your belt, and it’s time to take the next step. Take on songs to learn on guitar like “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “Ode To Joy,” “The Wild Wood Flower,” “Hound Dog,” “When The Saints Go Marching In,” “I Saw The Light,” “Love Me Tender,” “House of the Rising Sun,” “Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain,” “Kansas City,” “Tulsa Time,” and dozens more.

There are countless songs you can learn like these easy tunes. You should get a ring binder and start the journey by making a list of songs you’ve truly learned. Make a set list and perform for friends. If you can play a couple dozen of these little tunes, you could entertain a room for a half hour or so. You gotta start somewhere.

Adding a Challenge - Songs To Learn On Guitar

Following these steps will help anyone, from a first timer to the person who’s been playing 6 months and beyond. Simply learning these traditional songs to learn on guitar will expand your fretboard knowledge.

Let’s now add a few harder songs to take on like “Under the Doubled Eagle,” “Dueling Banjos,” Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” “Boogie In E,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” “Pretty Woman,” “Johnny B. Goode,” “La Grange,” “Cat Scratch Fever,” “Satisfaction,” “Stormy Monday,” “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Jumpin' Jack Flash,” “Honky Tonk Woman,” “Ghost Riders In the Sky,” and many many more. You will never run out of songs to learn on the guitar.

Intermediate Level - Songs To Learn on Guitar

As you can see, the degree of difficulty is increasing as you move from step to step on this quest to learn more songs on the guitar. The internet has made it easier than ever to just download the tab or watch a tutorial on just about any song.

The guys at Pro Lessons offer a variety of techniques, explanations and insights as to how to accomplish the task of playing guitar.

At this point you may be interested in being on the worship team at your church or something like that. With a capo and a handful of basic chords, you could totally find a place to play and grow if you can read a chart and stay in time.

So, Let’s got to the next level: How about songs like, “Stairway to Heaven,” “You Really Got Me,” “Walk This Way,” “Enter Sandman,” “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Crazy Train,” “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” “Money For Nothing,” “Hard Day’s Night,” “Purple Haze,” “Crossroads,” “Layla,” “My Generation,” “Back In Black,” Where the Streets Have No Name,” and a million more.

You will find that as your chord vocabulary expands and your fretboard knowledge and dexterity improves, you will grow faster and faster. “How fast,” you ask? Well, it truly depends on your discipline, ability, and persistence. For example, if you play for an hour each day and learn a song or two each week really well, then you’re building on a good foundation. In a year, you’ll know 25 rock-your-face-off classics and be the life of the party.

Now We’re Talkin’ - Songs to Learn on Guitar

This group of songs is challenging for most working guitarists, much less beginners or intermediates. There’s nothing wrong with having goals, though. Some songs are crafted by master guitarists with very high skills needed to perform them. Plenty of musicians have spent hours and days trying to play some of these beauties and still can’t pull them off perfectly. Don’t worry, you could be one of the ones who can.

Let’s make the list: “Eruption” “The Dance of Eternity,” “Cliffs of Dover,” “Voodoo Child,” “Master of Puppets,” “Welcome To The Jungle,” “Blitzkrieg,” “Little Wing,” “Black Dog,” “Satch Boogie,” “The Dark Eternal Night,” and “Poison Was The Cure.” This list might be a shorter one because most classics or even mainstream music is overly simple on purpose. Only when you get into the master artists like Eric Johnson, Dream Theatre, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Steve Lukather and others do you get to the tunes that only a select few can duplicate.

The goal here is to improve and take on new challenges all the time. You may only learn part of one of these beasts, but that’s more than you could do before and it will probably open your mind to other doable things. Keep ‘em coming.

There’s no shortage of music. You just need a starting list to get your feet moving. Set your goals something like this: January is Rock-a-billy month. Learn a 1/2 dozen classic 50’s songs that month. February is Classical month. Learn a couple of classical pieces and master them. March is Metal month etc. Make yourself as versatile as possible. You need to really own it. Make your list of songs to learn on guitar a well-rounded list. You will be the most popular guitarist in your town and that’s just cool.

While we covered mostly rock and blues songs in this post, we have also written on some worship songs you can play on guitar. Feel free to take a look.

At Pro Lessons, we work to make you become the guitarist you've always wanted to be. One way to improve your playing is to enroll in guitar lessons. Our program is taught by the touring musicians writing many of the songs on your iPod. To learn more about our affordable rates, click on the link below.