10 Easy Fingerstyle Guitar Songs

If you’re looking for some great beginner fingerstyle songs to learn… then in this post I’m going to share 10 that could potentially be just right for you.

Now, obviously everyone is different, and the majority of these songs are what I would call more “picking pattern” songs. These are simpler kinds of fingerstyle songs to start with and don’t require a lot of finger independence. (More on that later) But they are good if you’re new to fingerstyle. They can also help advanced players too, and they are just a lot of fun to boot. 

Now before we go any further let me first define fingerstyle guitar, as I define it, and that is simply anything not using a standard flat pick. The idea is that you can’t tie up two fingers with your pick. So a thumpick is ok, you could also go bare fingers or use nails. That’s what I would consider fingerstyle, and those are the approaches I would take for these examples.  

So grab your guitar, tune up, and let’s get started with…

#1 Ain’t No Sunshine 

“Ain’t No Sunshine” was written by Bill Withers and included on his 1971 debut album Just As I Am. It only uses three chords, and is based on standard blues progressions. It’s in a minor key, and the guitar part uses a simple bass-note plucking technique that is common to many singer-songwriter styles and accompaniment styles. 

You only need 3 fingers in the fingerpicking hand and also the fretting hand. 3 is the magic number here. Here’s an example of this type of fingerstyle groove:

Next up we have…

#2 We're Going to Be Friends

Way too often I see guitar instructors having students start their fingerstyle journey with picking patterns that are too hard. If you are just beginning, I recommend starting much simpler. That way fingerstyle won’t seem overwhelming. 

The picking used in “We’re Going To Be Friends” takes simple cowboy chords and an octave pattern on the root notes. This octave interval gets a wide spread between the fingerpicked notes and can be quite effective as an accompaniment concept. Combine this with a steady eighth-note rhythm and you can end up with something like this:

Not bad eh? 

From there you can try bringing in a powerful guitar tool called a capo in…

#3 Fast Car

“Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman is another beginner-friendly fingerstyle guitar song. However, on this one, we are going to use a capo. A capo is simply a clamp the bars down the strings on guitar. Once you know some open chords, and a few picking patterns, you can use a capo and move these ideas all over the fretboard. This can open up a whole new world of sounds and possibilities to your music. And, many famous musicians use capos every day as a go-to tool in their tool belt. 

“Fast Car” is a great example of this. It uses and approach similar to ‘Ain’t No Sunshine” with a bass-note chord technique but also applies some hammer-ons and slides. Here’s an example of playing in this style:

If you’ve struggled to learn fingerstyle guitar and want some powerful free exercises you can use to go pro, grab my free fingerstyle jumpstart PDF guide right here:

Every great fingerstyle guitar player at some point has probably learned…

#4 Blackbird

One time I had a student who had been trying to learn to play “Blackbird” for 13 years. He just couldn’t get it because 99.9999% of lessons for this song overcomplicate it and don’t teach it the way Paul McCartney really played it. You see, Sir. Paul uses a flicking/brushing technique that is much closer to a strum than a fingerpicking pattern. But nonetheless, it’s still fingerstyle. Here is an example of playing in this style:

#5 Landslide

Here’s another example of fingerpicking and using a capo. For this one, Lindsey Buckingham placed the capo on the 3rd fret. He combined simple chords with a style loosely based on “Travis” picking. 

 It’s not really “Travis” picking the way Merle Travis would do it. But I would say it’s inspired by this style. He put his own spin on it. The entire fingerpicking pattern is just 2 beats long. Here’s an example of this type of fingerstyle groove:

#6 Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out

“Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out” is an old blues song originally written by Jimmy Cox back in 1923. 

When guitar players think of blues chord progressions they often only think about 12-bar blues progressions. But there are a ton of other blues progressions that don’t get talked about as much. “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” is an example of an 8-bar blues chord progression with quite a different set of chord changes than just the typical I, IV, and V chord blues.

Here’s an example of playing in this style:

#7 Dust In The Wind

While “Dust In The Wind” is often recommended as a beginner fingerstyle song. It’s actually quite hard to play up to tempo. As a start try to play the intro or the first 4 bars. Playing “Dust In The Wind” requires clean chords and more technical facility than some of the earlier examples. That’s why I am putting it here, later on the list. The fingerpicking pattern is very useful. You can use it in many other songs. It’s only 2-beats long and uses a combination of eighth and sixteenth-note rhythms.

Here’s an example of playing in this style:

#8 Dream A Little Dream Of Me

“Dream A Little Dream” is a classic song, originally written in 1931, with music by Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt and lyrics by Gus Kahn. The Mamas & the Papas version, sung by Cass Elliot (Mama Cass) in 1968 is killer. This is perhaps the most well-known version. It gave the song a folksy, contemporary twist combining simple fingerpicking with some jazzier chords. 

Here’s an example of playing in this style:

#9 Sound Of Silence

“Sound Of Silence” is a magnificent song every fingerstyle guitar player should know. The story behind it is quite interesting. Paul Simon wrote it when he was only 21 years old. He was feeling disillusioned with the state of the world, and wrote the song in his bathroom at his parent's house while they were out. He turned off the lights so he could focus, and came up with the iconic riff.

The song starts out with fingerpicking and then later transitions into strumming. That’s a very common thing players need to know how to navigate. That’s why in my programs like Essential Fingerstyle Guitar System I teach players the best ways to strum without a pick.

Here’s an example of playing in this style:

And finally, we have…

#10 Freight Train

“Freight Train” is another old folk song originally written by Elizabeth Cotton. It’s become a fingerstyle guitar standard. But this is the first tune in this list that I’ve mentioned that starts to require much more independence. The ability to separate the thumb from the fingers in the fingerpicking hand. Developing this skill is the secret to sounding like a one-man band.  

Here’s an example of playing in this style:

There you have it! 10 easy fingerstyle guitar songs. Unfortunately, no song on guitar is really EASY. They all take work – even the simplest version of “Happy Birthday”! 

However, if you want to move things along faster and not waste years spinning your wheels with fingerstyle guitar, grab my free fingerstyle jumpstart PDF guide right here:

Jon MacLennan