Good songs to teach a beginner?

[nilorius]

Nirvana has a few bass lines that could teach you stuff about outlining the chord notes or walking. "Lounge Act" and "Lithium" come to mind. But the reason most of their songs are good for a beginner is precisely because they're simple. Walk before you run, etc. I think even "Smells Like Teen Spirit" would be fairly challenging for her at this point. She doesn't have much finger speed or strength.

Maybe You are right.

 

[mambo4]

My fist choice would be a simple 12 bar blues.
Then Stand By Me.

 

[garp]

• "Peaceful Easy Feeling" – Eagles (1972, Randy Meisner on bass)
• "Some Kind of Wonderful" – Grand Funk Railroad (1974, Mel Schacher on bass)
• "Dreams" – Fleetwood Mac (1977, Jon McVie on bass)
• "Psycho Killer" – Talking Heads (1977, Tina Weymouth on bass) mentioned above by @SunByrne
• "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" – Pink Floyd (1979, Roger Waters on bass)
• "Walk Like an Egyptian" – The Bangles (1986, Michael Steele on bass)

 

[TheReceder]

Not Fragile.

I couldn't like this enough times.... the first song I learned.

 

[TheReceder]

I'd challenge her a little bit. Start her at about half speed. Nice thing is it's melodic, covers a little bit of the neck, it's pretty repetitious and once she has a little bit of it, she'll have fun playing it.

 

[JonathanG]

 

[FenderB]

"Forever In Blue Jeans" by Neil Diamond.

 

[Evanforbass]

seeing your avatar, it seems the only answer is Waiting Room

 

[ERIC31]

This.

 

[JZQuantum]

The first song I learned was Smooth Operator by Sade.

It is a good baseline that moves, but is easy to lock down in your head. It forces you to concentrate on using all four fretting hand fingers.

 

[TNCreature]

Early Kinks.

 

[CalBuzz51]

 

[Hambone70]

Basic theory, along with tunes that reinforce that learning. It is SO much easier to learn songs with a basic knowledge of theory, rather than rote-memorizing songs.

Teach a (wo)man to fish...

 

[AudioTaper]

Why not ask her what she would like to learn and pick out the easiest from her list?

+2 on this.

 

[nilorius]

Nirvana ? That will not doo. Try some Eric Claptone or something from yourself.

 

[the federalist]

Gnarls Barkley - Crazy

For the easy win. Four notes. A beginner can play this song exactly as recorded, which builds confidence.

 

[macmanlou]

My first, and yes, it was a very long time ago.

 

[macmanlou]

 

[nilorius]

My first, and yes, it was a very long time ago.

Nothing good to learn, all song the same, primitive.

 

[FunkHead]

Whole Lotta Rosie,

Great song!