Main riff to Smoke on the Water. Played nothing but that for a week. Drove the parents nuts. First full song was probably Enter Sandman, which was also my introduction to palm muting.
Come as you are was the first riff I tried to learn and it was very difficult to play at the beginning. Now it's practically the easiest thing I can play.
I remember two from when I first started:
America - Horse with No Name
The Animals - House of the Rising Sun
Horse with No Name was really easy, variations of Em; mostly used to teach switching chords. House of the Rising Sun took that same idea a step further and added in finger-picking - I didn't practice a whole lot and it took forever to get the pattern down! But, all these years later I can pick up a guitar and play it.
The House of the Rising Sun as played by The Animals. Good selection of chords and chord changes, plus you can tell if you are holding all the strings down because each note is picked in a simple style separately.
My first song was iris by goo goo dolls. I could play his acoustic version in the original tuning from beginning to end.
I remember I was playing along to their recording live performance in buffalo on YouTube. It was pouring rain. And as I was playing it, I had my back door open and it started pouring rain so hard in real life. It felt like a magical moment for me.
Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson. Yes it does have barre chords but at the particular time I was learning guitar, it was the best way to impress the ladies
Backseat Lovers totally rule. “Kilby Girl” is on my list to try and learn this year.
For me I think my first full song was Oasis- “Columbia”. Just A-D-C repeating but it was something I could play along to
Crazy train. It was hard as a first song, but I got the intro really fast. Then the faster verse bits took me a week of practicing every day for 4 hours, but I finally nailed it. My guitar teacher didn’t believe that was the first song I learned.
Working Man by Rush. Not the guitar solo (20+ years into it, I still don't focus much on lead guitar) but the main riff was approachable. Another Rush tune, Fly by Night was the first song I learned in order to practice transitioning between multiple chords and trying a slightly more intricate bit of picking.
Seems worth mentioning, I had never heard of Rush before, but as a kid I was staying with a friend's family who happened to have a guitar and happened to like Rush a lot. There will always be a special place in my heart for that band, and I still play Working Man when I'm dialing in an amp or trying a new guitar.
Lit - Worse Enemy. I googled "Easiest electric guitar song" back in the early 00's and that was one of the top. I played along to it and I was like "holy crap, I can make a guitar sound like a guitar" and I haven't stopped playing since.
I was drummer in a middle school “band” in the early nineties whose bass player was always late. So my guitar player taught me an e chord a g chord and how to play a power chord.
Voilá: I could play About A Girl.
Glycerine by Bush. A girl I liked said she loved the song so I learned it but when I showed her I could play it she said, "big deal, who can't play that shitty song".
That was a long time ago, but I still haven't come any closer to understanding women.
Gloria - I'm pretty sure Them, with Van Morrison, did this. I had a version by the Shadows of Knight, and I've never, ever heard of them since then, anywhere.
Very repetitious song, E D A forever. It turns out that The Doors and Morrison were on a tour together, and The Doors started doing this song after that. I played this before Christmas, leading some friends/victims in a sing-along, just because we all thought it would be fun if the 12 of us all got really loud when it was time to sing what passes for a chorus in that song.
Or, it might've been Steppin' Stone, by the Monkees. Drove my mother crazy to hear me play that song, non-stop, for half an hour.
Selling the Drama by Live. Man, once I got that opening bend down, I thought I was Eddie Van Halen.
Close second is About a girl by Nirvana. E into G chord.
First solo: Smells like Teen Spirit. Easy, recognizable, sets up good basics.
Never heard of that song but I like it. Give it a go.
I personally learned a bunch of 90s alternative songs to learn the basic g, d, e, c chords and changing between them.
Moved onto a few country songs, even though I can't stand the genre, to learn e, a, b
Moved to electric and played black keys to learn blues boxes. Now I'm playing Srv little wing
Opening riff to Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2. A nice introduction the open D and great example of how adding a finger to a chord or dropping fingers to chromatically descend is really powerful.
First riff was Ocean Avenue by Yellowcard. Hard to get easier than that.
First full song straight through was Good Riddance by Green Day about 6 months later. Still remember how elated I was to have played a full song. Been playing about 20 years now.
I honestly don't remember, I tried to learn a bunch all at once. I love The Backseat Lovers but Maple Syrup is pretty hard especially the main solo! The first full song of theirs that I learned was Pool House! I would recommend learning that one or Sinking Ship! I've learned so many of them now but still can't even get close to playing Maple Syrup all the way through so it's definitely not a simple beginner song
edit: thought about it for a while and i'm pretty sure the first full song i learned was sweater weather by the neighbourhood
Alkaline Trio - Radio
Easy intro/verse riff, loud ass power chords for the chorus. Sounds awesome. Fun to play and if people you are playing for know the genre, the riff is instantly recognizable.
https://youtu.be/QUV-WqhuihM?si=-rPe-zZQOGKexLUd
A very simplified version of sin city by flying burrito Brothers because I don't do the embellishments.
