50 Best Acoustic Songs for Beginners (With Chords and Tabs)

If you’re a beginner on the acoustic guitar, you may be wondering what songs to learn first, and what the best songs are for beginner acoustic guitar players specifically. To help you out, I wanted to put my Top 50 Best Acoustic Songs for Beginners all in one place.

But rather than just listing the songs out and leaving it up to you to find out how to play them, I also decided to link to my favorite chord and tab sources for each song. This way you not only know the best acoustic songs for beginners, but the best places to learn them as well.

If you want to take it to the next level, I also provide a link wherever I can for “Expert Chords” – these links will bring you to that artist’s official songbook on Amazon.

And I even took things one step further just because I wanted to make the ultimate resource for you guys. That’s why wherever possible, I also included my favorite video lesson on YouTube of each song. This way you get an experienced teacher teaching the song to you, one-on-one, for free!

One final note before we get started: don’t forget to tune your guitar! These songs won’t sound right if your guitar is out of tune… If you need a great tuner, here’s my favorite clip-on guitar tuner (on Amazon).

Also: you will need a capo to play some of these songs. If you don’t have a capo (or want to upgrade to a better one) here’s my favorite capo (on Amazon).

How to Listen to These Songs for FREE

If you’re unfamiliar with any of these songs and want to listen to them in their entirety, I really recommend doing so with Amazon Music Unlimited. If you simply sign up for their free trial, you get access to over 60 million songs completely free – and you can listen anytime, anywhere. It’s a great way to enjoy some awesome acoustic music. You can check out the free trial here.

Do You Need an Acoustic Guitar to Play These 50 Best Beginner Songs?

Before we get started, I want to answer a common question about the following songs. Can you learn these songs if you have an electric or classical guitar, instead of an acoustic? The answer is yes. While the songs themselves feature an acoustic guitar, you can play the tabs and chords for each song on an electric or classical guitar.

However, if you want to sound most like the original song, it’s probably best to play the song on an acoustic guitar. If you’re new to the guitar, or are an electric guitarist looking to transition to acoustic, then I recommend checking out my 10 favorite acoustic guitars for beginners on a budget.

Or if you want a resource-packed acoustic guitar buyer’s guide, where I walk you through every step of the process, from deciding what kind of wood you want, what the best guitar strings are, and how to maintain your guitar for years to come, you might want to grab my ultimate acoustic buyer’s guide (now available on Amazon).

But now that we’ve got the guitar details figured out, let’s jump into the Top 50 Best Acoustic Songs for Beginners.

50 Best Acoustic Guitar Songs for Beginners

1. Paperback Writer – The Beatles – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
2. Yellow Submarine – The Beatles – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
3. If You Want to Sing Out – Cat Stevens – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
4. No Rain – Blind Melon – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson
5. That’s the Way the World Goes Round – John Prine – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson
6. Ripple – The Grateful Dead – Chords+Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
7. Take It Easy – The Eagles – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
8. The Race is On – George Jones – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson
9. Heart of Gold – Neil Young – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
10. Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright – Bob Dylan – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson
11. Horse with No Name – America – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
12. Ring of Fire – Johnny Cash – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
13. Knocking on Heaven’s Door – Bob Dylan – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson
14. Wild World – Cat Stevens – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
15. Yellow – Cold Play – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson
16. Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson
17. Love Me Do – The Beatles – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
18. Have You Ever Seen the Rain? – Creedence Clearwater Revival – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
19. Born in the USA – Bruce Springsteen – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
20. Love Story – Taylor Swift – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
21. Stand By Me – Ben E. King – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson
22. Ho Hey – The Lumineers – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson
23. Chasing Cars – Snow Patrol – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson
24. Eleanor Rigby – The Beatles – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
25. Feelin’ Alright – Joe Cocker – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson
26. Give Peace a Chance – John Lennon – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson
27. What I Got – Sublime – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
28. Two Tickets to Paradise – Eddie Money – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
29. High & Dry – Radiohead – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson
30. Stir it Up – Bob Marley – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
31. Can’t You See – Marshall Tucker Band – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
32. Leaving on a Jet Plane – John Denver – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
33. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For – U2 – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
34. For What It’s Worth – Buffalo Springfield – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson
35. Dead Flowers – The Rolling Stones – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
36. Wild Horses – The Rolling Stones – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
37. Franklin’s Tower – The Grateful Dead – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
38. Old Man – Neil Young – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
39. Three Little Birds – Bob Marley – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
40. Bad Moon Rising – Creedence Clearwater Revival – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
41. Free Fallin – Tom Petty – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
42. More than Words – Extreme – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson
43. Everlong – Foo Fighters – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson
44. Big Me – Foo Fighters – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson
45. Hey There Delilah – Plane White T’s – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson
46. The House of the Rising Sun – The Animals – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
47. I’m Yours – Jason Mraz – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson
48. Every Rose has It’s Thorn – Poison – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon
49. Not Fade Away – Buddy Holly – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson
50. Waiting In Vain – Bob Marley – Chords + Tabs – Video Lesson – Full Tabs on Amazon

Looking for More Great Songs to Learn?

Check out the following guides to other great songs to learn on the guitar, with chords & tabs:

• The 25 Best Country Songs for Acoustic Guitar (with Chords + Tabs)
• The 25 Best Rock Songs for Acoustic Guitar (With Chords & Tabs)
• 35 Easy Song Tabs on Acoustic Guitar

Need More Help Getting Started?

If you’re still looking for more free guitar lesson resources, I’d recommend subscribing to some of the awesome acoustic guitar YouTube channels. The only trouble is – it can be hard to find the right channels, and to know who’s really putting out good information.

That’s why I wrote up a whole guide post on my 8 favorite YouTube channels for learning acoustic guitar.

If you really want to take things to the next level, though, check out my complete guide post on how to learn guitar. You can read it here.

Ready to Get Better at Guitar, Faster?

Whenever you’re ready to take your guitar playing to the next level, check out a few of my favorite resources below:

The Best Acoustic Guitar Strings – A unique polymer coating makes these guitar strings last for months or even years at a time, making for an exceptional value. They provide the perfect mix of boom, range, twang, and brightness that acoustic music is known for. — CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

The Best Acoustic Guitar – Beloved by everyone from Paul Simon to Gordon Lightfoot, the Martin D-18 is one of Martin’s most legendary guitars ever… It’s an excellent, premier quality acoustic guitar for bluegrass, country, folk, rock and more. This is also what I play myself — CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Chords, Tabs & Video Lessons for 100 Epic Songs – This free guide that I created for fellow guitarists gives you chords, tabs, and video lessons for the 100 best songs to learn on guitar… I spent many hours putting this guide together to help you get better at guitar, faster. — CLICK HERE TO GET IT FREE

Fingerpicking vs Flatpicking Guitar – Learn which picking style is right for YOU by exploring examples, history, and popular players of each style. Discover essential techniques and pros and cons of each approach. — CLICK HERE TO GET IT FREE