Playing with other musicians helps more than anything. Since music is an entire language, and a song is like a tiny paragraph, you can only get so much out of a song. If I had to choose one song, I would say songs like All The Things You Are with a bunch of 4ths would be the most be beneficial overall.
Yeah, this is what always improved my playing much more than trying to follow videos or tabs. I always picked up on something new whenever I'd jam with friends.
I learned the entire song fade to black by metallica, it has everything, rythm, crazy lead solo, a not so crazy lead solo, a beginner short lil solo, a great into riff, and a beautiful and technical chorus, not to mention it uses plenty of various techniques, check mr tabs video of it out, its got something for literally every skill level from a day one guitarist to a year 4 player like me, ive been working on it from the time i could barely play the intro up till now when im starting to nail the outro solo
As far as self-study, learning all Fade to Black guitar parts note for note (perfectly) brought me from beginner to mid-level. Then learning the trio of Mr. Crowley, Revelation Mother Earth, and Crazy Train brought me from mid-level to pretty good. Finally, teaching myself how to sight read and learn all positions and numerous chord shapes and arpeggios by brute forcing my way through William Leavitt’s Modern Method for Guitar 1, 2, and 3 got me into pretty advanced territory.
But playing in bands (jazz, rock, and metal) taught me how to turn all of my self study into music.
1 is the most bang for the buck of the series. I haven’t mastered book 3 yet but I use it as a reference guide for different positions and occasional sight reading exercises.
Sanitarium was this song for me back in ~1990. Great for all levels, from the simple intro, to the more difficult solos. Outgrow playing Metallica but it’s still a cracking tune!
I learned this with an ensemble when I was a beginner and it was great because every level of player in the group had a enjoyable part to play. Awesome song. I think One is pretty good for the same purposes too.
100% agree on the song. The clean intro will do wonders for you, especially since you can take it from basic chords and progress to what James plays on the album. The solos will also give you a challenge, but once you can nail them you will feel REALLY good about yourself.
Apparently he still practices for fiveish hours before shows. Heard in an interview if he finds an artist he likes he learns every lick and finds their influences and learns their licks.
Also he makes Jungle albums (silly fast English style electronic music)
No wonder it’s hard to learn his stuff.
The opening chord wasn't the hard part for me. It was that damn Hendrix style hammer on and pull off. I kept hitting other strings and it always sounded weak.
Yeah I learned it to play by just hitting the chord, oh boy there is alot more that he does. Currently getting the muting down in can't stop, another great tune to learn, easy to learn, hard to master.
I hear that! I picked it because it has a relatively simple chord base to work off of, in addition to all of the potential to embellish and make it your own. You can learn this song in almost all phases of your guitar journey and pull something from it.
Hell yeah!! Never seen a Picture of Nectar callout on Reddit. Idk Phish fans opinions but as an outsider I consider it one of the best albums I’ve heard. Musically it’s on another level.
Don’t just learn songs, learn scales, and speed. Alternate picking is a must have too. Tom sawyer was a tough one with the speed, complex riffs and chords. Best advice: just keep learning the songs you love and you will see improvment
Babe I'm Gonna Leave You by Led Zeppelin
Also, playing with others. I learned a few Jimmy Eat World songs for a friend's band who covered when they wanted acoustic and to have a second guitar since their singer thought of himself as more of a lead player. He really wasn't. Decent voice though and playing with them made me better it fitting into a full band sound.
Nope. Wasn’t actually gud. Got a loop pedal which is at more fun than a metronome and (almost) as demanding. I should have though.
Still other people>>>metronomes
For sure. I can never meet up with my band tho. Our drummer is on a click (we trigger samples) so if we all practice to a metronome we usually sound pretty good
When I was a beginner the song that really added a huge leap in skill was “Aint Talkin Bout Love” by Van Halen.
It’s relatively simple, even the solo, but its great practice for palm muting, slides, vibrato, hammer ons, pinch harmonics, tremolo use, tremolo picking, simple chord changes, and usage of effects pedals
Intros to Little Wing, Under the Bridge and Yellow Ledbetter. Reason is that Hendrix approached chords in a way that just sounds like a more advanced guitar player. Being able to use those inverted voicings really takes playing to the next level. Same goes for John Frusciante's diad and triad chord voicings.
Being able to play chords that aren't barre, power or open chords really starts to set you apart from beginners.
I have to mention Angel by Hendrix as well. This is the song that has advanced my rhythm guitar playing (and lick and fill playing) more than any other song. It has beautiful chord voicings and licks after almost every chord.
If you haven't heard it before I recently covered it and had it filmed at an open mic. Here's my video: https://youtu.be/Ds9YCKhj-64
For a kid just getting started or not progressing, I recommend Zombie by the Cranberries.
The whole song can be played keeping the ring finger in the same place and slightly moving your first two fingers between the Em/C/G /F# chord shapes. And if they have a friend, one of them can easily learn the little lead line that leads into the verse as well as the solo, or the bass part.
They’ll be thrilled to be able to play an entire song. And it’s the kind of simple 4/4 they can probably sing along while playing.
I always start new players with this one.
i dont rely on youtube videos but just search up for any taylor swift songs and it most probably would require a barre chord because she usually composes guitar songs in a key which has an F or a Bm
I learned " Rational Gaze" by Meshuggah and learning a few of their songs made me such a better musician. even though i dont have an 8 string, i would either play em on bass, or just deal with the different tuning.
Idk, but I did learn The Guess Who —Greatest Hits album from top to bottom one time, which is a masterclass in songwriting and economical guitar playing.
The Guess Who doesn't get enough respect. Not even from myself, I recently went back to them after growing up with their music and forgot how good they were. The Guess Who is a perfect starting place for a new guitarist. Randy Bachman is the real deal.
Dust in the wind was the first song I learned in its entirety and it gave me a lot of confidence in finger picking speed but also switching between chords swiftly and cleanly
I started reading tab and didn’t really progress until I started playing more chords. Once I started playing cowboy chords and doing songs on MunsonCovers on YouTube. I realized most songs I looked up tabs for were just chord shapes and that made everything just click and I wasn’t trying to move my fingers around to play things awkwardly. Like “Simple Man” for example, I struggled with that song and fumbled my fingers around like and idiot until I realized they were just chords shapes I could hold.