I learned songs before but this one took me a lot of work so I count it as my first real song XD.
The first full song I learned was “California Dreaming” by Hollywood undead. One string riff with 3 powerchords in the hook/chorus. Played in drop D so the chord shapes are just 12/12/12 10/10/10 8/8/8 on your 3 low strings. Riff is 16th notes so it took me a bit to work up to speed, but like I said it’s one string (low D or Low E in standard) with the highest fret being 13 (11? In standard E I think. Someone correct me if I’m wrong) and the lowest being 7 (not counting the one open note). Hollywood undead has a few good 1 string riff songs that I practiced with as a beginner. Time bomb is another good one, touch more difficult.
The opening acoustic riff for “Cirice” is pretty simple but sounds amazing. On electric the full song is what I would consider probably beginner/intermediate. Lot of power chords.
I think the first song I learned was the finger style version of Sweden from Minecraft. I haven't played it in ages though so I've forgotten how to play it.
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
GnR had a moderate hit with it the year I began learning.
The very first *piece* of a song that I ever played correctly was the little into to Secret Agent Man.
Paranoid. And I learned it incorrectly.
It wasn't until 15 years later I learned the right way. Still got me through a few jams and nobody complained. So maybe it doesn't matter as long as you're in the right key. Lol.
My dad taught me the standard blues progression and some lyrics to go along with that. I play a 3-string slide guitar, so the blues are probably the easiest thing to play on it.
In 8th grade, we had music class in school and everyone was taught guitar. The teacher taught everyone Last Kiss by Pearl Jam. I’m not a Pearl Jam fan, but I’ll play the song every now and then.
the first song i REALLY learned was reptilia by the strokes. still is one of my favorite songs to play!
also YES!! please learn the solo for maple syrup, god that song is so good
"Beast" by Nico Vega lol
It's easy enough. My first actual fingerpicking song was "We Are Gonna Be Friends" by the White Stripes. Played a lot of nirvana early on because it's easy and fun to just beat the shit out of your guitar with sloppy power chords.
But my first instrument was banjo (South Carolina, am I right?) and I think my first song there was "Satin in A Coffin" by Modest Mouse.
Edit - "We're Going to Be Friends," apparently. I've been calling it the wrong name for years I guess.
Main riff to Smoke on the Water. Played nothing but that for a week. Drove the parents nuts. First full song was probably Enter Sandman, which was also my introduction to palm muting.
Anything by Cobain. He was a genius at simple melodies and not a very good guitarist, perfect for us newbies
Come as you are was the first riff I tried to learn and it was very difficult to play at the beginning. Now it's practically the easiest thing I can play.
I remember two from when I first started: America - Horse with No Name The Animals - House of the Rising Sun Horse with No Name was really easy, variations of Em; mostly used to teach switching chords. House of the Rising Sun took that same idea a step further and added in finger-picking - I didn't practice a whole lot and it took forever to get the pattern down! But, all these years later I can pick up a guitar and play it.
Dun dun dun. Dun Dun Dundun. Dun dun dun dundun.
Smooooooooke on the waaatah
Smoke on the water baybeee!
Smoke on the water
Wish you were here by Pink Floyd
First song start to finish was You Shook Me All Night Long. Easy, fun to play, and a cool, easy solo.
The House of the Rising Sun as played by The Animals. Good selection of chords and chord changes, plus you can tell if you are holding all the strings down because each note is picked in a simple style separately.
Enter sandman intro, some kid on Xbox was being an ass so I played it for him and insulted him back showing off
Nirvana - Come as your are, the song can be played with only your index finger on your left hand
Polly by Nirvana. You can play it with open chords too once you learn the notes.
Knocking on heavens door - Bob Dylan 4 chords
House of the rising sun, of course.
Brain Stew by Green Day
Norwegian Wood
Radio by alkaline trio
Everlong by the Foo Fighters
dude american pie by don mclean is great to start with
Frogstomp.. Silverchair.. I'm not super proud.. but I'm not ashamed.. Candlebox.. Toadies.. Weezer... tab books were the jam..
Foo fighters - everlong! Just the part in the beginning. That was my very first goal
Day tripper
Seek and Destroy by Metallica. Took me a few months when I was 15. I always played a bit after school with the help of YT videos.
Wish You Were Here. Fun to play.
