What Are The First Rock Songs You Should Learn To Play On Guitar?

The questions just keep coming. I appreciate the easy ones. Speaking of easy questions, I have an answer to one of them, umbrella (your welcome, Dave from Ogallala, Nebraska). After sifting through all the other questions this is the one that rose to the top- What are the first rock songs you should learn to play on guitar?

My answer is, it depends. Are you just done with your first few beginners guitar lessons? What are you trying to get out of playing guitar? If you want to play acoustic while sitting around a campfire my answer would be different, then if you are trying to get into the bar band business, or if you want to be a rock star. The only thing it costs you to learn a song is time. You might learn something new that you can add to your repertoire, whether it is just a song or a new technique. Every time I learned a Rush song I learned a new chord or something that I could add to my own song writing.

The Obvious Choices

Every guitarist should know how to play “Smoke on the Water.” I believe they won’t let you leave the music store with a guitar without playing that song. If you end up in a cover band there are certain songs you will be expected to play (can you say “Free Bird”). People will let you know what they want to hear. I know several musicians who get grumpy about being asked to play certain songs, but you have to ask yourself- why you are there? The honest answer is to entertain the crowd (hopefully there is a crowd). Make the crowd happy, then every once in a while you can throw in a song that you want to play because you love it. You’ll have earned the right to.

Where to Start

In the beginning learn songs that you care about. Those are the ones you will take the time to learn every nuance, and try to understand how the song and the guitar parts work. Eventually you’ll have to learn songs that you don’t care much about, whether that is because you are in a band, working as a musician, or volunteering at your church to play on a worship team. You can learn something in each of those situations, but at the beginning you just need to learn. Give yourself a reason to pick up the guitar even though your fingers hurt.

The last band I was in played four hour shows with something like forty-five songs in a show. I would be hard pressed to play more than a handful of those songs. Not because they were bad songs, or that I didn’t enjoy playing them. The ones I remember are the ones that I had a passion for. There are some songs that I remember, because they had an interesting part within the song. Whether it was a great rhythm part, a cool melody, or a lead that really drew my attention. Those are the songs you should learn.

When I Started

The first songs that I learned to play (that weren’t the choice of my first guitar teacher) would be songs you haven’t heard of. I didn’t care to learn what was popular or what was considered cool, I wanted to play the songs that sounded good to me. I still remember how to play many of those songs, and it informed my style from then on. Don’t walk away worrying that the first songs that you learn will have such a dramatic impact. If you choose right they will have such an effect, because they are the songs done in a style that you love.

Don’t worry if the songs are beyond your abilities. These are the challenges that will drive your learning curve. If you take your time to practice to play it right, then you will be pushing your own ability. You don’t get better by learning every three chord song out there. You get better by setting the bar higher and higher.

Now go pick out a song and start working on it. The more you love the song the better. I’ll see you all later, and make sure you drop me a line and let me know what you’re working on. And, if you have a question throw that at me as well.