10 Awesome Split Measure Songs For Guitar Beginners (Songs For Absolute Beginners Class 9)

December 02, 2018

10 Awesome Split Measure Songs For Guitar Beginners

Are you right on the edge between being a very much beginner guitar player, and a not so much of a beginner guitar player?

If so, you’re probably ready to play songs where the chord changes come faster than every measure–and in this blog post I’ve picked out eight easy beginners songs for you to practice chord changes on which feature “split-measure” chord changes.

A “split-measure” is a measure which has two (or more) chords in it. They can be played with lots of different strum patterns, but most typically are played using a “basic strum.” Usually, one chord is played for two beats and the other is played for…two beats! The measure is split in half!

And a default strum pattern which sounds great on almost any rock, pop or folk song is to play a “best strum” on any measures in a song which only have one chord and the aforementioned “basic strum” pattern on any measures which have two chords.

So pick up your guitar and get ready to rock. Below I’ve listed some great split measure songs and I’ve even included audio links, music charts links, and sometimes even links to video tutorials. These songs are guitar titanium–they will make your playing harder than steel, and twice as shiny.

If you DON’T yet feel ready for split measures FEAR NOT! Immediately either click this link for easy online tutorials on beginning guitar at guitarlessons.nyc or sign up for a lesson or class right away at NYC Guitar School.

Keep in mind:

I transposed a few of the songs in order to avoid difficult chords like F, Bb, Qrelative, and Zsharp minor 7th, so that you can concentrate strumming split measures.
If a song is transposed, the notes on the song will tell you how many half-steps to transpose the chart–sounds tricky, but it is easy, just hit the “transpose +: or the “transpose -” button on the song until you know all the chords.
If that means you need to use a capo, the notes on the song will tell you what fret to put the capo on.

Here’s the list of songs, along with where to place your capo (if applicable) plus links to the song, tutorials and charts.

(And don’t forget–if you want to play more and better guitar, we invite you to join our friendly guitar community at NYCGuitarSchool.com. If you’re not in NYC, you can still get the step-by-step goodness at guitarlessons.nyc.)

***Every once in a while links break…please let us know if you notice a broken one!

Man on the Moon – REM

YOUTUBE http://youtu.be/1hKSYgOGtos

CHART https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/r_e_m_/man_on_the_moon_chords_697336

TUTORIAL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA8yPCT923M

C – D – C – C ; Am – G – Am – G – Am G – D – D (no capo)

Alt. Rock (1992)

Difficult

Imagine – John Lennon

YOUTUBE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkgkThdzX-8

CHART https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/john_lennon/imagine_chords_117730

TUTORIAL (Oh no, we don’t have a good tutorial to share! Let us know if you find one.)