Why Are Simple and Easy Songs Good Acoustic Songs?
Posted on April 20, 2010, under blog.
If you have played acoustic guitar for any given period of time, you probably have seen that some very good acoustic songs come from very simple and easy to play riffs. Writing songs is one of the hardest things to do. I know I’ve struggled with it, and usually find myself complicating things more and more as I try to squeeze some creativity out of myself. Some sometimes easy acoustic songs are some of the very best acoustic songs.
There are countless examples. Although the acoustic guitar playing community seems to get annoyed by it, we all know that “Good Riddance” by Greenday is an amazing song. It requires what, a total of 4 simple chords? An old favorite of mine “Save Tonight” by Eagle Eye Cherry plays the same four chords the entire song! So the next time you think about trying to complicate your song to get more out of it, you should try and simplify it.
And there is also something to be said about the beauty of what I like to call the “standard punk teenager.” I was one, and you probably were too. You wake up one day and decide you want to learn to play the guitar. You call your buddy who you think knows how to play and he tells how to play a G, C, and D. You spend 5 hours a day for the next week playing those three chords. You are in love. You want to learn more, so what do you do? You look for easy acoustic songs to play. The same 10 songs are played by thousands of up-and-coming guitarists every single year. You gotta love it.
