# Off-Topic Discussion > The Lounge > Ask/Tell Me About >  >  Tell me about songs every guitar player should know.

## pyroguy305

I want to focus on acoustic guitar but some electric is alright. Mainly I want to build up a repertoire of songs that MOST people will know if heard and be able to sing a long. Currently I know very few songs such as this but I have been playing off and on for years. Any really popular (old or newish is fine) songs that are not impossible to play would be great.  Thanks! ::bowdown::

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## Kiloisalb

this

[Deleted by Mod. Please don't post this kind of material on the board.]

jk, actually just try and learn some zeppelin songs. They aren't too hard. Over the hills and far away is a good one.

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## pyroguy305

Does no one play guitar here? Cmon people, what are some good songs for my collection to know?

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## SomeDreamer

Well when it comes to acustic songs my knowledge is quite limited ^^ And all the songs I could suggest I'm pretty sure most peopel don't know, despite coming from popular bands! But oh well:

-Over the hills and far away (led zeppelin=
-Sweet child o' mine! (GnR)
-Paradise city (GnR)
-Mr. Brownstone (GnR)
-Don't cry (GnR)
-Patience (GnR, pure acustic, well the studio version anyway)
-Black Dog (led zeppelin)
-Hotel california (Eagles, some nice riffs and chord playings in there)
-Back in black! (AC/DC!!  :tongue2: )
-You shook me all night long (AC/DC)
-War machine (AC/DC)
-Young lust (Pink Floyd)
-Under the bridge (Red hot chili peppers, most people MUST know this intro!)
-Californication (Red hot chili peppers, also very well known intro and easy to get going with)
-Can't stop (red hot chili peppers)

Most of this is originally eletric... but atleast you got something to pick from now  :wink2:  I really tried to pick from songs that atleast should be well known for some... I could suggest more but I'm pretty sure that would narrow down the audience quite a bit when it comes to how well known it is..

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## starry eyes

> I want to focus on acoustic guitar but some electric is alright. Mainly I want to build up a repertoire of songs that MOST people will know if heard and be able to sing a long. Currently I know very few songs such as this but I have been playing off and on for years. Any really popular (old or newish is fine) songs that are not impossible to play would be great.  Thanks!



Since the guitar is your instrument ... It does kind of depend on your audience though, age group and the general culture of where you are performing.

But, a lot of Jimi Hendrix would be easily recognizable, even on accoustic.
Maybe some Bo Diddley?
Eric Clapton?
If you were going to do the Eagles, I'd say that Jackson Browne's version of it has much better guitar play. (I think he co-wrote that song?)
Most everyone would recognize Bob Dylan's "Tangled up in blues", but hardly anyone can remember all the words  :smiley:

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## Bucketheadjamz

i'm not sure if you can find a tab of the song but it's called "Solen." this is a fun song to play. not too difficult either. sounds great!

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## Creativename

Hey There Delilah is a song pretty much everyone knows, and it's not that hard to play at all. I only play guitar a little and I learned how to play it.

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## pyroguy305

Thanks guys I got some good ideas from these. Any more would be great too.

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## Man of Shred

THIS:

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## DuB

My initial reaction would be to say that it depends what genres and styles you're into. But upon further reflection, I suppose that there are certain univerals:
--songs that most people just expect for you to know
--songs that people will request for you to play
--songs that you will commonly come across in jam situations
--songs that are usually all around hits at parties and etc.

Here's my attempt to catalog those songs. Note that these are not necessarily my personal favorites by each artist, although I think all of them are at least pretty good. I tried to stick to at least "acoustic-friendly" songs. They range from incredibly simple to fairly complicated, but nothing is near-impossible. I omitted several popular piano tunes that would be easy to learn on guitar. Also note that many if not most of these are intended to be sung simultaneously for full effect. And finally, yes, the songs are in alphabetical order because I thought of most by scrolling down my iTunes list  :tongue2: 


*Spoiler* for _popular acoustic-friendly songs_: 



