17 Easy Four Chord Songs for Guitar Beginners With G, Em, C and D7 Guitar may take a lifetime to master–but unlike the harpsichord and trombone, beginning guitar players can start making beautiful and awesome music RIGHT AWAY. These chords are huge. A guitar student who learns to pivot from G to Em to C to D7 has taken an exponential leap in guitar capabilities, because that combination of chords allows you to play all the major chords in the key of G, PLUS the relative minor. Now, that might not make sense if you haven’t yet learned music theory, but trust me–it means you can play A LOT of songs! In fact, in this blog post, I’m giving you 17 songs that you can start playing right away with these magic chords. And I’m even giving you links to the audio, tutorials, and music charts. These are guitar gems! Learning these chords also helps to get you physically ready for more advanced moves. In fact, pivoting to the C from the Em chord allows a nice, safe, ba

Play 8 Awesome Beginner Friendly Guitar Riffs That Can Be Played With Beginner Friendly Open Chords Like G, C, D, A and E   What is a GUITAR RIFF? A riff is a memorable sequence of notes or chords. ?A good test if something qualifies as a riff is this: ?if you hear it one time, do you know what the song is? If you do, you?re probably listening to a riff. ?Think of the opening notes to ?Sweet Child O? Mine? by Guns ?n? Roses, or ?Seven Nation Army? by The White Stripes. What is a CHORD RIFF? A chord riff is a riff that is made up of chords instead of single notes. ?And that is what this blog post is about. Here are eight awesome, memorable riffs that can be played with simple open chords. This blog post ISN?T about how to play the entire song–just the juicy, beautiful, crunchy, iconic RIFF that makes you want to crank your amp up to 11. If you DON?T yet know basic chords or strums, FEAR NOT! Immediately either click this link for the best beginners guitar lessons on the world

12 Easy Guitar Songs For Beginners With A Major Chords If you’ve just learned an A chord, you are in the right spot to begin mastering it with fun and easy songs! In this blog post, I’ve listed a DOZEN beginner friendly songs which feature an A chord–and not too many other chords–so that you can concentrate on your A chord chops! I’m even including links to the audio and music charts, and even some links to video tutorials. This material is guitar uranium! It’s rare, and it contains lots of power, which you can now tap into. The A chord is a super common open chord–but it is usually learned weeks or even longer after the even more commonly used G, D, and C chords. And once you learn the A chord, you’ve unlocked the door to a new realm of songs. The A chord has a good friend–the E chord. They are often found together; there is a super slick and clever way of using a finger slide to change from A to E and vice versa–you can see

14 Easy Best Strum Songs With G, C and D Do you know the “best strum”? If you do, you love it! It is the most used strum in guitar, because it sounds amazing–it is syncopated and driving and beautiful. At NYC Guitar School we started calling it “the best strum” in 2006. Over a decade later…it’s still the best! The best strum is a 4/4 strum pattern that combines half of a basic strum pattern, with a down strum on the “one” and a down-up on the “two-and”) with a syncopated up-down-up on the “and-four-and” at the end of each measure. Time! To! Practice! In this blog post, I’ve listed songs that sound great with the best strum, based on easy G, C and D changes that let you focus on the strumming without worrying about weird random chord changes. I’m even giving you links to the audio and music charts, and sometimes even links to video tutorials. These songs are guitar rubies, sapphires and diamonds

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” patte

17 Easy Four Chord Songs for Guitar Beginners With G, Em, C and D7 Guitar may take a lifetime to master–but unlike the harpsichord and trombone, beginning guitar players can start making beautiful and awesome music RIGHT AWAY. Of course, as a beginner, it can be hard to find songs that match your level. This blog post is written EXPRESSLY for students who know D, G, A7 and/or G, Em, C and D7, and who are getting into simple alternate strumming. I’m giving you a list of 17 songs which can be played with only those chords, and which sound great with a steady down-up-down-up strumming pattern–aka “alternate strums” or “alternate eighth notes strums.” And I’m even giving you links to the audio and music charts, and sometimes even links to video tutorials. This is guitar platinum! If you DON’T yet know these chords or alternate strums, FEAR NOT! Immediately either click this link for FREE and easy online tutorials on how to play those ch

Play 13 Easy Beginners Songs On Guitar Using The C Chord When beginning guitar players learn the C chord, it’s a HUGE moment. For some reason, maybe because it is a little more stretched out, many beginners find the C chord challenging–but once you learn it, you have unlocked exponential guitar growth. That is why I refer the the C chord as the “Rubicon” of guitar. When Julius Cesar crossed the Rubicon River, he was committed to war with Rome and ultimately to becoming the first Emperor of Rome. Maybe that was a bad thing, but once you get past the C chord, you have crossed the first big barrier to guitar playing; and once you are able to change directly from another chord to C with relative confidence, you are on your way to becoming the Emperor of Guitar! I always advise “sneaking up” on tricky chords. So if you DON’T YET KNOW the C chord, don’t start here; instead, to be extra safe and sure of learning correctly, immediately either cli

13 Easy Basic-Strum Songs With G, C and D Have you started to mix down strums with up strums? Awesome! That probably means that you have learned the “basic-strum,” also descriptively referred to as the “down, down-up” strum or the “boom chuck-a” strum. And it means you will benefit from playing your basic strum with real songs! But as a beginner, it can be tricky to find songs that match your level. That’s why I wrote this blog EXPRESSLY and EXACTLY for students who have just learned the basic strum and want to practice it with easy chord changes. These songs all sound great with a basic strum, and can all be played with G, C and D (with occasional guest starring roles from Am and Em). And I’m even giving you links to the audio and music charts, and sometimes even links to video tutorials. This is guitar ambergris–it’s that valuable! The basic strum is one of the most common strum patterns in guitar! In a song in a 4/4 time si

14 Three-Chord Guitar Songs For Beginners With only three chords–D, G and A7–beginning guitar players can start playing guitar right away, with lots of amazing songs. In fact, if you know these three chords you can even start playing “Happy Birthday”–and that means you and your guitar can be the lynchpin of any birthday celebration for the rest of your life. That’s cool! Of course, as a beginner, it can be hard to figure out songs which are simple enough to play along with. That’s why, in this blog post, I’m giving you a list of songs which can be played with only these three chords–D and G and A7. And I’m even giving you links to the audio, tutorials, and music charts. This is guitar gold! D and G and A7 are super beginner friendly…plus they are the very first three chords we teach in the NYC Guitar School Guitar for Absolute Beginner Class–meaning that this extremely handy blog post is also companion resources to