10 Acoustic Guitar Riffs That Will Make You A Better Player

so i love the acoustic guitar in fact this is how i started on guitar years and years ago was on acoustic and like a lot of players out there is something that i still connect with because there's nothing to it other than you and the guitar there's no amps there's no effects there's nothing else to distract you from the playing it's just you and the guitar and a lot of the best songs that have ever been written and put to tape have been written on and for the acoustic guitar so in today's video we're going to take a look at my personal top 10 list of acoustic guitar songs that i think every player should know these songs span a wide range from different genre and artists and decades but they all have one thing in common which is their amazing songs and they're going to help you get better at your guitar now before we jump in and take a look at the list a quick announcement uh we've been working behind the scenes on launching a new platform we're calling the inner circle you can find out more information down below but every week i'm making special content just for the inner circle and we're doing things like this week having a zoom q a we're gonna have a zoom hang with the inner circle people that's happening this friday if you want more information you can sign up via the link below you can also find links to my video courses down there which are currently 20 off anyway here's one [Music] no i'm just kidding here's the first song on the list [Music] so i think angie is one of the best rolling stone songs of all time it's certainly one of my favorites and as a guitar player there's so much happening here in this guitar part it sounds simple but anytime you try and play keith richards you try and imitate keith richards you find out it's actually really complex there's more nuance and subtlety happening in these guitar parts then you might realize just by a first listen but i love this song this is one of the first songs i learned on guitar years and years ago and it stuck with me as one that i like to play whenever i pick my guitar up and this is a crowd pleaser lots of people know the song and love it so it makes my list because it's one everyone should know you can pick your guitar up and start playing angie and somebody's gonna know it and sing along now next up on the list is another one of my favorite bands of all time and this is i think another one of their best songs of all time [Music] [Music] so [Music] now like the first song on this list she talks to angels is just a beautiful song i love love everything about this song especially this acoustic version now this makes the list because this is a really great introduction to the open e tuning this song in this guitar part is in open e and it's crucial to playing it properly you have to be an open e now i made a video on open e tuning and slide guitar basics which you can check out here but this is a really great way to step into the open e world if you're new to it those melodies and lines in the intro as well as the chord changes in that song will really help you understand some of the ways to move around an open tuning like open e so i highly recommend it for someone who's just starting out now next up on the list is one that's really special to me i've talked about this record before but this is one of my most early musical memories the earliest memories that i have of music were of this record and this song specifically [Music] so [Music] now i love the whole clapton unplugged record and if you're an acoustic guitar player or you're looking to get deeper into acoustic guitar i highly recommend checking that entire record out because there is some true just master level playing by everyone in that band but layla makes the list because it's a great song and this is one of the best acoustic adaptations of a electric song that i think exists out there in fact i might go so far as to say that i like this acoustic version better than the original version of layla which might ruffle some feathers and surprise to people because i'm a huge dwayne allman fan but still this one's really hard to beat plus the chord progression on the song is great it's a way to start to open you up to new chord changes and things that you might not be used to if you're just playing standard cowboy chord triads i love this song i think it's a great version and so it makes the list now next up on the list is another classic song from the 90s and this is an interesting tuning in fact this tuning i only know of existing for this song uh but it makes the list because it's a great song and also because uh a good friend of mine and friend of the channel mr tim pierce actually played this session he played the mandolin and the electric guitar and i believe some of the acoustic guitar on this song so here it is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] iris is one of those songs that's so widely known and so unique that as soon as you start to play that guitar part people immediately know what it is and i think that's the sign of a great guitar part and a great song now the tuning for this is really really weird it's low b and then all of your other strings are tuned to d now i'm going to link a video that marty schwartz did on how to play this song in the description box down below if you are so inclined this is a really interesting tuning and it makes the list because i feel like this is something you should experiment with you should try to come up with your own sort of iris guitar part with this tuning i love it i love this sound i think it's great and also as you know i'm a huge fan of tim pierce so yeah iris so for the next song on the list you're gonna grab a slide and you're gonna tune your guitar to open [Music] g [Music] i can't be satisfied is a blues classic this is a muddy waters tune this muddy waters version i think is a really great intro and a really great primer to playing in open g and getting that sort of classic slide blues thing down now like a lot of the blue standards there are countless versions of this song that have been done by lots of artists in different ways and different styles but i love this muddy waters version and a lot like the keith richards thing it's actually somewhat difficult to play it exactly like muddy there's so much nuance and little detail and inflections that's unique to him that it's really difficult to get down but if you're interested in