The Beatles - Here Comes The Sun
The Beatles - Blackbird
The Beatles - Yesterday
The Beatles - Across The Universe
Blind Melon - No Rain
Bob Dylan - Blowin' In The Wind
Bob Dylan - Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Bob Dylan - House of the Rising Sun (better than the more well-known version by The Animals)
Bush - Glycerine
Coldplay - Sparks
Coldplay - Yellow
Coldplay - Don't Panic
Coldplay - Green Eyes
Counting Crows - Mr. Jones
Creedance Clearwater Revival - Proud Mary
Creedance Clearwater Revival - Bad Moon Rising
David Bowie - Space Oddity
Death Cab For Cutie - I Will Follow You Into The Dark
Don McLean - American Pie
The Eagles - Hotel California (the live acoustic version in particular is a great one)
Eric Clapton - Tears In Heaven (girls _love_ this song)
Eric Clapton - Layla (acoustic version)
Everlast - What It's Like
The Faces - Ohh La La
Filter - Take A Picture
Fleetwood Mac - Landslide
Harry Chapin - Cats In The Cradle
Incubus - Drive
Jack Johnson - Banana Pancakes
Jack Johnson - Better Together
Jack Johnson - Sitting, Waiting, Wishing
Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
Jimi Hendrix - Little Wing
Kansas - Dust In The Wind
Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
Led Zeppelin - Over The Hills And Far Away
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Tuesday's Gone
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Simple Man
Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
Modest Mouse - The World At Large
Modest Mouse - Float On
Neil Young - The Needle And The Damage Done
Neil Young - Sugar Mountain
Nirvana - Lake Of Fire
Oasis - Champagne Supernova
Oasis - Wonderwall
Paul Simon - 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover
Pearl Jam - Yellow Ledbetter
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd - Brain Damage
Pink Floyd - Us And Them
The Pixies - Where Is My Mind?
Plain White Tees - Hey There Delilah
Radiohead - Creep
The Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge
The Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication
The Red Hot Chili Peppers - Scar Tissue
The Red Hot Chili Peppers - Soul To Squeeze
The Red Hot Chili Peppers - My Friends
Rehab - Bartender
The Rolling Stones - Angie
The Rolling Stones - Beast of Burden
Simon & Garfunkel - The Only Living Boy In New York
Simon & Garfunkel - Mrs. Robinson
Simon & Garfunkel - Scarborough Fair
Simon & Garfunkel - 59th Street Bird
The Smashing Pumpkins - Disarm
The Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight, Tonight (not as good without the string section, but still generally a hit)
The Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
"The Soggy Bottom Boys" - I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow
Steve Miller Band - Take The Money And Run
Steve Miller Band - The Joker
Stone Sour - Bother
Stone Temple Pilots - Plush (surprisingly acoustic friendly)
Stone Temple Pilots - Interstate Love Song (again, surprisingly acoustic friendly)
Sublime - What I Got
Sublime - Santeria
Tenacious D - Tribute
Tenacious D - Fuck Her Gently
Tenacious D - Kielbasa
Tom Petty - Mary Jane's Last Dance
Tom Petty - You Don't Know How It Feels
Tom Petty - American Girl
Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl
Violent Femmes - Blister In The Sun
The White Stripes - We're Going To Be Friends
The Who - Behind Blue Eyes




It's a pretty intimidating looking list, but honestly as a repertoire it's pretty limited. I pared it down quite a bit.

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## mindwanderer

One that I love listening to, and playing, is Under the Bridge - RHCP... also if you're not yet intermediate it's a good transition from beginner to more intermediate/advancey stuff. Anyways a lot of Beatles is good... same with Eric Clapton, John Frusciante and John Mayer. Really anything that is considered 'mainstream' is good to learn, 'cause odds are you already know it... making it easier to learn.

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## The Invisible Man

Mississippi Queen. Everybody loves that song.

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## Lëzen

Another Hero Lost [Shadows Fall]
Black Water [The Doobie Brothers]

A couple of good acoustic/sing-along ones.

There are numerous others that I know the tune to in my head, but I can't remember what they're called for the life of me.  :tongue2:  I'll do some research when I get home from work.

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## CryoDragoon

"Dust in the wind" by Kansas is a classic one that is a part of most guitar players' repertoires. If anything, it's a nice fingerpicking exercise. 

I do remember that when I played it at this little concert arranged by the music school I'm a part of, the people that came there were _highly_ excited about hearing it. Whispers about the song everywhere. Incidently, I also got the biggest applause.

Then again... They were pretty much 90&#37; middle aged people in the age-range of 30-50. So...

Still: it's a nice song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkbdP...x=0&playnext=1


But it doesn't really matter whether you have 'famous' songs or anything... Just find some nice, melodic songs, by _anyone_ and learn to play them. I just learnt myself these songs from some swedish (?) guy (he _is_ awsome, though):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe3c1VHAPX8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vIGxW6M4Gs

Nobody knows 'em, but everybody likes 'em  ::wink:: 



Oh! P.S.! Incidently, the youtube-account of that swedish guitar player is FULL of cool "songs every guitar player should know". So just check him out! He's awsome!

P.P.S. !! Another one: http://www.youtube.com/user/Fretkillr  ::D:

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## Pastulio_

_Black Sabbath-Into The Void_ Is one of my favorite riffs to play, it just flows so well.

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## ninja9578

Layla - Eric Clapton
Dust in the Wind - Kansas
Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple
Freebird -  Lynyrd Skynyrd
House of the Rising Sun - Bob Dylan
All Along the Watchtower - Bob Dylan
Yesterday - The Beatles

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## Lëzen

Now here's that more complete compilation I promised:

The Bard's Song [Blind Guardian]
(Don't Fear) The Reaper [Blue Öyster Cult]
Crazy On You [Heart]
The Wind Cries Mary [Jimi Hendrix]
Stairway to Heaven [Led Zeppelin] (not necessarily the solo, though)
Sweet Home Alabama [Lynyrd Skynyrd]
The opening to Good Mourning/Black Friday [Megadeth]
The opening to My Last Words [Megadeth]
Nothing Else Matters [Metallica]
The Unforgiven trilogy [Metallica]
The Day That Never Comes [Metallica] (again, up until the solo)
Los [Rammstein]
Ein Lied [Rammstein]
Put Your Lights On [Santana feat. Everlast]
House of the Rising Sun [The Animals] (their version's a bit more vigorous than Dylan's)
Message In a Bottle [The Police]
Fall to Pieces [Velvet Revolver]

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## RockNRoller123

Crossroads [Cream]

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## [SomeGuy]

Learn this:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?ktmjdivyimx

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## pyroguy305

Thanks everyone again. Dub thats a great list. What I've been doing is building an itunes playlist called "Songs to Learn" and once I learn them I move them over to my playlist called "Repertoire".  So I'll be sure to add a bunch of these! thanks!

