25 ACOUSTIC SONGS
1 TENERIFE SEA ED SHEERAN
X (2014)
This simple tune gets less love than some of Sheeran’s more obvious hits, but it stands out thanks to its lilting 6/8 rhythm and delicate fingerpicking. Ed plays it with a capo on the 4th fret and the guitar tuned EADEBE, but early live performances show that it started out more simply, in standard tuning with a capo on the 1st fret. Using that approach, you can play it using the Wonderwall trick of holding your third and fourth fingers down on the third fret (from the capo) on the first two strings throughout. The chords are G, A7sus4, Cadd9, Em7, and Dsus4. If Sheeran’s live performances are anything to go by, this should reduce your audience to uncontrollable sobbing and declarations of eternal love.
2 BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND BOB DYLAN
The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963)
CHEAT SHEET…
Appears at: 0:24
Tempo: 175 bpm
Key/scale: D major
Main techniques: Strumming / targeting bass notes
Maybe the most covered folk song of the 20th century, Blowin’ In The Wind pairs plaintive lyrics with a perfectly minimal guitar accompaniment. The album version is played in D major with a capo on the 7th fret, though Dylan often performed it live in G, ditching the capo and moving to open position to make it easier to play. The chords on the original are D, G and A (with a Gsus2/F# added in as a passing chord), but try to think in terms of the open chord shapes you’ll be using (G, C and D) – the shapes stay the same regardless of whether you’re using a capo. Dylan nicely supplements the gentle strumming by picking out bass notes from the D major scale, which you can try once you’re confident with the chords. Our slowed down video starts halfway through the verse and leads you into the chorus, but there’s enough info to take you through most of the song.
3 BLACKBIRD THE BEATLES
The Beatles (1968)
McCartney’s deceptively simple magic is the perfect route into fingerstyle. Paul plucks with just his thumb is an ideal fingerstyle starter tune.