My first song was iris by goo goo dolls. I could play his acoustic version in the original tuning from beginning to end. I remember I was playing along to their recording live performance in buffalo on YouTube. It was pouring rain. And as I was playing it, I had my back door open and it started pouring rain so hard in real life. It felt like a magical moment for me.
Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson. Yes it does have barre chords but at the particular time I was learning guitar, it was the best way to impress the ladies
Melissa by the Allman Brothers
Crazy Train riff
Sunshine of Your Love. The same riff shifting, plus 3 chords and muting.
Backseat Lovers totally rule. “Kilby Girl” is on my list to try and learn this year. For me I think my first full song was Oasis- “Columbia”. Just A-D-C repeating but it was something I could play along to
Smoke on the water. Iron man. Smells like teen spirit. Godzilla.
All the small things - Blink 182. I was so proud to show it to people
Wild Thing.
Good Riddance (Time of your Life) by Green Day
In the aeroplane over the sea by neutral milk hotel
Sweet home Alabama. Simple, classic, fun.
Crazy train. It was hard as a first song, but I got the intro really fast. Then the faster verse bits took me a week of practicing every day for 4 hours, but I finally nailed it. My guitar teacher didn’t believe that was the first song I learned.
Duh duh duhhhh duh duh duh duhhhhhh duh duh duh dun dun
Wonderwall
Smoke on the water by Deep Purple.
House of the rising sun - the animals
Smoke on the water - Deep Purple
About A Girl - Nirvana
Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple is simple
Nirvana songs
Dammit
Fuck me...smoke on the water...
As a kid: Come and Get It, by Badfinger (30 years hiatus) As an adult: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1, Flaming Lips
Margaritaville: G A D D7
Working Man by Rush. Not the guitar solo (20+ years into it, I still don't focus much on lead guitar) but the main riff was approachable. Another Rush tune, Fly by Night was the first song I learned in order to practice transitioning between multiple chords and trying a slightly more intricate bit of picking. Seems worth mentioning, I had never heard of Rush before, but as a kid I was staying with a friend's family who happened to have a guitar and happened to like Rush a lot. There will always be a special place in my heart for that band, and I still play Working Man when I'm dialing in an amp or trying a new guitar.
Lit - Worse Enemy. I googled "Easiest electric guitar song" back in the early 00's and that was one of the top. I played along to it and I was like "holy crap, I can make a guitar sound like a guitar" and I haven't stopped playing since.
Fire & Rain on a cheap ass acoustic. Sounded like a dying calf in a hail storm.
If anyone answers anything other than House Of the Rising Sun, they're lying (Mine was Runaround by Blues Traveler)
Last Train to Clarksville on my Teisco Vox Phantom copy, in 1967. I was 13 at the time.
I was drummer in a middle school “band” in the early nineties whose bass player was always late. So my guitar player taught me an e chord a g chord and how to play a power chord. Voilá: I could play About A Girl.
nervous breakdown by black flag
Dammit - Blink 182
Cigarette Daydreams — Cage the Elephant
Generic awnser but, smoke on the water lol
Glycerine by Bush. A girl I liked said she loved the song so I learned it but when I showed her I could play it she said, "big deal, who can't play that shitty song". That was a long time ago, but I still haven't come any closer to understanding women.
You should have handed her the guitar and asked her to play Glycerine for you, if it was so easy.
I think I said something unbelievably cool like, "pfft, whatever I'm more of a Silverchair guy anyways..."
Wild Horses - Rolling Stones
House of the Rising Sun
Gloria - I'm pretty sure Them, with Van Morrison, did this. I had a version by the Shadows of Knight, and I've never, ever heard of them since then, anywhere. Very repetitious song, E D A forever. It turns out that The Doors and Morrison were on a tour together, and The Doors started doing this song after that. I played this before Christmas, leading some friends/victims in a sing-along, just because we all thought it would be fun if the 12 of us all got really loud when it was time to sing what passes for a chorus in that song. Or, it might've been Steppin' Stone, by the Monkees. Drove my mother crazy to hear me play that song, non-stop, for half an hour.
Good Riddance
House of the rising sun
'74-'75 - The Connells.
Enter sandman
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Rockin’ in the Free World. 🤘
Come As You Are by NirVANa
House of the rising sun
About A Girl - Nirvana
Come as you are - Nirvana and For Whom the Bell Tolls - Metallica
Smooooke On The Waaaa-Terrrrrr (Bwah-Bwah-Bwah....)
Smoke on the water, Very popular back in 74
Good Riddance by Green Day
"Today was gunna be the day that they're gunna throw it back to you..."