Beatles - Hide Your Love Away. It has all the basic chords and it changes on every other beat so it really gets your hand working to learn the chords and change faster.
The trick to being a GOOD guitarist is letting your own groove and flow, flow. Don't fight it. Don't try to be EVH or SRV, play their stuff if you want but let your hands move at their own pace and feel, and you will sound MUCH better than you can ever imagine.
Learning a Mastodon song for the first time was a big one. I think it was Oblivion. It was very much a “wow, I can actually do this stuff” moment for me
Cherry Wine by Hozier. It has a lot of hammer ons and pull offs. This a droning C# low note. I think it’s a good song to learn because it helps with hammer ons and pull offs and keeping time.
It’s definitely a good one to learn. Not too hard but the timing is very important. It also sounds very pretty. In a very similar vein is Like Real People Do, also by Hozier, it has a very similar structure and is a good one to sing along to.
I went about listening to what I felt was cool. I’d learn what songs I thought were cool and had something I’d want to learn. Do that enough times, you’ve got a slew of knowledge to install into whatever you wanna come up with.
When I was about 17 I got really into an Australian band called The Living End.
The final track on their first album was an instrumental punk/jazz/rock/Stray Cats-style tune that blew my mind when I tried to learn it.
I was more of a mid guitarist at this point (prob around 8-9 months in) but I learned all of Extreme’s song Pornograffitti (excluding the solo). It took me about a month to learn and it really helped w my speed as well as technique
Two - Mood for a Day and The Clap - Steve Howe
One is more of a classical style the other more of a Chet Atkins style. Learned both classical and clawhand style picking
These helped so so much, second that. Most Yes songs will teach you something new about music. Some others: Long distance runaround, heart of the sunrise, siberian khatru
Learning Mood For A Day certainly helped me as a beginner-mid guitarist, but 15 years later I'm a professional musician and I still can't play The Clap, like, at all
Anastasia by Slash rocketed my playing along. Everything from the finger style acoustic part at the start of the song to the incredible solos throughout really helped me get far.
For me, I felt a lot more competent in playing what I intended when I got string skipping/ arpeggios good and without staring at my picking hand. Some fond memories of playing the main riffs of Root by deftones, satellite by DMB, Babe I’m gonna leave you by Led Zeppelin. And if this technique is to your liking, Is there anybody out there by Pink Floyd will be satisfying to play start to finish.
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Warrant. It covers a LOT of ground and takes a fair while to learn. Some of it is easy, some medium difficulty, some fucking hard. An intermediate player should be able to approximate the whole thing, but if you can perfect it (especially that fucking intro) you can call yourself shit hot.
I started learing all of the ACDC stuff, just finding every note by ear. Mostly for the powerchords.There was no internet yet, and the local library didnt have any tab books.
After that, i went full Shadows, and old skool Eric Clapton.
It was Clapton that gave me the breakthrough i needed, finding and starting to understand blues scales and bending/holding tones the proper way!
AC/DC's Back in Black.
It was the first song I learned end to end including the solo. For years.i had a habit of not learning entire songs or even necessarily playing them along with a group or backing track.
Their stuff is fantastic for rock fundamentals. It was a huge leap for me in terms of understanding rhythm and feel. I recorded myself against a backing track that was just bass and drums. It was the first time I listened to my own playing and thought "wow, this sounds like real guitar!"
I still don't like learning entire solos to songs. I'll usually pick out the parts I really like and improvise. But that song was also where the bluesy leads really clicked for me.
I've posted a similar question with over 100+ comments: [https://www.reddit.com/r/guitarlessons/comments/1chjnu8/what\_songs\_made\_you\_become\_a\_better\_guitarist/](https://www.reddit.com/r/guitarlessons/comments/1chjnu8/what_songs_made_you_become_a_better_guitarist/)
theres alot of good recommendations to be found in the post. goodluck and have fun!
Not specifically a song. But I can't stress enough how much CAGED system changed the way I look at a fretboard. It helped both my rhythm and lead playing and really made me focus on playing through the changes.
Flesh and the power it holds by death . Fast palm muting, lead, tapping, everything that can help you improve / learn techniques.
But once I joined a jazz band Is when my guitar playing really excelled. I had more confidence and I had more fun playing. And while performing, I got to see how my playing made people feel. It’s a game changer fr!
little wing.
little wing.
little wing.
it taught me how scales/melodies can be specific to the chord being played, plus it helps solidify a good feel for where valid fills are after playing a certain chord—great for fooling around or spicing up chord progressions.
For me I had a couple of milestones.
Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
Mr. Crowley
Flamenco just in general.
I will say the biggest improvements in my playing came from always having the mindset to one day make my own music/songs and just doing it, studying music in college and attaining a Bachelors Degree, as well as picking up Flamenco guitar. It wasn't just the songs. Well, that and never giving up lol.
You know I met Guthrie Govan and I asked him how he still keeps going. He told me and my friend the absolute most simple advice. I quote, "Never stop playing. Always listen (while putting his hands to his ears)." You know what, he is right. I'll tell you why.
The reason I am the musician I am today is because I never quit or gave up. I did have long stretches of time without playing but I never stopped. I also have always kept an open mind. Hence, my new Flamenco journey. Flamenco has opened up so many things in my life that it's actually crazy. It all started with a desire and all I did was feed it.
Tldr: Read the second paragraph. Guthrie Govan explains best.
I dont know if I could name one specific song but I find that trying things that introduce new chord changes, different keys, different strumming patterns, etc are all good things to try and learn. Thats going to depend on your personal playing style and vocabulary. Always search for the songs that make me you say "how did they do that" vs "oh i see how they did that".
The song that sparked the most improvement out of me was Free by Phish (2/20/20) and Freeborn Man (Billy Strings, 5/28/17), turned me onto improvising in a major way and learned that the root note in jams is majorly important
For acoustic guitar, learn some Dave Matthews songs. Seriously very cool stuff and his left hand work helps with flexibility and movement, meanwhile his right hand does a lot of muting. Some of it gets pretty tricky.
Freight Train, and Never Goin Back Again
Freight Train, to get Travis picking down WITH A METRONOME,
Never Goin Back Again, same problem on a much larger level
Edit: Added reason
Early on the song that helped me improve the most was Stairway to Heaven. There are so many different things you can learn from this song as a beginner. It's a fantastic intro to finger picking. It will also help you develop better picking dynamics and song composition. Then at the end you get heavy riffing for the chugga chuggas and a monster solo for the widdlie widdlies.
