The Blues has always enjoyed a significant amount of budding artists, year after year. As we are dedicated to providing artists with a helpful resource, we’ve compiled the best songs that guitar beginners can learn.
Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
We would be honestly surprised if you were to say that you aren’t familiar with this song. “Sweet Home Alabama” is a proven American classic. It has enjoyed a lot of screen time over the years, especially in romantic comedies.
This song is effectively one of the simplest songs to play on the guitar (not counting the solo). The simplistic intro and consistent simplistic chords is a great way to test the retention of the player. As soon as you’ve mastered the chords, it’ll be time to keep practicing until you’re comfortable with tackling the solo. Don’t worry; the chords are still generally the same, just a bit higher in its tempo.
Fast Car – Tracy Chapman
Another established classic, this song was released in 1988. It won a Grammy Award in the category of Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. This song is a great starter song as the chords are mostly repetitive in nature. It’s a good way to test your memory and strumming until you’re ready for the faster set.
It’s a Long Way – Seasick Steve
A simple 3 chord song by nature, it is a classic pick up and play, Blues song. It’s fairly short but it’s a great way to shake up your budding library of knowledge.
That’s All Right – “Big Boy” Cruddup
This song has four chords and is a good way to really familiarize yourself with the method of stretching notes as you sing the words.
Cotton Fields – Leadbelly
This song is a common favorite for beginners. It has four chords and it’s a good way to shake up any repetitive songs that you’ve been favoring. We always endeavor to progress the repertoire of budding artists out there all the while keeping the challenge simple.
Sweet Home Chicago – Blues Brothers
While a bit tricky as the chords change per line, it’s a great way to slowly upgrade your playing style without having to feel frustrated at the progress. It will definitely take a bit of practice before you master this one. However, once you do you’ll find that your fingers and your mind will be more attuned to changing it up.
Some Tips for the Beginner
Do adequate research
There are a lot of great blues songs out there. However, you shouldn’t be deceived at how simple sounding they may be. The best blues songs are often have simplistic styling yet have killer chord progression. Make use of good websites that already did the legwork and categorized blues songs per difficulty.
Be consistent with practice
You can’t hope to become good if you don’t keep up with your practice. We understand that it may be challenging. However, if things were so easy to attain, they wouldn’t be worth having.
Happy chording and keep at it!