Music is a fantastic tool to assist children while they develop new skills during their early years. Not only are singing and playing instruments enjoyable hobbies for young people to take part in, but there is so much that they can learn from these activities.
Music can strengthen their memory skills, increase their communication and vocabulary skills, and arguably, most importantly, it helps build their confidence.
Expressing creativity at such a young age will encourage a child to build up these important skills, and the best part is, they will enjoy themselves while doing so!
Whether you are teaching your child to play a musical instrument or they are simply singing along to your own playing, these simple moments will benefit your child in the many years to come.
If your child is learning the basics on a guitar, or perhaps you are just starting out yourself, you will want to start with a couple of easy songs with basic chords to get you started.
Once you have gotten enough practice and feel comfortable moving forward you can learn some more difficult tunes, but for now, here is our list of easy songs that you or your kid could easily learn on guitar.
So, what are you waiting for? Let’s strum some strings and make some noise!
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Chords Required To Play This Song
G major, F major, C major, A minor, D minor
Lyrics
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
First on this list, we are starting with, easily, the most popular nursery rhyme of all time: ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’.
This was probably one of the first songs that so many of us ever learned to sing along to, whether we were taught the song at school or by our own parents. It is easy to sing, and just as easy to play on guitar.
The chord progression is G major, F major, C major, A minor, and D minor: these are, arguably, five of the easiest chords to learn how to play.
Once these five chords have been mastered, there are hundreds of songs that can be played using them, and ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ is just one of them. Learning this chord progression will help you, or your child, learn how to switch between basic chords.
Seeing as this song is so well-known, your child will most likely enjoy singing along or playing along (or both), and should not find it too difficult to keep up with. The tab for the main melody is even easier to learn, and should not take very long to master.
This is one of the most ideal songs to learn as a beginner, due to both its familiarity and easy chord progression. Once you have mastered this song, you will be on your way to success!
The ‘ABC’ Song
Chords Required To Play This Song
G major, F major, C major, A minor, D minor
Lyrics
A, B, C, D, E, F, G,
H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P,
Q, R, S, T, U, V,
W, X, Y and X.
Now I know my A-B-Cs
Next time, won’t you sing with me?
Here is another song that we were all taught as children. It is a very useful song to learn as a kid, as it helps a young brain memorize the 26 letters of the alphabet in order.
It has been scientifically proven that learning through music can improve our memory ability, due to the connection between music and memory in our brains being so closely wired.
This is why ‘The ‘ABC’ Song’, along with several other songs that we learned at school, were used in order to help us remember certain facts.
Have you ever noticed how similar ‘The ‘ABC’ Song’ was to ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’? That’s because the melody for both songs are pretty much exactly the same!
In order to play this song, you will need to use the same chord progression as the previous song mentioned: G major, F major, C major, A minor, D minor.
There are some minor differences, but if you want to play a simplified version, you can simply copy the chord progression and the tab for ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’. All you need to change is the lyrics to sing along.
This is the easiest song on the list to learn by far, simply because you have already learned it without realising. How easy was that?
Frère Jacques
Chords Required To Play This Song
D major, A major
Lyrics
Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques,
Dormez-vous, dormez-vous?
Sonnez le matines, sonnez le matines
Ding ding dong, ding ding dong.
Next up, we have another traditional song that has been sung by children all over the world, despite the lyrics not being sung in our own familiar language (assuming that your primary language is English, of course).
This French nursery rhyme has been around since the 18th century, and remains just as popular with young children to this day.
Fun Fact: ‘Frère Jacques’ translated from French to English is ‘brother Jacques’. In the English version of the song, the name ‘Jacques’ is replaced with ‘John’.
If you would like to learn the simplest version of this song, you will only need to strum the D major chord: however, an A major chord may be added for the final part of the verses if you would like to play a more accurate version of the song.
Try starting off by only using the D major chord, and begin incorporating the A major chord when you feel confident enough with the overall rhythm.
Again, this is an extremely easy song to be able to play, no matter how old the beginner musician may be. The most difficult part of the process will be learning (and properly pronouncing) the full lyrics if you are not a fluent speaker of the French language.