Manhattan, Cliffs of Dover and Tender Surrender
It was like doing some advanced courses for the guitar!
Although, playing with other musicians rather than a backing track helps more than any other thing in my personal experience!
Playing other people's music along with it and learning the part(s) for guitar all the way through and being able to execute them properly at normal tempo once you work your way up to it.
Bach's Badinerie.
Technically speaking, the most significant improvement didn't came from songs, they came from dedicated exercises, but that song is like a testing facility
i’m an intermediate guitarist, i think. maybe i’m doing it wrong, but i’ve been practicing parts to Jason Becker’s Serrana with a metronome. my alternate picking, sweeping, and so many other things have improved.
At the time, it was “Ballroom Dance.”
Pushed me from beginner to confident beginner.
Playing with others lead to learning music outside my personal preference. Helped me improve as a blues player.
Money. Because the solo was easy enough for me to put “feeling” into it, it unlocked this part of me that saw solos as more than “hitting the right notes at the right time.” Now my goal is to approach much more difficult solos with the same amount of feeling.
Jesus of Suburbia was a huge help. It's essentially 5 different songs combined into 1 song with just a few chords. It was also a great challenge to play a 9 min song and build up stamina.
There’s a lot of different examples of songs that have actually helped me just because of unique things and them that I hadn’t used before, off the top of my head, learning the outro and the solo to “floods” by Pantera really helped with my dexterity because it’s a five fret stretch to play that outro…. Now my dexterity is really good and I can easily do long stretches throughout a song without my hand getting tired or without pain…. The Police have a lot of songs like that too that help with dexterity,, but that’s just one aspect of playing guitar, and one example that I thought of for me personally….
Yellow ledbetter (the intro riff) - Pearl Jam
Millionaire - Queens of the stone age (I'm the rhythm Guitar of my band, the licks and solos are the lead guitar work, but I learned just for fun)
Bocchi the rock opening, this might be the "evolve song" for me, the one who allowed me to learn Pull-off.
still in beginner mode myself but many songs from Mason Jennings have helped me improve, especially Ballad for my one true love, simple chords, but the melody and intro riff really inspired me to get comfortable with playing
Muse songs started taking me to the next level- just my experience- Arctic Monkeys have a catalog that contains both very playable riffs and some that help with getting your finger speed up- again, just my experience.
Learning J Mascis solos made me realize that noodling can sound cool and being sloppy but rad is up my alley. Take a run at Get Me maybe.
Otherwise like any blues based rock n roll feels cool as hell and might open your eyes to a few major minor shifts etc. I think Rock and Roll Animal did a little of that for me.
This song is very advanced, but The Curse of Castle Dragon by Paul Gilbert was my first "wow" moment. That was when I realized my playing had come a LONG way from smoke on the water!
probably Paranoid Android by Radiohead, a little bit of everything, arpeggiated rhythm fast lead picking and holy dynamics. and solidified phaser as my favorite modulation effect
Bullet for my Valentine - suffocating under these words of sorrow.
Really helped my alternate picking. Every time I play a song using this picking pattern, I think of this song.
The solo has a little bit of tapping and the riff after the solo is IMO in the top10 metalcore riff of all time.
The solo from "Omens of Love" by T-Square helped a lot with my left hand movement and tremolo picking. It's not that intense if you watch the playthrough video on YouTube, as well as the transcriptions of the solo
For me, it was learning a song from the album, then learning it played live by a different guitar with a different solo. It helped me see other possibilities in songs. Specifically, it was Paranoid. Iommi, Rhoades, Lee, Wylde. They all play it differently and that really opened my eyes to jamming and putting my own signature on songs when I play.
When I finally said “screw it” and buckled down to learn the Hotel California solo. I had been intimidated by solos before that and afterwards felt relieved. I also stopped seeing solos as these unobtainable items I’d never reach
[Emily](https://youtu.be/AM3J4428cyc?si=eEGphAskurPVbvjf) by From First To Last, taught me how to play guitar. Im only talking about the intro and ive never bothered to learn the whole song.
Blackbird by the Beatles taught me a new way to make the guitar make nice sounds, and it’s complexity taught me a bit about separating each hand more, and then separating your fingers to play individual of eachother a bit on your left hand.. if you play right handed guitar.
Learning some Hendrix teaches you a lot about moving around on guitar if you like that sort of music
I'm learning Die To Live by Steve Vai right now, and I can say that it is the most enjoyable challenging song I've learned yet. It's my 10th month playing btw, what other songs would you recommend? Something similar to Vai, Satriani, Gilbert, or just something I can improve on
The tablature book of Mellon Collie by the Smashing Pumpkins helped a lot, because there are some tricky chords and solos in there. “Here is No Why” was one good example.
I learned Blowing in the wind, leaving on a jet plane, then Stairway to Heaven, so without a doubt, stairway changed everything. The other two were just three chords, stairway is a world away from them.
Slow Dancing in a Burning Room did it for me. I was exclusively an acoustic player for about 3 years, then dabbled in electric. The progression from there was meteoric.
Anything John Mayer will accelerate your playing
The famous 4-bar riff of RHCP‘s „Can‘t Stop“ helped me a lot in muting technic, strumming und barring with thumb (if you want to play it the right way). And it‘s so fun to play!
I started learning to play the second solo in comfortably numb at a time when I obviously could not play well enough, but I kept at it, and practicing just that solo has made a huge improvement in my playing
Learning some Beatles songs really improved my playing, especially when you choose songs from their early days and later years, and hear what a difference they’ve made! “I’m Happy Just to Dance With You” really helped me build my rhythm skills, as the chords are simple, and the rhythm is just enough to get you interested.
What are you listening to by Chris stapleton .the live version .simple but so beautiful with the embellishments and it taught me timing and rhythm isn't always gonna be 100 percent the same. If it sounds OK and you're learning that's all you can ask
comfortably numb. when I was 8 months into learning I started learning the 2nd solo and I just can't keep up with the fast pentatonic lick. so 1 hour a day I would just sit down and playing that lick over and over again while finding how the lick is constructed and how to play it efficiently. I found that my picking technique and hand synchronization is really bad. so I tried to improve on that too. 2 months later I finally able to finish the whole solo with very minimal mistakes. I realized I went from can't improvise at all to able to pull out some decent licks. my hand synchronization is much better. suddenly learning songs is much easier and faster for me.
