You’re slowly but surely making progress in your guitar playing. After signing up for a decent guitar course, you’ve moved on from being a beginner who knew nothing about guitar chords and scales to someone who’s getting more comfortable with changing tunings and applying tapping techniques. You’ve even started looking for a better acoustic guitar that can keep up with your more refined taste.
Now, what you’re looking for are new songs to play. Songs that can push you to get better. And that’s good, because the more you challenge yourself to learn something new, the better you get at your guitar playing and the more you’ll appreciate the talent of the music legends you look up to. But let’s start from beginning. Find good acoustic guitar with a help of websites such as theguitarjunky.com, and start making the art.
When you’re ready to level up, these songs will prove to be quite a challenge. We’ve had a good look for you, both online and offline, to try and find songs that will push you to the next stage. Let’s take a look at some of the more challenging songs to try out once you have got all the basics down and take your guitar learning journey to the next level.
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1. “Drifting” by Andy McKee
We love all of Andy McKee’s stuff, and he is a joy to watch. He has a truly captivating fingerpicking style, and his songs are just what you need at the end of a long, tiring day to help you relax. Our favorite song of his is “Drifting,” which uses a combination of creative fingerstyle playing and tapping. It takes time to learn but it’s really fun to play. If you think “Drifting” is a bit too complex for you, try “For My Father” or “All Laid Back and Stuff.”
2. “Stars and Stripes Forever” arranged by Chet Atkins
This song is the official march of the United States and was composed by John Philip Sousa in 1897. Many bands and musicians have covered it of course, but one musician left us in awe with his version of it. Chet Atkins’ version of the song is worth learning if you want to challenge yourself.
3. “The Robin” by Tommy Emmanuel
If you’re looking for more advanced songs to play on acoustic guitar, Tommy Emmanuel is your man. Emmanuel was actually inspired and fascinated by Chet Atkins’ playing style, where you play chords, basslines, harmonies and melodies simultaneously. His song “The Robin” is one of his best. You can really get some great thumb picking tips from him.
4. “Angeles” by Elliott Smith
If you want something short but with a little more edge, try Elliott Smith’s “Angeles,” which involves some really intense fingerpicking. Smith usually layered tracks on his albums; check out the live version of this song to see what we mean by “intense.”
5. “Bohemian Rhapsody” arranged by Edgar Cruz
“Bohemian Rhapsody” is of course by Queen – what we’re suggesting is trying your hand at playing the song’s classical arrangement done by Edgar Cruz. He’s also done covers of “We Are The Champions,” “Killer Queen” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” so if you’re a Freddie Mercury/Queen fan, we hope Cruz inspires you to try them out yourself.
6. “Frantic Disembowelment” by Cannibal Corpse
This song by American death metal band Cannibal Corpse requires some intense finger focus. Even if you’re not a lover of death metal, you will still appreciate the difficulty required to maintain the speed of the chord changes. You can really see how Pat O’Brien, the lead guitarist, shifts his fingers through this youtube clip. Definitely not a song to try out for a noob.
7. Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits
A bit more of a well-known track than the last one, Sultans of Swing is a little more easy-going than some of the songs on this list but wouldn’t count as an easy one either as it requires a lot of swift barre chord changes throughout the song along with some tricky licks. At the end of the day, this is a four-chord song, so once you get a handle of the rhythm and chord changes, you should be able to pretty it up fairly quickly.
8. One by Metallica
Let’s finish with a classic by Metallica. This sick song is not short of technical difficulties and requires you to be able to pluck the strings to get the sound out. You need to be able to hold the chord and then alternate around the strings over 3 chords which then changes over the chorus. This song will need several hours of practice to master so make sure you can put the time in.
That’s just a small sample of some tricky songs to get you started. There are plenty more challenging acoustic guitar songs you can try out. Start with the songs of the bands or musicians you like. Look for acoustic guitar tabs and add your own twist to them. Apply different techniques you’ve learned and come up with your distinct playing style. Record yourself on audio or video playing the song/s and share it on social media if you like. The most important thing is to enjoy the process of challenging yourself. Have fun!