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## [user-name]

Have you tried? :

Naked As We Came - Iron & Wine 
Heart Shaped Box - Nirvana
Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
Good Riddance - Green Day
Santeria - Sublime
Pride And Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughn
Free Fallin' - John Mayer
Waiting On The World To Change - John Mayer
Little Wing - Jimi Hendrix
Cometary Gates - Pantera 
Back in Black - AC/DC
Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne 
Fade to Black - Metallica


There's probably some that have already been mentioned(if not all).  Also, I don't know how good you are, so some of these might be too hard for now, but none of them are too impossible.

and watch this kid : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm9L60YBj3s

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## [SomeGuy]

> Have you tried? :
> 
> Naked As We Came - Iron & Wine 
> Heart Shaped Box - Nirvana
> Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
> Good Riddance - Green Day
> Santeria - Sublime
> Pride And Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughn
> Free Fallin' - John Mayer
> ...



Looks like a good list. I know a few on there.

And by the way, I like the brackets. I really think they add a nice touch.

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## [user-name]

> Looks like a good list. I know a few on there.



I dont know what pyroguy305 likes, so I tried to throw a little of everything in there.





> And by the way, I like the brackets. I really think they add a nice touch.



lol ::D:

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## [SomeGuy]

Haha, yeah. Looks like you did. 

I'm very proud of you, my bracket-bretheren.

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## Universal Mind

A good place to start when getting into guitar is learning how to play this song...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT8sJ...e=channel_page

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## suttsman

A lot of the songs mentioned above +
One - Metallica
Padmasana/All In the Waiting - Buckethead
Endless Sacrifice - Dream Theater (the verses)
Pull Me Under - Dream Theater (very cool intro, other acoustic parts)
Wanted Dead or Alive - Bon Jovi
Wheel in the Sky - Journey

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## DuB

> A good place to start when getting into guitar is learning how to play this song...
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT8sJ...e=channel_page



That's some great improv. My favorite part has always been when he slows it down and the band joins in (at precisely 5 minutes in).
 ::cheers::

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## Universal Mind

> That's some great improv. My favorite part has always been when he slows it down and the band joins in (at precisely 5 minutes in).



I think it's the best guitar playing I have ever heard.  Every time I show that video to somebody who plays guitar, they are blown away by the fact that it is even possible for a person to play like that.

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## DuB

I dunno, I've always been most blown away by Machine Gun

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## Supernova

I'll be back with more later, but off the top of my head I can think of a good one: About A Girl by Nirvana.  It's easy as hell to play, and if you have a decent voice you could probably sing it too.

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## CRAZY BONE

Learning the opening riff to "Crazy Train" will get you plenty of ass, and it's really easy.

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## ReachingForTheDream

Stairway to Heaven all the way.

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## Supernova

No offesne Maverick, but the one riff over and over again gets pretty boring.

It is a cool riff, though, and if you're going to learn it you might as well learn the rest, it isn't that hard.

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## Lëzen

> Learning the opening riff to "Crazy Train" will get you plenty of ass, and it's really easy.



Nah, if you want some ass, learn Fade to Black. The intro riff, especially, never fails to melt a girl's heart.  ::chuckle::

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## CRAZY BONE

> No offesne Maverick, but the one riff over and over again gets pretty boring.



I'm not saying you need to play it over and over like that, for some reason the vid just looped it for like 3 minutes  :tongue2:  

Fade to black is also pretty sick Lezen.

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## Supernova

Agreed, Fade to Black is a great song to learn.  Nothing else matters is a good one too.  If you're not up for learning the lead part (I wasn't) you can just do the intro and play the chords for the rest.  I got it out of an issue of Guitar World, so the "official" tab is probably on their site.

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## RockNRoller123

> I dunno, I've always been most blown away by Machine Gun



 ::shock::   ::shock::   ::shock::   ::shock::   ::shock:: 

Dear GOD!!!! Hendrix appears to be tearing a hole in reality with his insane skill!!

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## Invictus

Definitely recommend Blackbird by the Beatles, Yesterday by the Beatles, and Dust in the Wind by Kansas. None are terribly difficult.

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## Universal Mind

> Dear GOD!!!! Hendrix appears to be tearing a hole in reality with his insane skill!!



I think he did.  Did you see the "Woodstock Improv"?

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## ReachingForTheDream

Just make sure that if you learn Dust in the Wind you learn how to travis pick. Otherwise you'll sound really bad.

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