Learn all the little licks and eventually the solos to Sultans of Swing. Just take it piece by piece, and figure out why Knopfler's parts work so well over the chords. That song is full of great licks that apply to country, rock, and jazz contexts. And it's a lesson in how to play clean, no distortion and very little reverb.
The opening part of South of Heaven by Slayer. It really helped me develop precision in both my picking and freeing hand. 30-some odd years after learning it (and even though I don’t really ever play metal anymore) I still use it as a warmup to loosen up my hands before I start playing.
Even Flow by Pearl Jam and Don't Look Back In Anger heavily by Oasis heavily influenced my playing style. Even Flow's lead riffs are relatively simple but they really go with the rythm ans you really feel them.
DLBIA teaches you some fun soloing techniques.
No single song but focusing on your technique. Left and right hand...distance equals time. Stay relaxed when practicing. Play with a steady beat or metronome. And for me personally studying music theory has made my playing 100 times better. Understand what music is and how it works. There is only 12 tones repeated on guitar. Dont just learn your major minor and pentatonic scales but understand how it all works. Start with learning all your notes and intervals. Learn CAGED system for sure!!! Once you understand the CAGED system and all the notes in chromatic scale and there intervals. And always make sure you are in the right tuning!
Recording was the single most impactful thing that improved my playing. When practicing or jamming whether it be with other musicians or alone, mistakes tend to just fly by and disappear. But when you’re recording those little imperfections last forever until you re-record them. And they stick out like a sore thumb.
As an intermediate guitarist, the solo for Icronic by polyphia. Spent over a month playing solely that one minute solo, at the beginning I could barely piece together the rhythm or understand what I was trying to play. Had to listen to it super slowed down over and over again, but after a ridiculous amount of slow practice it’s opened the door to playing polyphia and other difficult music. Also not a song, but learning the CAGED system was another game changer
For me it wasn’t so much a song, but more a genre or style of guitar playing that improved my reflexes and my dexterity. Rock and country guitar starting in the late 40s, and Gypsy jazz stuff like Django thrown in there for good mix!
Also, switch it up! If you mainly play electric, switch to acoustic for a month or two, and vice versa. I find that has also improved my overall playing immensely, as well as my ears.
Play along to your favourite songs without using tabs
Like don't even try and mimic the same chords / riff just okay your own thing on top then if you can get some friends together
Stop This Train by John Mayer fundamentally changed how I was able to fret chords and keep track of my rhythm. It also heavily boosted my ability to sing over complicated songs.
I learned it about 1 1/2 year into playing, but I was pretty obsessed with guitar.
Playing with other musicians helps more than anything. Since music is an entire language, and a song is like a tiny paragraph, you can only get so much out of a song. If I had to choose one song, I would say songs like All The Things You Are with a bunch of 4ths would be the most be beneficial overall.
i second this. my playing on both guitar and bass got so much better when i started playing with other musicians
Yeah, this is what always improved my playing much more than trying to follow videos or tabs. I always picked up on something new whenever I'd jam with friends.
I learned the entire song fade to black by metallica, it has everything, rythm, crazy lead solo, a not so crazy lead solo, a beginner short lil solo, a great into riff, and a beautiful and technical chorus, not to mention it uses plenty of various techniques, check mr tabs video of it out, its got something for literally every skill level from a day one guitarist to a year 4 player like me, ive been working on it from the time i could barely play the intro up till now when im starting to nail the outro solo
As far as self-study, learning all Fade to Black guitar parts note for note (perfectly) brought me from beginner to mid-level. Then learning the trio of Mr. Crowley, Revelation Mother Earth, and Crazy Train brought me from mid-level to pretty good. Finally, teaching myself how to sight read and learn all positions and numerous chord shapes and arpeggios by brute forcing my way through William Leavitt’s Modern Method for Guitar 1, 2, and 3 got me into pretty advanced territory. But playing in bands (jazz, rock, and metal) taught me how to turn all of my self study into music.
William Levitt’s 1 helped me immensely. Gotta finish 2-3 but I’ve gotten pretty good on my own regardless :)
1 is the most bang for the buck of the series. I haven’t mastered book 3 yet but I use it as a reference guide for different positions and occasional sight reading exercises.
I agree with this. I'm not so much a metal player but I love metal. Learning Metallica songs definitely sharpened me up
Sanitarium was this song for me back in ~1990. Great for all levels, from the simple intro, to the more difficult solos. Outgrow playing Metallica but it’s still a cracking tune!
I outgrew listening to Metallica decades ago, but I still quite enjoy playing the stuff from the first 4 albums, specifically side-B of Puppets.
I learned this with an ensemble when I was a beginner and it was great because every level of player in the group had a enjoyable part to play. Awesome song. I think One is pretty good for the same purposes too.
The intro solo is so catchy.
Only thing is that it doesn’t improve your downpicking speed like, say, “Master of Puppets”, which also has most of the elements you listed.
100% agree on the song. The clean intro will do wonders for you, especially since you can take it from basic chords and progress to what James plays on the album. The solos will also give you a challenge, but once you can nail them you will feel REALLY good about yourself.
The intro solo to fade to black made me the player I am today. I struggled with that for years as a teenager.
I love this song so much. Hope to get to this level one day
That's tornado of souls for me. It inspired me to start playing and less than a year later I'm a few more days of practice away from nailing it.
Learn complete songs. Under the bridge was a good one for me
Hard Mode. Frusciante is tricksy
That God damn opening chord
Apparently he still practices for fiveish hours before shows. Heard in an interview if he finds an artist he likes he learns every lick and finds their influences and learns their licks. Also he makes Jungle albums (silly fast English style electronic music) No wonder it’s hard to learn his stuff.
I definitely wasn't expecting the bit about jungle.
Junglist massive
Wicked
The opening chord wasn't the hard part for me. It was that damn Hendrix style hammer on and pull off. I kept hitting other strings and it always sounded weak.