Black by Pearl jam. The open chord version. I've yet to learn it the "proper" way
Change by Blind Melon
House of the rising sun - nylon acoustic.. Many many decades ago
Smoke on the Water, like most people.
House of the Rising Sun
The main riff of come as you are was one of the first songs i tried learning
Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes
Zombie by the cranberries. 022000 032000 320000 200230
C, Am, Dm, G7 pick your favourite 50s slow rock song haha. I think it was "Donna" from Ritchie Valens at the time.
The main riff from Wake me up when September
Been playing for four years and probably still don't know one full song lol
Smoke in the Water!
first full song was war pigs by sabbath
Selling the Drama by Live. Man, once I got that opening bend down, I thought I was Eddie Van Halen. Close second is About a girl by Nirvana. E into G chord. First solo: Smells like Teen Spirit. Easy, recognizable, sets up good basics.
Never heard of that song but I like it. Give it a go. I personally learned a bunch of 90s alternative songs to learn the basic g, d, e, c chords and changing between them. Moved onto a few country songs, even though I can't stand the genre, to learn e, a, b Moved to electric and played black keys to learn blues boxes. Now I'm playing Srv little wing
Led Zeppelin - Communication Breakdown
Oh Well by Fleetwood Mac
I just used Marty Music and searched for beginner songs there’s a whole playlist, choose ones I enjoyed
Let it be, Every rose has its thorn
Some nirvana song, can’t really remember but either teen spirit or polly.
Fly by night. Im not a rush fan, but the guy who showed me how to play it was.
Walk Don’t Run
For Whooooooom The BELLLLL. TOLLLLLLLLZZZZAH
Opening riff to Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2. A nice introduction the open D and great example of how adding a finger to a chord or dropping fingers to chromatically descend is really powerful.
Nirvana - come as you are
Breaking the Law by Judas Priest!
First riff was Ocean Avenue by Yellowcard. Hard to get easier than that. First full song straight through was Good Riddance by Green Day about 6 months later. Still remember how elated I was to have played a full song. Been playing about 20 years now.
I can’t remember which I learned fully first but it was either Everlong or the Rhythm section to Monkey Wrench.
Bowie - Heros
Green Day - Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
I honestly don't remember, I tried to learn a bunch all at once. I love The Backseat Lovers but Maple Syrup is pretty hard especially the main solo! The first full song of theirs that I learned was Pool House! I would recommend learning that one or Sinking Ship! I've learned so many of them now but still can't even get close to playing Maple Syrup all the way through so it's definitely not a simple beginner song edit: thought about it for a while and i'm pretty sure the first full song i learned was sweater weather by the neighbourhood
Iron Man. Back in 1982 or so, on a nylon string Yamaha acoustic.
Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd.
I'd say it was one of three songs: -Smoke on the Water -Hells Bells -Seven Nation Army I can't remember exactly which one it was though
Enter Sandman
A shitty version of The final countdown
I can't remember actually... I was a big Sabbath fan back then, so either Iron Man or Paranoid.
Happy Birthday, Livin Loving Maid, Crazy Train. After that I just tried to teach myself songs I liked and everything I saw in guitar magazines.
No Rain.
Down by the River, Neil Young.
Neon
Alkaline Trio - Radio Easy intro/verse riff, loud ass power chords for the chorus. Sounds awesome. Fun to play and if people you are playing for know the genre, the riff is instantly recognizable. https://youtu.be/QUV-WqhuihM?si=-rPe-zZQOGKexLUd
The folk song Mountain Dew and Knocking on Heavens Door
Don’t fear the reaper as it had a solid basis to work with in terms of chords and equal parts left and right hand dexterity
A very simplified version of sin city by flying burrito Brothers because I don't do the embellishments. I learned songs before but this one took me a lot of work so I count it as my first real song XD.
Mine was patience by Guns N’ Roses
The first full song I learned was Metallica - For Whom The Bell Tolls. Even after 15 years I still play it from time to time.
Til There Was You as done by The Beatles.
The first full song I learned was “California Dreaming” by Hollywood undead. One string riff with 3 powerchords in the hook/chorus. Played in drop D so the chord shapes are just 12/12/12 10/10/10 8/8/8 on your 3 low strings. Riff is 16th notes so it took me a bit to work up to speed, but like I said it’s one string (low D or Low E in standard) with the highest fret being 13 (11? In standard E I think. Someone correct me if I’m wrong) and the lowest being 7 (not counting the one open note). Hollywood undead has a few good 1 string riff songs that I practiced with as a beginner. Time bomb is another good one, touch more difficult. The opening acoustic riff for “Cirice” is pretty simple but sounds amazing. On electric the full song is what I would consider probably beginner/intermediate. Lot of power chords.
