You can play these 10 songs with only three chords!

The guitar is actually one of the easiest instruments to start with. With only three chords you can play thousands of songs. This also makes learning how to play the guitar a lot more fun than most other instruments, as you can play your favourite songs throughout the entire development of your skills. This list contains 10 easy and fun songs that only contain three different chords!

Bad Moon Rising – Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater Revival has many incredibly fun and easy songs. Bad Moon Rising is one of their most popular songs and only has three chords. The chords are D, A, and G, of which the order changes in the chorus. Furthermore, the strumming pattern is also quite easy, although the transition between some chords is quite fast. However, it remains a jolly and easy song that’s suitable for every guitarist. Although it isn’t clear which guitar was used during the recording of Bad Moon Rising, John Fogerty is known for his Les Pauls. Great alternatives are the Michael Kelly Patriot Instinct Bold, the Stagg SEL-STD, or the Eastman SB59.

What’s Up – 4 Non Blondes

This fun song from 1992 is relatively easy to play. Like every song in this list, it only has three chords. Officially the chords are A, B-minor, and D. However, it’s possible to play the song with a capo on the second fret with the chords G, A-minor, and C. These chords are considered to be easier, as the B-minor chord is a barre chord. However, this song is a great exercise to practice barre chords with. The strumming pattern is a little more complicated, but with a bit of patience and motivation it can definitely be mastered! It’s not known which guitar Linda Perry uses in What’s up, although it’s a very unique guitar considering its shape. This shape will affect the sound quite a lot, considering the resonance. The closest alternative is a parlor guitar, such as the Lâg T90PE or the Art & Lutherie Roadhouse Q-Discrete.

505 – Arctic Monkeys

This song doesn’t actually fit within the list, because it has only two chords instead of three. The chords are D-minor and E-minor. These are also relatively easy chords meaning this song is suitable for every guitarist. The strumming pattern is also relatively easy, although it does speed up about halfway through the song. This tempo change isn’t extreme and doesn’t make the song significantly harder to play. Alex Turner uses Jazzmasters or Les Pauls, like the Squier Classic Vibe ‘60s or the Lâg I100-HOS.  

Blue Suede Shoes – Elvis Presley

The King of Rock ’n Roll also has many fun and easy songs. Blue Suede Shoes originally belongs to Carl Perkins who wrote and recorded the song in 1955, and was covered by Presley in 1956. The song contains three of the easiest chords: A, D, and E. As such, this song is also great for the guitarist who has just started playing. However, timing is very important with this song, but it’s definitely still at novice level and is actually a great exercise. Blue Suede Shoes has been played by many musicians. As such, you have a wide variety of guitars to choose from, such as the Fender Vintera '50s Stratocaster or the Yamaha CPX700II.

Midnight Special – Creedence Clearwater Revival

Another song with these same chords is Midnight Special by Creedence Clearwater Revival. As discussed earlier, CCR is known for their jolly and easy songs. Midnight Special might not be among their most popular songs, but it’s definitely just as fun to play as the others! The song is relatively calm and has an easy strumming pattern. There also aren’t any quick transitions. The song can be played with A, D and E, but also with G, D and C.

Blowin’ in the Wind – Bob Dylan

The most popular song from this Nobel prize winner is actually quite easy to play. The song contains three of the easiest chords: G, C, and D. Furthermore, the strumming patterns is also very easy, although the transitions between some of the chords can be quite fast, but these transitions are easy to get used to. This is a beautiful song with which you can learn new chords in a fun way! Bob Dylan uses Dreadnought guitars, such as the James Neligan BES-ACE-TBB or the Eastman E1D.

Leaving on a Jet Plane – John Denver

This beautiful song from John Denver might not be easy to sing, but it’s definitely easy to play! The song does not contain any barre chords and only had D, G, and C chords, just like the two prior songs on this list. The strumming pattern is also relatively simple, although it is possible to fingerpick the songs as opposed to strumming them. This song is also great practice for those who want to start fingerpicking as the tempo is quite low and it doesn’t contain many transitions. It's unknown which guitar Denver used whilst recording Leaving on a Jet Plane, but he was known to regularly use twelve-string guitars, such as the Martin D-X2E or the Lâg T177J12CE. 

No Surrender – Bruce Springsteen

Although this song only has three chords, it’s one of the hardest in this list. This is because two of the three chords are barre chords. The three chords are an F, C, and Bb. However, it is possible to play it only with one barre chord by placing a capo on the first fret, transposing the F to an E, the Bb to an A, and the C to a B. This means the C, or in this case B, will be the only barre chord. Furthermore, the strumming pattern is very easy and it’s a fun song to play along to. Springsteen's go-to guitar is his legendary Telecaster. Great alternatives are the Godin Stadium HT or the Fender Player Plus. 

Ring of Fire – Johnny Cash

We’ll return to songs with easier chords, in this case, Ring of Fire. This song contains three relatively easy chords: G, C, and D. The strumming pattern is relatively fast though and there are many quick transitions between chords. Consequently, it’s important to already known these chords quite well in order to keep up with the tempo. However, it’s a fun song to practice tempo with and it’s a great song to sing along to. It would of course be incredibly cool to play Cash with the Martin DX-CASH! 

Three Little Birds – Bob Marley

Don’t worry, about learning hard chords… Three Little Birds by Bob Marley is an insanely fun and easy song to play. The strumming pattern is also relatively easy and the tempo is quite calm. The chords that are used are A, D, and E, of which the chorus only contains A and D. The song is not only suitable for every level guitarist, but it’s also a great song to close your exercises with! This is because the lyrics tell you that everything will be alright, but also because it’s a great reminder that making music should be fun! Marley mostly played Dreadnoughts, such as the Yamaha FGX800C or the Crafter D600 N.

Have you already learned all these songs? If not, you know what your next challenge is! If you have learned them all, it would be fun to make your own lists of which songs you've found hardest or most fun to play. Consequently, you can begin to challenge yourself with our ten songs with four chords list!