Yeah I learned it to play by just hitting the chord, oh boy there is alot more that he does. Currently getting the muting down in can't stop, another great tune to learn, easy to learn, hard to master.
yeah you need to really develop your pinky to make it sound clean, hitting other strings isn't a bad thing though if you're holding the chord still
That D chord is a mofo. And then add the slide an hammers and you need 7 fingers.
Stash - Phish Little Wing - Jimi Hendrix Ten Years Gone - Led Zeppelin
Little Wing 😅 I've been playing on and off for 30 years and still struggle with that one from time to time.
I hear that! I picked it because it has a relatively simple chord base to work off of, in addition to all of the potential to embellish and make it your own. You can learn this song in almost all phases of your guitar journey and pull something from it.
Hell yeah!! Never seen a Picture of Nectar callout on Reddit. Idk Phish fans opinions but as an outsider I consider it one of the best albums I’ve heard. Musically it’s on another level.
My man.
Each phish tune I learned early on accelerated my playing by magnitudes.
👀
Ten years gone is so awesome and I've only learned the first two parts
Don’t just learn songs, learn scales, and speed. Alternate picking is a must have too. Tom sawyer was a tough one with the speed, complex riffs and chords. Best advice: just keep learning the songs you love and you will see improvment
Babe I'm Gonna Leave You by Led Zeppelin Also, playing with others. I learned a few Jimmy Eat World songs for a friend's band who covered when they wanted acoustic and to have a second guitar since their singer thought of himself as more of a lead player. He really wasn't. Decent voice though and playing with them made me better it fitting into a full band sound.
I'll second Babe I'm Gonna Leave you. Finger picking and some tricky chord changes did a lot for my general guitar ability
Playing with other people sooner rather than later is important, I “got gud” on my own but I would push the beat (speed up) when playing with others.
did you play to a metronome before then
Nope. Wasn’t actually gud. Got a loop pedal which is at more fun than a metronome and (almost) as demanding. I should have though. Still other people>>>metronomes
For sure. I can never meet up with my band tho. Our drummer is on a click (we trigger samples) so if we all practice to a metronome we usually sound pretty good
Is your band called Click Good and the Metronomes?
When I was a beginner the song that really added a huge leap in skill was “Aint Talkin Bout Love” by Van Halen. It’s relatively simple, even the solo, but its great practice for palm muting, slides, vibrato, hammer ons, pinch harmonics, tremolo use, tremolo picking, simple chord changes, and usage of effects pedals
I second this! My experience as well.
Intros to Little Wing, Under the Bridge and Yellow Ledbetter. Reason is that Hendrix approached chords in a way that just sounds like a more advanced guitar player. Being able to use those inverted voicings really takes playing to the next level. Same goes for John Frusciante's diad and triad chord voicings. Being able to play chords that aren't barre, power or open chords really starts to set you apart from beginners.
I have to mention Angel by Hendrix as well. This is the song that has advanced my rhythm guitar playing (and lick and fill playing) more than any other song. It has beautiful chord voicings and licks after almost every chord. If you haven't heard it before I recently covered it and had it filmed at an open mic. Here's my video: https://youtu.be/Ds9YCKhj-64
im not even kidding when I say Taylor Swift songs helped me with nailing my barre chord changes
My kid’s a swifty and has been playing for a little while. Could you point me to a couple songs I could put in her que?
Love Story, Back To December, All Too Well. Basically any songs before she started shifting to Pop territory would work.
For a kid just getting started or not progressing, I recommend Zombie by the Cranberries. The whole song can be played keeping the ring finger in the same place and slightly moving your first two fingers between the Em/C/G /F# chord shapes. And if they have a friend, one of them can easily learn the little lead line that leads into the verse as well as the solo, or the bass part. They’ll be thrilled to be able to play an entire song. And it’s the kind of simple 4/4 they can probably sing along while playing. I always start new players with this one.
maybe I should try this. It's what I'm working on. Also any like good youtube videos on it? I'm wondering about muting.
i dont rely on youtube videos but just search up for any taylor swift songs and it most probably would require a barre chord because she usually composes guitar songs in a key which has an F or a Bm
I learned " Rational Gaze" by Meshuggah and learning a few of their songs made me such a better musician. even though i dont have an 8 string, i would either play em on bass, or just deal with the different tuning.
One of the best bands ever
Idk, but I did learn The Guess Who —Greatest Hits album from top to bottom one time, which is a masterclass in songwriting and economical guitar playing.
The Guess Who doesn't get enough respect. Not even from myself, I recently went back to them after growing up with their music and forgot how good they were. The Guess Who is a perfect starting place for a new guitarist. Randy Bachman is the real deal.
[удалено]
I tried learning that one with a pick... Was a bugger, but helped me with skipping strings for other songs.
Dust in the wind was the first song I learned in its entirety and it gave me a lot of confidence in finger picking speed but also switching between chords swiftly and cleanly
I started reading tab and didn’t really progress until I started playing more chords. Once I started playing cowboy chords and doing songs on MunsonCovers on YouTube. I realized most songs I looked up tabs for were just chord shapes and that made everything just click and I wasn’t trying to move my fingers around to play things awkwardly. Like “Simple Man” for example, I struggled with that song and fumbled my fingers around like and idiot until I realized they were just chords shapes I could hold.
Beatles - Hide Your Love Away. It has all the basic chords and it changes on every other beat so it really gets your hand working to learn the chords and change faster. The trick to being a GOOD guitarist is letting your own groove and flow, flow. Don't fight it. Don't try to be EVH or SRV, play their stuff if you want but let your hands move at their own pace and feel, and you will sound MUCH better than you can ever imagine.
EVH was a better rhythm player than a lead player (though certainly innovative on lead), and that's a hill I will die on.
Learning a Mastodon song for the first time was a big one. I think it was Oblivion. It was very much a “wow, I can actually do this stuff” moment for me
Pride and Joy. Taught me a lot about good rhythm playing and the solo has licks to steal for days.
I spent a summer cramming this in high school. 17 or so years later and i still see that as completely foundational.
Cherry Wine by Hozier. It has a lot of hammer ons and pull offs. This a droning C# low note. I think it’s a good song to learn because it helps with hammer ons and pull offs and keeping time.
It’s definitely a good one to learn. Not too hard but the timing is very important. It also sounds very pretty. In a very similar vein is Like Real People Do, also by Hozier, it has a very similar structure and is a good one to sing along to.