The ‘Happy Birthday’ Song
Chords Required To Play This Song
G major, C major, D major
Lyrics
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday, dear [insert name],
Happy birthday to you.
Everybody knows the words to this one! This is an extremely popular tune that is often sung at birthday gatherings, celebrating the individual who has gotten one year older.
There is only one word that changes throughout the song, and that is the person’s name in the third line… so, if you do not know the name of the person that you are singing to, I’m afraid that is the one thing we cannot teach you.
Only three chords are required to strum along to this tune, and provided that you have already learned the three previously mentioned songs in this list, you should already know how to play them: G major, C major, and D major.
These are the three chords that are often used in so many pop songs, so it is really handy to know how to play them properly: once you have nailed these three chords, you will be able to play hundreds of popular tunes, including ‘The ‘Happy Birthday’ Song’.
Learning this tune is a great skill to possess! Make sure you take your guitar along with you when you next visit someone on their birthday, and make it their best birthday yet.
Baa Baa Black Sheep
Chords Required To Play This Song
G major, C major, D major
Lyrics
Baa, baa, black sheep
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full.
One for the master,
One for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.
This is another widely popular song that we all used to love to sing as kids. While it has been sung for many centuries, it is actually unknown who wrote the original tune, and no one really knows the true meaning behind it.
There have been many arguments over the years about what the song is really about, but, hey, we don’t have to think about that right now. All we need to do is learn how to play along to this song on the guitar!
Again, you may notice that this tune is pretty familiar. This is because this melody is also very similar to the previously mentioned nursery rhymes, ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ and ‘The ‘ABC’ Song’!
The same chords may be used to play along to this song, but the same tune can be played by cutting out the F major and A minor chords, and replacing the D minor with a D major.
Remember when we said that these chords are used in a lot of popular songs? We weren’t kidding.
This is a fun, short song for you and your kids to sing along to, while easily strumming along to the melody. Give it a try!
Old MacDonald Had a Farm
Chords Required To Play This Song
G major, C major, D seventh
Lyrics
Old MacDonald had a farm
E-I-E-I-O.
And on his farm, he had a [animal]
E-I-E-I-O.
With a [animal noise] here,
And a [animal noise] there,
Here a [animal noise], there a [animal noise]
Everywhere a [animal noise].
Old MacDonald had a farm
E-I-E-I-O.
Lastly on our list of easy kids songs to play, we have the famous tale of Old MacDonald and the many, many animals that live on his farm.
The traditional version of this song includes several verses including several animals, such as cows going ‘moo moo’, pigs going ‘oink oink’, and dogs going ‘bow wow’.
So, while we should already be familiar with the G major and C major chords, we now have a new one to learn: the D seventh. This one is a little more difficult, and may take a little longer for your little one to pick up.
Don’t worry if this song takes longer to learn than the others on this list: practice makes perfect! It is still a simple enough chord to learn, and should not be too tricky to play after a couple of practice sessions.
It is best that your child learns these more obscure chords early on, as they will remember them for future lessons.
Kids love making loud animal noises, so what better song could they sing along to? Have fun together singing and strumming along to this traditional nursery rhyme.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s The Easiest Song To Teach A Child To Play Guitar?
Two of the easiest songs to teach young children on the guitar are probably ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ and ‘The ‘ABC’ Song’: both songs follow the same simplistic melody, meaning that the tabs and chords are pretty much the same.
Plus, your child should already be familiar with these tunes, making it easier for them to follow the melodies.
Why Is It Good For Kids To Play Guitar?
There are many skills that children will learn whilst learning a new instrument, including discipline, confidence, and analytical skills, just to name a few.
Another great thing about learning to play guitar is that the instrument is easily portable, unlike a piano, so it can be played just about anywhere!
How Many Chords Do You Need To Play A Song On The Guitar?
While every chord is important, and a guitar player will most likely need to be able to play most of them at some point, there are eight main chords that should be learned by beginners: G major, D, major, C major, E major, F major, A major, E minor, and A minor.
These are used in many popular songs, and just simply knowing these eight chords is a great place for beginners to start.
Through this blog I hope to help and encourage others who have just started, or are on their own guitar playing journey. This blog is the ultimate guide to playing guitar, from the best guitars to purchase, to the easiest rock songs to play.
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