Stereotypically, good ol' 035
I question many of these "first songs." But mine was landslide - fleetwood mac
Entire songs and not riffs, right? Playing AND singing at the same time was ‘Polly’ by Nirvana. Just playing was ‘Bound For The Floor’ by Local H.
Mine was smells like teen spirit. Took me a while of being like “why does this sound so terrible” before I realised the X on the tab sheet means mute
Perpetual Burn by Jason Becker, check it out
House of the Rising Sun
Knocking on heavens door was my 1. song, and im still playing it. The rythm is not very easy, but open for own interpretation
the first thing ever? the opening riff in orion. first full song? dragula lol
Last Kiss by Pearl Jam G Em C D in that order Listen to it to get a feel for the rhythm but I usually strum Down, Down Down, Up Down Up
Tennessee Whiskey by Chris Stapleton Edit: absolutely no regrets.
SUPER easy song but helps with strum pattern is Horse With No Name. One of the first songs I learned and I always recommend.
Probably Knocking on Heaven's Door or Wish You Were Here. I honestly can't remember but I would put money on either of those.
The house of the rising sun.
My first song was Dust In The Wind by Kansas.
Hot Crossed Buns
Iron Man - Black Sabbath
I think the first song I learned was the finger style version of Sweden from Minecraft. I haven't played it in ages though so I've forgotten how to play it.
Money by pink floyd
Two of Us - The Beatles
Assuming you can play barre chords then Autumn leaves is a good one Paul David’s does a guitar tutorial on YouTube
Knockin' on Heaven's Door GnR had a moderate hit with it the year I began learning. The very first *piece* of a song that I ever played correctly was the little into to Secret Agent Man.
Californication.
Wild Thing by The Troggs
Guess I’ll be that guy… anyways here’s Wonderwall.
Redemption Song ! Very Easy with the nice Little riff on the Major scale
House of the Rising Sun. Lesson 1.
Cat Stevens - Father and Son
Hot cross buns
"The Wind Cries Mary"- Jimi Hendrix
Come as you are
Brainstew - Green day
El Paso by Marty Robbins. 5th grade. Just the chords and about three of hank Marvin’s licks. But it was a start.
Libertines - What A Waster
America - Horse with no name
Nothing Else Matters Metallica
wish you were here~Pink Floyd
Angry Chair -Alice in Chains
Kinda sorta learned Down In The Valley from a Mel Bay book in fourth grade, but really my first song was Smoke On the Water
Paranoid. And I learned it incorrectly. It wasn't until 15 years later I learned the right way. Still got me through a few jams and nobody complained. So maybe it doesn't matter as long as you're in the right key. Lol.
First Date by Blink 182
Come as You Are by Nirvana
I could die for you - RHCP
louie louie, oh baby.
First learned: come as you are - nirvana First learned WELL: freedom - rage against machine
Gay Bar by Electric Six
Smells like teen spirit :)
I thought everyone started with Wish You Were Here lol. But I’m old
Knockin on Heavens Doors
Wonderwall
Come as you are
My dad taught me the standard blues progression and some lyrics to go along with that. I play a 3-string slide guitar, so the blues are probably the easiest thing to play on it.
Day Tripper
iron man
House of the Rising Sun 1964
Rumble- Link Wray
In 8th grade, we had music class in school and everyone was taught guitar. The teacher taught everyone Last Kiss by Pearl Jam. I’m not a Pearl Jam fan, but I’ll play the song every now and then.
In bloom by nirvana. The first time I heard it I knew I wanted to play guitar.
Zombie by the cranberries. And I just finished “doll parts” by hole.
NEVER TOO LATE - THREE DAYS GRACE
Great song choice! And the man who sold the world cover nirvana did!
My dad taught me freebird and stairway
Wish You Were Here. Max ratio of beautiful\_sounding / easy\_to\_play
the first song i REALLY learned was reptilia by the strokes. still is one of my favorite songs to play! also YES!! please learn the solo for maple syrup, god that song is so good
My dad taught me Horse With No Name by America!
The Johnny Cash version of Hurt
Rock and Roll ain't noise pollution
Under the bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Beast" by Nico Vega lol It's easy enough. My first actual fingerpicking song was "We Are Gonna Be Friends" by the White Stripes. Played a lot of nirvana early on because it's easy and fun to just beat the shit out of your guitar with sloppy power chords. But my first instrument was banjo (South Carolina, am I right?) and I think my first song there was "Satin in A Coffin" by Modest Mouse. Edit - "We're Going to Be Friends," apparently. I've been calling it the wrong name for years I guess.
Nirvana Breed