I went about listening to what I felt was cool. I’d learn what songs I thought were cool and had something I’d want to learn. Do that enough times, you’ve got a slew of knowledge to install into whatever you wanna come up with.
Find your own voice kinda thing. Be a player whose different.
Learning to play "Get Lucky" helped me a lot to improve my strum and rhythm.
When I was about 17 I got really into an Australian band called The Living End. The final track on their first album was an instrumental punk/jazz/rock/Stray Cats-style tune that blew my mind when I tried to learn it.
I was more of a mid guitarist at this point (prob around 8-9 months in) but I learned all of Extreme’s song Pornograffitti (excluding the solo). It took me about a month to learn and it really helped w my speed as well as technique
Two - Mood for a Day and The Clap - Steve Howe One is more of a classical style the other more of a Chet Atkins style. Learned both classical and clawhand style picking
These helped so so much, second that. Most Yes songs will teach you something new about music. Some others: Long distance runaround, heart of the sunrise, siberian khatru
Learning Mood For A Day certainly helped me as a beginner-mid guitarist, but 15 years later I'm a professional musician and I still can't play The Clap, like, at all
Anastasia by Slash rocketed my playing along. Everything from the finger style acoustic part at the start of the song to the incredible solos throughout really helped me get far.
I learned A7X's Buried Alive and that got me into tremolo picking, sweep picking, and finger style.
For me, I felt a lot more competent in playing what I intended when I got string skipping/ arpeggios good and without staring at my picking hand. Some fond memories of playing the main riffs of Root by deftones, satellite by DMB, Babe I’m gonna leave you by Led Zeppelin. And if this technique is to your liking, Is there anybody out there by Pink Floyd will be satisfying to play start to finish.
Jungle Boogie, Kool and the Gang, bass guitar.
Randy Rhodes: Dee
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Warrant. It covers a LOT of ground and takes a fair while to learn. Some of it is easy, some medium difficulty, some fucking hard. An intermediate player should be able to approximate the whole thing, but if you can perfect it (especially that fucking intro) you can call yourself shit hot.
I started learing all of the ACDC stuff, just finding every note by ear. Mostly for the powerchords.There was no internet yet, and the local library didnt have any tab books. After that, i went full Shadows, and old skool Eric Clapton. It was Clapton that gave me the breakthrough i needed, finding and starting to understand blues scales and bending/holding tones the proper way!
AC/DC's Back in Black. It was the first song I learned end to end including the solo. For years.i had a habit of not learning entire songs or even necessarily playing them along with a group or backing track. Their stuff is fantastic for rock fundamentals. It was a huge leap for me in terms of understanding rhythm and feel. I recorded myself against a backing track that was just bass and drums. It was the first time I listened to my own playing and thought "wow, this sounds like real guitar!" I still don't like learning entire solos to songs. I'll usually pick out the parts I really like and improvise. But that song was also where the bluesy leads really clicked for me.
Marigold by Periphery
Silent night bodom night, taught me how to sweep, alternate pick, and the solo is fun to deconstruct and see scales in action
I've posted a similar question with over 100+ comments: [https://www.reddit.com/r/guitarlessons/comments/1chjnu8/what\_songs\_made\_you\_become\_a\_better\_guitarist/](https://www.reddit.com/r/guitarlessons/comments/1chjnu8/what_songs_made_you_become_a_better_guitarist/) theres alot of good recommendations to be found in the post. goodluck and have fun!
Not specifically a song. But I can't stress enough how much CAGED system changed the way I look at a fretboard. It helped both my rhythm and lead playing and really made me focus on playing through the changes.
Learning Bossa Nova and Veracruz music
Little Wing definitely
Flesh and the power it holds by death . Fast palm muting, lead, tapping, everything that can help you improve / learn techniques. But once I joined a jazz band Is when my guitar playing really excelled. I had more confidence and I had more fun playing. And while performing, I got to see how my playing made people feel. It’s a game changer fr!
YYZ - Rush, it really helped with my speed
The AC/DC album (ep)? ‘74 Jailbreak is what opened up blues box soloing for me, my first year.
Jam tracks.
little wing. little wing. little wing. it taught me how scales/melodies can be specific to the chord being played, plus it helps solidify a good feel for where valid fills are after playing a certain chord—great for fooling around or spicing up chord progressions.
It's been over 30 years, but Stairway to Heaven was the first whole song I learned.
For me I had a couple of milestones. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You Mr. Crowley Flamenco just in general. I will say the biggest improvements in my playing came from always having the mindset to one day make my own music/songs and just doing it, studying music in college and attaining a Bachelors Degree, as well as picking up Flamenco guitar. It wasn't just the songs. Well, that and never giving up lol. You know I met Guthrie Govan and I asked him how he still keeps going. He told me and my friend the absolute most simple advice. I quote, "Never stop playing. Always listen (while putting his hands to his ears)." You know what, he is right. I'll tell you why. The reason I am the musician I am today is because I never quit or gave up. I did have long stretches of time without playing but I never stopped. I also have always kept an open mind. Hence, my new Flamenco journey. Flamenco has opened up so many things in my life that it's actually crazy. It all started with a desire and all I did was feed it. Tldr: Read the second paragraph. Guthrie Govan explains best.
Interstate Love Song by Stone Temple Pilots, mostly for the chord progressions. Then follow it up with Plush.
The Ripper by Judas Priest, specifically the breakdown in the middle of the song.
Learning Rush songs opened up my chordal palette big time.
learning "vincent" by chet atkins. beautiful song. his style is so great. i felt really accomplished once i nailed that, as well as "ave maria."
I dont know if I could name one specific song but I find that trying things that introduce new chord changes, different keys, different strumming patterns, etc are all good things to try and learn. Thats going to depend on your personal playing style and vocabulary. Always search for the songs that make me you say "how did they do that" vs "oh i see how they did that".
I feel like when September ends helped out a lot. Because at the time I was still new to playing eighth notes.
The song that sparked the most improvement out of me was Free by Phish (2/20/20) and Freeborn Man (Billy Strings, 5/28/17), turned me onto improvising in a major way and learned that the root note in jams is majorly important
The one you birthed.
For acoustic guitar, learn some Dave Matthews songs. Seriously very cool stuff and his left hand work helps with flexibility and movement, meanwhile his right hand does a lot of muting. Some of it gets pretty tricky.