slide guitar and you want to start playing in open g i also made a video about that which you can check out here but this is a really great way to kind of get your feet wet in that tuning like open e with she talks to angels this is a good song to kind of show you the ropes kind of give you a road map so to speak of where you can go and where you can work in a tuning like open g so i highly recommend it and it's just a ton of fun to play this is not a sound where you need to focus on being super precise and super dialed in it's more about the attitude and the feel getting that right now the next song on this list is an absolute classic and no youtube acoustic guitar list is complete without it here it is [Music] so let's be honest you knew when you clicked on this video that blackbird was going to be on the list somewhere it's a classic for a reason as acoustic guitar parts go this is hard to beat a good portion of you watching this video probably know this entire song by heart but if you're new and you don't know this this is one that i'd highly recommend taking the time to learn there's so many great skills to be learned and practiced and honed in with the finger picking pattern in the right hand and the actual chord changes in the part and the left hand this is one that i truly believe every guitar player who is playing an acoustic guitar should know now next up is another song that i absolutely love by a band and a guitar player that i absolutely love and i think this is an example of this particular guitar player's absolute genius check it out [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] over the hills and far away is a song that i learned when i was 16 years old i just gotten a takamini 12 string for my 16th birthday and this is one of the first songs that i tried to learn on that 12 string and it was really difficult for me at first but the main skill that i picked up from this song was hammer-ons and pull-off those quick flourishes that paige does in that part really helped me get that particular skill and that dexterity down in my left hand and that's an important skill that i use now every single time that i play guitar i think there's something to the idea of how you approach how you come into a new skill set or a new uh technique informs how you play that technique and so i came into the hammer-ons and pull-offs from this song and i think it informs how i play them today it's just a hunch that i have the song's also a ton of fun to play on 12 strings so if you have one i would absolutely learn it now next up on the list is one that i think is a little bit out of left field pretty simple but it's a great song nonetheless [Music] [Applause] [Music] now let's all be honest jack johnson is great that song is great that whole record is really great and this one's really simple it's easy it's great for beginners but it's also a crowd pleaser everybody knows this song as soon as you start to play people pretty much know what you're going for and so it makes the list because this is a crowd pleaser and i think that's an important thing to consider when you're learning stuff on the acoustic guitar this is a really communal instrument this is something that people like to sit around and play for one another and with one another and so i think it's important to have some songs in your song book under your belt so to speak that are crowd pleasers that people know now i haven't talked about on this channel before but i love that record i've been listening to it since it came out and i think the production value on that is so good it's simple it's dry it's not over produced but it's just very true it's very raw and in your face and i absolutely love it if you're not super hip to jack johnson i'd recommend checking this record out i think it's really good there's a lot of great tasteful guitar work happening on these songs so i really dig it now the next song on this list is another classic and uh something interesting happened while i was filming it but uh i decided to just roll with it you'll see [Music] oh my god i literally heard that static crackle in my headphones before that i'm gonna take a break so thankfully the storm has passed but this is summer in georgia we get these gnarly electrical storms that pop up just about every afternoon all as well now dust in the wind is one of those songs that if you're trying to get down your finger style technique you're trying to get your picking hand in shape you should learn this one this picking pattern in the song is somewhat of a standard finger style picking pattern i think it's important to learn if you're going to spend a lot of time playing acoustic guitar especially fingerstyle acoustic guitar plus this is just another great song by a great band this is one i listened to in high school non-stop now keeping with a similar theme and decade and key the last song on this list is another zeppelin song and it's one of my favorites i play it on this channel all the time and it's one every guitar player out there who's playing an acoustic guitar should know [Music] [Applause] [Music] so that is my top 10 list of acoustic guitar songs that i think every player should know what's your list let me know in the comments section down below what did i miss what do you like to play once again be sure to check out the inner circle and get 20 off of my video courses via the link in the description box down below you can find other links there to support the channel like the gear that i use to make these videos those are affiliate links so if you buy something through that i earn a small commission which really helps me out in running this channel so i appreciate it be sure to subscribe here and ring the bell so you'll be notified when i'm posting new videos follow me on instagram at red shull and twitter at rhett shawl as well i'm actually starting to get more active over there now anyways that's gonna do it for today's video thank you so much for watching and remember there is no plan b

Channel: Rhett Shull

Views: 1,407,003

Keywords: acoustic guitar, top 10, how to play, beginner guitar lesson, guitar lesson, dust in the wind, how to play guitar, beginner guitar songs, Rhett Shull, acoustic songs, easy songs, guitar lessons for beginners, easy guitar songs, top 100, acoustic guitar lessons, acoustic guitar cover, acoustic guitar tuning

Id: eaoDX3m6tuI

Length: 15min 39sec (939 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 28 2021