Easy Chord Songs for Beginners: 5 Perfect Starting Points
TABs and Chord Diagrams Included!
5,0 / 5,0 | 
Easy Chord Songs for Beginners: 5 Perfect Starting Points · Source: Wachiwt / Alamy Stock Photo
These easy chord songs are the motivation you need to keep practising your chords! Simple songs with maximum progress. Let’s check out these classics.
The Songs:
Easy Chord Songs: Perfect Starting Points
So, you’ve started learning the guitar. It feels like there’s a long road ahead. Don’t get me wrong, it’s one hell of a journey, but it’s well worth starting.
I believe that in order to make progress, you have to enjoy what you’re doing and be able to measure your progress. Therefore, that’s why these easy chord songs are a great way to motivate the early days of your playing.
Today, you might not be able to play some of these songs at all, or at speed. But in a few weeks, you’ll have mastered them. Let’s see what we’re up against.
Brown Eyed Girl
Where are we starting then? Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl is a Karaoke classic. But why is this important? We play guitar for ourselves, but it helps when you can play something that other people can also relate to and enjoy.
Another reason for picking this one is that it contains a bunch of core chords that you’ll take with you for life. The chords in question: G major, C major, D major and E minor.
With this song, each chord lasts for the duration of four beats, which is one bar. Now, it all depends on where you’re at, but I would strum each chord with a down down up, up down up, pattern (DDU / UDU). Alternatively, work around what feels good for you. Even if that’s one strum on each chord, you’re still getting that practice in there.
Take It Easy
Appropriately named for us, Take It Easy by The Eagles is another ideal starting point for easy chord songs. This time, we’re chucking in an Am chord. Having a mix of major and minor chords is essential for a great chord progression.
Most people have heard of this group, even if it’s just Hotel California. Learning memorable songs always helps when practising the guitar. With this track in particular, there’s a longer verse and chorus section compared to Brown Eyed Girl. Use the arrows to work through the slide show to reveal the chords.
This is a fairly blank canvas when it comes to strumming patterns. Obviously, the original record has a dedicated pattern, but whilst you’re learning, it’s best to play whatever feels comfortable.
Harvest Moon
Next up, we’ve got some Neil Young. The folk-rock artist has been edged back into our minds following some controversy at 2025’s Glastonbury festival. Nonetheless, this is a fantastic forgotten classic that is fun to play.
Just like with the Eagles tune, we’ve got a couple of slides to highlight various sections of the song. Here, there are different chords for the intro, verse, pre-chorus and chorus sections. This may seem like a lot to take in, but learning song structures is just as important for you as a player as other techniques.
Extra Chords
You’ve probably noticed some scary-looking chords in this one. Don’t worry! These are easily achievable and will no doubt impress your friends when you play them.
Here, we’ve got the addition of Dmaj7, A7 and indeed A7sus4. Fretting a Dmaj7 is nice and easy; simply place your index finger across the high E, B and G strings on the 2nd fret. A7 is just a regular A chord with a hole in the middle.
From here, to make A7sus4, you’ll want to use either your ring finger or pinkie to fret the 3rd fret of the B string. These chords really stand out compared to your regular open shapes.
Everybody Hurts
From jovial campfire songs to something a little more edgy. R.E.M. don’t really do it for me, but there’s no denying the pros for learning this easy chord song as a beginner.
There are a few things to know about this one. The song is in a 6/8 time signature. Therefore, we’d count each bar as one two three, four five six. Secondly, the main riff is actually based around D and G major chords. We just want to pick the notes within each of them. Otherwise known as an arpeggio.
The chorus works around the Em and Am chords in a similar way to the verse. This track also gives us some picking practice with those essential chords that we use everyday.
Love Me Do
Concluding our look at easy chord songs, we’ve got the easiest of them all! Am I right in thinking that this is one of the most basic songs from The Fab Four? If you know of any others, please put my Beatles knowledge to shame…
What’s the crack with this one then? Again, we’re working around some simple chords. This one is nice and upbeat. I use this a lot with my own guitar students; it helps to practice the G to C chord change. A common issue for many.
The G7 in the chorus is optional, but it adds a nice bluesy twist. If you’d like to play this chord, you’ll need to replace the note on the high E string from the 3rd fret to the 1st. Therefore, adding an F in there, which is the 7th.
Beginner Gear:
Videos:
Further Information:
*This post contains affiliate links and/or widgets. When you buy a product via our affiliate partner, we receive a small commission that helps support what we do. Don’t worry, you pay the same price. Thanks for your support!
This might also interest you