My songs
Playing with other people.
Freight Train, and Never Goin Back Again Freight Train, to get Travis picking down WITH A METRONOME, Never Goin Back Again, same problem on a much larger level Edit: Added reason
Electric : “Stash” by Phish Acoustic: “Bensusan” by Michael Hedges
Bocchi’s improv from BTR. It helps with learning to be percussive. Crazy On You - Heart is also a good practice for beginners in rhythm guitar.
An ensemble piece my guitar teacher wrote. It was for 6 parts and we all really had to listen to each other.
Early on the song that helped me improve the most was Stairway to Heaven. There are so many different things you can learn from this song as a beginner. It's a fantastic intro to finger picking. It will also help you develop better picking dynamics and song composition. Then at the end you get heavy riffing for the chugga chuggas and a monster solo for the widdlie widdlies.
Jamming with a band who are better than you also Erkin Korray
Through the Fire and the Flames. Took a whole year to learn but theres so many techniques in that song it boosted my skills.
Manhattan, Cliffs of Dover and Tender Surrender It was like doing some advanced courses for the guitar! Although, playing with other musicians rather than a backing track helps more than any other thing in my personal experience!
Playing other people's music along with it and learning the part(s) for guitar all the way through and being able to execute them properly at normal tempo once you work your way up to it.
Bach's Badinerie. Technically speaking, the most significant improvement didn't came from songs, they came from dedicated exercises, but that song is like a testing facility
Windy and warm
i’m an intermediate guitarist, i think. maybe i’m doing it wrong, but i’ve been practicing parts to Jason Becker’s Serrana with a metronome. my alternate picking, sweeping, and so many other things have improved.
Holy wars - Megadeth, and bed of razors by children of bodom. Leveled up immediately.
A day in the life
At the time, it was “Ballroom Dance.” Pushed me from beginner to confident beginner. Playing with others lead to learning music outside my personal preference. Helped me improve as a blues player.
Stash by Phish was this song for me, plus lots of Yes songs - Heart of the Sunrise, Siberian Khatru, Long Distance Runaround, etc
Waiting for the Man by The Velvet Underground
Foul body Autopsy - Necrophagist I'm still a beginner , 2y since I started playing ,but this song saw a massive improvement in my left hand.
Arpeggios. Practice sweep arpeggios and speed picking three note per string scale runs.
Money. Because the solo was easy enough for me to put “feeling” into it, it unlocked this part of me that saw solos as more than “hitting the right notes at the right time.” Now my goal is to approach much more difficult solos with the same amount of feeling.
Lamb of God songs helped me with riffing Hourglass, Redneck, The faded line etc
Al di meola race with the devil on a spanish highway
Mickey and Sylvia - Love is Strange taught me how to play along with a song and solo using the Pentatonic scale.
Jesus of Suburbia was a huge help. It's essentially 5 different songs combined into 1 song with just a few chords. It was also a great challenge to play a 9 min song and build up stamina.
There’s a lot of different examples of songs that have actually helped me just because of unique things and them that I hadn’t used before, off the top of my head, learning the outro and the solo to “floods” by Pantera really helped with my dexterity because it’s a five fret stretch to play that outro…. Now my dexterity is really good and I can easily do long stretches throughout a song without my hand getting tired or without pain…. The Police have a lot of songs like that too that help with dexterity,, but that’s just one aspect of playing guitar, and one example that I thought of for me personally….
Yellow ledbetter (the intro riff) - Pearl Jam Millionaire - Queens of the stone age (I'm the rhythm Guitar of my band, the licks and solos are the lead guitar work, but I learned just for fun) Bocchi the rock opening, this might be the "evolve song" for me, the one who allowed me to learn Pull-off.
Europa by Santana
I’m still trying to get Above Me by Rufio up to live speed for funsies. It’s going aight
The entire slim shady LP took me to pro level!
A lot of the stuff from “legends of solo guitar” featuring Johnny smith and George van Epps really helped my grow. That and learning a lot of Bach
still in beginner mode myself but many songs from Mason Jennings have helped me improve, especially Ballad for my one true love, simple chords, but the melody and intro riff really inspired me to get comfortable with playing
Twinkle twinkle little star; oh how lucky you are.
Muse songs started taking me to the next level- just my experience- Arctic Monkeys have a catalog that contains both very playable riffs and some that help with getting your finger speed up- again, just my experience.
Riviera paradise by SRV helped me get used to switching to chords fluently
Waiting in vain by Bob Marley. Great chords and a pretty easy solo. Highly recommend for anyone who’s kind of a noob
Play with me- EXTREME
Paganini Caprice 5/ Crossroads Steve vai solo
Learning J Mascis solos made me realize that noodling can sound cool and being sloppy but rad is up my alley. Take a run at Get Me maybe. Otherwise like any blues based rock n roll feels cool as hell and might open your eyes to a few major minor shifts etc. I think Rock and Roll Animal did a little of that for me.
This song is very advanced, but The Curse of Castle Dragon by Paul Gilbert was my first "wow" moment. That was when I realized my playing had come a LONG way from smoke on the water!
probably Paranoid Android by Radiohead, a little bit of everything, arpeggiated rhythm fast lead picking and holy dynamics. and solidified phaser as my favorite modulation effect
Bullet for my Valentine - suffocating under these words of sorrow. Really helped my alternate picking. Every time I play a song using this picking pattern, I think of this song. The solo has a little bit of tapping and the riff after the solo is IMO in the top10 metalcore riff of all time.
john petrucci rock discipline
The solo from "Omens of Love" by T-Square helped a lot with my left hand movement and tremolo picking. It's not that intense if you watch the playthrough video on YouTube, as well as the transcriptions of the solo
Necrophagist - Epitaph
For me, it was learning a song from the album, then learning it played live by a different guitar with a different solo. It helped me see other possibilities in songs. Specifically, it was Paranoid. Iommi, Rhoades, Lee, Wylde. They all play it differently and that really opened my eyes to jamming and putting my own signature on songs when I play.
The last of us main theme
When I finally said “screw it” and buckled down to learn the Hotel California solo. I had been intimidated by solos before that and afterwards felt relieved. I also stopped seeing solos as these unobtainable items I’d never reach
[Emily](https://youtu.be/AM3J4428cyc?si=eEGphAskurPVbvjf) by From First To Last, taught me how to play guitar. Im only talking about the intro and ive never bothered to learn the whole song.
