Ultimate Guitar's Top-15 Songs for Beginner Guitarists...



Top-15 Best Starter Songs for Guitarists...

Another Friday Ultimate Guitar list! If you caught this week's traditional Wednesday Question Ultimate Guitar asked it's web-site visitors to name the best beginner song for all the aspiring guitarists out there. Readers brought up quite a few classics, so the list was extended to a Top 15.

Animals as Leaders even made the list with "CAFO," they reached No. 4 based on votes, but in the end, Ultimate Guitar said, no, that's not a starter riff. Anyhow, on to the list of songs they'd settled upon!

#15. Pink Floyd - "Wish You Were Here
"Good basic chord changes done brilliantly" is what Mr third(-)eye had to say about this one, and hundreds of thumbs up couldn't help but agree.


#14. Weezer - "Island in the Sun
Very basic, yet very effective

#13. Oasis - "Wonderwall
Not sure you knew this, but "69% of people who learn this song on guitar will only know this song." Thanks to Elegitii for the stats.

#12. Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Californication"
Both the riff and solo are easy to pick up on this one. The lyrical content is not the topic here, but "Californication" actually deals with the dark side of Hollywood, and is not just another laid-back tune as some might think.

#11. Blink-182 - "All the Small Things
It's hard to get more basic than this. Works like a charm though, learn to play it here - chords or tab.

#10. Cream - "Sunshine of Your Love
Simple, yet very, very tasty. Tasty enough to make rock history books.


#9. AC/DC - "Back in Black" 
It's worth noting that "TNT" also took a lot of votes, but "Back in Black" it is. In general, AC/DC is just one of those awesome starter bands, whether it's for guitar players or guitar fans.

#8. Judas Priest - "Breaking the Law"
Simple, melodic, perfect for your first scale rundown.

#7. Green Day - "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)"
Another song that caught a lot of attention was "Brain Stew," but "Time of Your Life" emerged as the Green Day representative.

#6. Metallica - "Enter Sandman
Maybe "Nothing Else Matters" would be a better fit, but "Enter Sandman" it is!

#5. Ramones - "Blitzkrieg Bop
Back to the punk realm, it's the Ramones and "Blitzkrieg Bop." Also, funny how Sex Pistols weren't even suggested in comments.


#4. Black Sabbath - "Iron Man
"Paranoid" also fetched quite a few of your votes, but "Iron Man" still emerged as the victorious Sabbath representative. Zappo the UG user nicely pointed out this one: "The main riff yes... but as a whole song I'd recommend 'Paranoid' over 'Iron Man.'" Would you agree with Zappo?

#3. The White Stripes - "Seven Nation Army"
Kicking off the Big 3, it's one of those all-time classics that just stun you with simplicity.

#2. Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit
Nirvana were actually the most successful band in the vote, seeing that both "Come as You Are" and "Lithium" also scored a hefty amount of votes.

#1. Deep Purple - "Smoke on the Water"
We'd honestly be surprised if this wasn't the No. 1 track for this week. Here's a neat fact - Ritchie Blackmore actually got the inspiration from the opening of Beethoven's "5th Symphony." As the guitarist explained, he just took the intro and played it backwards.