25 Beginner Guitar Songs You Can Play This Month

Three-Chord Songs: Your First Week

Three-chord songs use only G, C, and D (or their equivalents in a different key). These are the songs every beginner should learn first because they are forgiving of slow chord changes and build the essential muscle memory. Plan on 3-5 days per song at 15-20 minutes of daily practice.

Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show (G-D-Em-C repeating) uses the three main chords plus Em, which is an easy fourth chord to add. Knocking on Heaven's Door by Bob Dylan (G-D-Am-C) is another classic starter. Leaving on a Jet Plane by Peter, Paul and Mary (G-C-G-C-G-C-D) is pure three-chord simplicity. Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival (D-A-G) changes the key to D but uses the same chord shapes relative to its root.

Four-Chord Songs: Weeks Two and Three

Four-chord songs add one more chord to your vocabulary, usually Am, Em, or F, and open up thousands more pieces. Most modern pop music sits in four-chord territory, including Axis of Awesome's famous four-chord medley (G-D-Em-C) which mashes together dozens of hit songs.

Hey Jude by The Beatles (F-C-G-F) is a great four-chord song that introduces the F chord in a forgiving context. Let It Be by The Beatles (C-G-Am-F) uses the most common four-chord progression in pop music. No Woman No Cry by Bob Marley (C-G-Am-F) uses the same four chords with a reggae feel. House of the Rising Sun by The Animals (Am-C-D-F-Am-C-E) is a four-chord song with a slightly trickier progression in 6/8 time.

Riptide by Vance Joy (Am-G-C) is technically a three-chord song but uses a specific fingerpicking pattern that elevates it above beginner difficulty. If you can play Riptide at recording tempo with clean chord changes, you are comfortably past the absolute-beginner stage.

Fingerpicking Songs for Months Two and Three

Fingerpicking songs introduce a completely new right-hand technique. Start with songs that have a simple, repeating fingerpicking pattern and don't change rapidly. Blackbird by The Beatles is the canonical beginner fingerpicking song, but it is harder than it looks, count on 4-6 weeks of daily practice before it sounds like the record.

Dust in the Wind by Kansas (C-Am fingerpicked with a Travis pattern) is one of the most accessible fingerpicking tunes ever written. Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton (A-E/G#-F#m-F#m/E-D-E-A intro) is slightly harder but the intro alone is worth weeks of practice. Landslide by Fleetwood Mac (C-G/B-Am-G-F) uses a simple thumb-finger-finger pattern that can be learned in a single session.

For a slightly more challenging project, try Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day (G-C-D). The chord progression is simple but the fingerpicking pattern is fast and uses a strum-pick hybrid that takes 2-3 weeks to get clean. Billie Jean by Michael Jackson (in the acoustic version) uses a similar hybrid technique.

Strumming Classics: The Bread and Butter

Strumming classics are songs where the rhythm guitar part drives the song and the chords are mostly simple. Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd (Em-G-Em-G-Em-A-Em-A-G) is a multi-chord song that builds slowly from simple strumming into more complex fingerpicked sections.

Three Little Birds by Bob Marley (A-D-E) is a three-chord song with a reggae upstroke pattern. Horse with No Name by America (Em-D6/9add4, or just Em and a partial D chord) uses two simple shapes. Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison (G-C-G-D) is a four-chord strumming classic.

Country Roads by John Denver (G-D-Em-C) is a four-chord song that every working cover musician plays at some point. Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd (D-C-G) is a three-chord classic with a signature lead line that you can learn alongside the chords.

Intermediate-Bridge Songs: Month Four and Beyond

Once you have barre chords and some fingerpicking under your fingers, these songs bridge the gap between beginner and intermediate. Wonderwall by Oasis (Em7-G-D-A7sus4-Cadd9) uses five chords with extensions, all of which sit in open position. It is one of the most requested beginner-intermediate songs ever recorded.

Hotel California by The Eagles (Bm-F#-A-E-G-D-Em-F#) is a barre-chord showcase that every guitar student eventually tries. Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin (Am-E-G-D-Fmaj7-Am) is a classic fingerpicked intro that uses the Am position as a starting point. Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen or Jeff Buckley (C-Am-C-Am-F-G-C-G) is a Christmas-season staple for working cover musicians.

Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People (F-Am-G-Em) uses four chords but with a specific muted picking pattern that takes practice. Shape of You by Ed Sheeran (C#m-F#m-A-B) requires barre chords but has a simple strumming pattern once you have them. Both are commonly requested by students who want to play contemporary radio hits.

How to Pick Your Next Song

Pick songs you actually like. Motivation is the single biggest predictor of beginner success, and forcing yourself through Wagon Wheel when you hate country music will slow you down by weeks. Look up the chords for 3-4 songs you love and pick the one with the fewest chords and simplest strumming pattern.

Use a resource like Ultimate Guitar or Chordify to find the chords for any song. Both have free versions that cover the vast majority of popular music. Check multiple chord charts for the same song, because crowd-sourced chord sites are wrong 20-30% of the time. The chord chart that feels right under your fingers is usually the correct one.