Easy songs to teach my students!

[Jupiter]

Hey guys!
Sometimes i have trouble thinking of easy songs to work on with my students. Most of my students are also JUST starting to play, so there's not a whole lot they can do yet { bless their hearts :P }. I really need some good ideas for songs i can work on with them, with ease and popularity being the biggest factors. Or i guess you could just tell what the first songs you learned were, and that would be a big help.
Please help!
Ben

[DKnight]

Finding songs for your students is just a matter of their age and interests. With younger kids, there are so many 3-4 note songs that they will be content with playing all the time. Something that you could do with older students is to have the "riff of the week". After working on the lesson plan, give them a simple rock riff to work on along with their normal material for the week. They don't have to worry about learning a complete song but they can learn a popular riff or intro that will keep them from getting bored. There are so many 2-4 measure riffs out there that a beginner can practice farily easily and then they can impress their friends by playing Iron Man.

[Artist]

teach them power chords and they will be set, then throw them smoke on the water!!!
That should occupy them for an eternity.

The first song I learned was 20th century boy by T.Rex.

Get them strumming pieces, so they get used to strumming, and strumming while not hitting the strings to get an idea of rhythm.
And maybe some finger picking stuff, I remember spending quite a while learning radioheads street spirit.

As they are just starting, try to get some things early about technique, like keeping fingers as close the fret board, using little fingerS (yes both).

[baileyk85]

The first thing I ever learnt was the D and G arpeggios in Everybody Hurts by REM.

Other stuff that should be good...

Smells Like Teen Spirit
Star Spangled Banner
Highway To Hell
Smoke On The Water as said
Pretty Fly For A White Guy
Plug In Baby

And maybe for the ones who are more comfortable with their axe, some more AC/DC rhythems are always great. People my age (16 and around that) tend to be interested in a lot of rock and heavy metal from the 70s and 80s aswell as the new stuff. You'd be suprised how knowledgable some of us are and how spread out our musical tastes can be.

[Devo]

'wish you were here' - i think it has a good 'first' guitar solo to learn too.

i cant remember the first thing i ever learnt on guitar this is going to bug me for ages lol

[Artist]

Originally Posted by baileyk85

And maybe for the ones who are more comfortable with their axe, some more AC/DC rhythems are always great. People my age (16 and around that) tend to be interested in a lot of rock and heavy metal from the 70s and 80s aswell as the new stuff. You'd be suprised how knowledgable some of us are and how spread out our musical tastes can be.

And with this revival of 70s/80s metal that I feel churning, there will be a growing interest. The amount of publicity that Metallica have gained with Shat Anger will get them interested in playing "difficult" guitar, and into metal. And that bands like Iron maiden are being played on Kerrang.
Not to mention the darkness wearing spandex and claiming to be bringing back stadium rock.

[Dylan7620]

the whole world in his hands - a7 & d
then theres blink 182 - all power chords, never tried to play though, never felt the need.

[Fang]

Speed Kills by Batio

[Clonetool]

Anything by ACDC.

[Mike239]

Just ASK them what song they want to learn and then listen to it get the tab or whatever you can for it, learn it yourself (Unless you already know it)then teach the student, if you think its too difficult for their level then ask them what other songs they might want to learn that may be more suitable for their level. Anything with LOTS of powerchords is normally a good start but make sure the song has some single notes in it and something that may need a bit of practice. Anyway i learnt Blink 182's ALL THE SMALL THINGS first, its mostly powerchords and a theres a part that took me a while to get the hang of.

[mar01]

hmm i do some teaching too.. bt not formal .. and my students are my younger cousins.. about 3-5 of them wanting to play music.. so the first ever successful song that i taught them is "Knocking on Heavens Door" by GNR.. yeah this song is quite easy for them.. actually it depends on their interesrt and will to complete a song..

[jb4674]

Whatever you do, please don't teach them to play power chords yet. That's the lazy man's way to play guitar. They will learn to play power chords on their own. The earlier they learn how to play simple progressions with 3 or 4 chords, the better they will appreciate how to play the instrument. If you do decide to show them power chords, make them play the whole chord instead of the power chord for now.

Some simple songs you can teach them could be:

I can't tell you why
Lying Eyes
Ventura Highway
Horse with no name

The best approach would be to teach them the main chords for the song and then have them strum the song while you play the main parts. Then, have each one of them play a little lick in the middle of the song. It may take a little time but, once they get the hang of it, they will become more and more creative and their desire to play better will increase.

I hope this helps

Jimmy

[anakid]

Wow guys, you all forgot the ULTIMATE first song: Smoke on the Water! Not sure what it teaches but it's fun to play.

[ZOMB13]

Originally Posted by Fang

Speed Kills by Batio

HAHAHA

[TongueShredder]

Maybe you can start by teaching them some easy songs....

How about

"I hate myself for loving you" - Joan Jett,
"I love Rock & Roll" - Joan Jett
"Sweet child of mine" - GNR

to name a few.

They have very catchy tunes, the lead are simple and very addictive.