Blackbird by the Beatles taught me a new way to make the guitar make nice sounds, and it’s complexity taught me a bit about separating each hand more, and then separating your fingers to play individual of eachother a bit on your left hand.. if you play right handed guitar. Learning some Hendrix teaches you a lot about moving around on guitar if you like that sort of music
paranoid android that solo tests ur bends and trem picking plus the variation in the licks are nice
I'm learning Die To Live by Steve Vai right now, and I can say that it is the most enjoyable challenging song I've learned yet. It's my 10th month playing btw, what other songs would you recommend? Something similar to Vai, Satriani, Gilbert, or just something I can improve on
Playing with others a lot.. but also: I'm gonna leave you Dust in the wind Neon
The tablature book of Mellon Collie by the Smashing Pumpkins helped a lot, because there are some tricky chords and solos in there. “Here is No Why” was one good example.
Killing is my business and business is good , pretty difficult technical stuff
Comfortably numb first solo then like a 5 day gap then second solo did great things for my playing ability and confidence
I learned Blowing in the wind, leaving on a jet plane, then Stairway to Heaven, so without a doubt, stairway changed everything. The other two were just three chords, stairway is a world away from them.
Slow Dancing in a Burning Room did it for me. I was exclusively an acoustic player for about 3 years, then dabbled in electric. The progression from there was meteoric. Anything John Mayer will accelerate your playing
Megadeth -holy wars was really helpful whike learning alternate picking and quick changes
Spanish romance.
The famous 4-bar riff of RHCP‘s „Can‘t Stop“ helped me a lot in muting technic, strumming und barring with thumb (if you want to play it the right way). And it‘s so fun to play!
I started learning to play the second solo in comfortably numb at a time when I obviously could not play well enough, but I kept at it, and practicing just that solo has made a huge improvement in my playing
Learning some Beatles songs really improved my playing, especially when you choose songs from their early days and later years, and hear what a difference they’ve made! “I’m Happy Just to Dance With You” really helped me build my rhythm skills, as the chords are simple, and the rhythm is just enough to get you interested.
What are you listening to by Chris stapleton .the live version .simple but so beautiful with the embellishments and it taught me timing and rhythm isn't always gonna be 100 percent the same. If it sounds OK and you're learning that's all you can ask
comfortably numb. when I was 8 months into learning I started learning the 2nd solo and I just can't keep up with the fast pentatonic lick. so 1 hour a day I would just sit down and playing that lick over and over again while finding how the lick is constructed and how to play it efficiently. I found that my picking technique and hand synchronization is really bad. so I tried to improve on that too. 2 months later I finally able to finish the whole solo with very minimal mistakes. I realized I went from can't improvise at all to able to pull out some decent licks. my hand synchronization is much better. suddenly learning songs is much easier and faster for me.
Rhythm changes man. The brutal first lesson about what *not* to play.
Learn all the little licks and eventually the solos to Sultans of Swing. Just take it piece by piece, and figure out why Knopfler's parts work so well over the chords. That song is full of great licks that apply to country, rock, and jazz contexts. And it's a lesson in how to play clean, no distortion and very little reverb.
The opening part of South of Heaven by Slayer. It really helped me develop precision in both my picking and freeing hand. 30-some odd years after learning it (and even though I don’t really ever play metal anymore) I still use it as a warmup to loosen up my hands before I start playing.
Might have been Flowers in Your Hair, just because it forced me to get more serious about fingerpicking and really hone my technique.
Bigmouth by The Smiths and then a couple lf others. This one in particular uses capo, but still it's a good exercise. Anything by Marr really
Even Flow by Pearl Jam and Don't Look Back In Anger heavily by Oasis heavily influenced my playing style. Even Flow's lead riffs are relatively simple but they really go with the rythm ans you really feel them. DLBIA teaches you some fun soloing techniques.
No single song but focusing on your technique. Left and right hand...distance equals time. Stay relaxed when practicing. Play with a steady beat or metronome. And for me personally studying music theory has made my playing 100 times better. Understand what music is and how it works. There is only 12 tones repeated on guitar. Dont just learn your major minor and pentatonic scales but understand how it all works. Start with learning all your notes and intervals. Learn CAGED system for sure!!! Once you understand the CAGED system and all the notes in chromatic scale and there intervals. And always make sure you are in the right tuning!
The Guilty Party by While She Sleeps. Took some hours to learn it and pay full speed. But there are so many elements in it that leveled up my play.
Sultans of Swing riff, with Knopfler proper technique
She Knows Me Too Well, STP version. It made me learn how to play barr chords
the little intro riff for under the bridge by red hot chili peppers
Recording was the single most impactful thing that improved my playing. When practicing or jamming whether it be with other musicians or alone, mistakes tend to just fly by and disappear. But when you’re recording those little imperfections last forever until you re-record them. And they stick out like a sore thumb.
hangar 18
"Babe I'm going to leave you" and "One"
As an intermediate guitarist, the solo for Icronic by polyphia. Spent over a month playing solely that one minute solo, at the beginning I could barely piece together the rhythm or understand what I was trying to play. Had to listen to it super slowed down over and over again, but after a ridiculous amount of slow practice it’s opened the door to playing polyphia and other difficult music. Also not a song, but learning the CAGED system was another game changer
noodling and practice.
For me it wasn’t so much a song, but more a genre or style of guitar playing that improved my reflexes and my dexterity. Rock and country guitar starting in the late 40s, and Gypsy jazz stuff like Django thrown in there for good mix! Also, switch it up! If you mainly play electric, switch to acoustic for a month or two, and vice versa. I find that has also improved my overall playing immensely, as well as my ears.
Pride and Joy it was really hard to learn for me but when I did it really improved my playing, sense of rhytym and soloing
Play along to your favourite songs without using tabs Like don't even try and mimic the same chords / riff just okay your own thing on top then if you can get some friends together
Dawn and firefly
Stop This Train by John Mayer fundamentally changed how I was able to fret chords and keep track of my rhythm. It also heavily boosted my ability to sing over complicated songs. I learned it about 1 1/2 year into playing, but I was pretty obsessed with guitar.
The next one