You NEED These Top 12 Beginner Guitar Riffs – Part 3 (With Tab)

Hey guys, Brad Litton from SimpleGuitar.com. This is the write-up of my YouTube lesson with 12 (plus a bonus) of the most fun beginner riffs so you can start feeling like a rockstar instead of looping the same three chords.

If you caught part 1 or 2 of this series, tell me which riff was your favorite.

I put all of these in a PDF with tab. Grab it here so you can follow along: simpleguitar.com/top12riffspart3

How to Practice These (Read This First)

If any part gives you trouble: slow it down, isolate it, and repeat it. Most people underestimate how many times they need to repeat things — especially adults. Kids can get it with fewer reps. Adults need about double. Double the repetitions you think you need. That's the "secret" everybody talks about and nobody wants to hear.

1. One – Metallica

Starts with a B power chord on the A string: first finger on the second fret of the A string (fifth string), third finger o...

How to Make Your Strumming GROOVE (For Beginners)

Hey guys, Brad Litton from SimpleGuitar.com. This blog post transcribes my YouTube lesson on the trick that makes your strumming groove instead of sounding flat and boring — and it's only going to take some downstrokes.

Step 1: All Downstrokes, Just Your Wrist

We're using just downstrokes. That means a very small strumming motion with your wrist. You don't need your whole arm for this.

Normally a full measure of eighth notes is down up down up down up down up. Today, change that: all downs.

You're probably not going to hit every single string with every stroke. That's okay.

First practice: take a G chord and go 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and — all downstrokes — and loop it. Start slower than me if you need to. Use the video controls. You can do this with open chords or a power chord, acoustic or electric. Doesn't matter.

Step 2: Accent Beats 2 and 4 (The Backbeat)

Once the downstrokes are comfortable, add accents. That's what gives ...

How to Make Your Strumming Sound Better — More Awesome Patterns From ONE Rhythm

Hey guys, Brad Litton from SimpleGuitar.com. This blog post transcribes my YouTube lesson on how to take one strum pattern and make it sound different, more exciting, and a whole lot cooler — by adding accents, not strumming every string, and loosening up how you think about patterns.

This is an older lesson I pulled back out of the vault because it still helps a ton of adult beginners.

Big Idea: Don't Be Rigid With Strum Patterns

The purpose of strum patterns is not "this is the named pattern and I have to play it exactly this way every single time."

The purpose is to train your ability to feel the beat, keep time, and maintain the rhythm of the song.

Don't view them dogmatically. It's okay if you don't play the pattern the exact same way every measure. You have my permission to mess them up. Being too rigid actually holds you back from sounding cooler.

The Pattern We're Using

One measure of eig...

How to Play Love Me Do on Guitar MADE EASY

Hey guys, Brad Litton from SimpleGuitar.com. This is the write-up of my YouTube lesson on "Love Me Do" by The Beatles — a beginner song I think everybody should play. It's a lot of fun, and it only uses three very simple chords: G, C, and D. Standard shapes. Nothing fancy.

The song really only has two parts: the verse (which includes the hook) and a bridge. Traditionally you'd call those the A section and B section. Today we're just saying verse and bridge.

I made a free rhythm sheet and tab with the strum patterns laid out. Grab it here: simpleguitar.com/lovemedo

The Three Chords

• G
• C
• D

Assuming you already know those, we're talking song structure, strum pattern, and putting it together.

Most of the song is just G to C, back and forth, with a little variation as we go. The bridge is D for two measures, C for a measure, then G — and we repeat that.

Strumming Patterns (3 Options)

1. Beginner-friendly: boom-chuck

On beats 1 2 3...

This Is the MISSING PIECE in Your Guitar Learning That Is Keeping You Stuck

Hey guys, Brad Litton from SimpleGuitar.com. This blog post transcribes my YouTube video on the number one thing that's missing from most approaches to learning guitar — the thing that keeps people strumming for months or years without the progress they deserve.

Information Is Not the Same as Training

Most people dive in by hunting for information: YouTube tutorials, online courses, books, sometimes teachers. How to play this chord. How to master that scale. Information is great. It's a starting point. We need it.

Brutal truth: information alone won't make you a better guitarist. What's missing is training.

Think about learning to drive. You could read every manual and watch hours of videos on steering and braking. Until you get behind the wheel and actually practice with someone guiding you through the turns and stops, you're not really driving.

Guitar is the same. Most folks consume info, nod along l...

This Warmup Is How Adult Guitar Learners Get Their Fingers Working Finally

Hey guys, Brad Litton from SimpleGuitar.com. This blog post transcribes my YouTube lesson on a simple finger warmup that came out of a coaching session. We were working on "Hey Joe" by Jimi Hendrix, and one of my favorite things to do is take parts of songs and turn them into exercises. That's exactly how this came about.

It's suitable for beginners, it gets your fingers moving, and it shows you that you can find chromatic runs like this in actual songs — not just in boring drill books.

Where It Comes From (The End of Hey Joe)

At the end of Hey Joe there's a cool little chromatic thing. We took that part, then expanded it across the fretboard.

The song part:

• Play the third fret on your fifth string
• Then the sixth string open, and walk up the first three frets: open, 1, 2, 3
• Then on the fifth string: 2, 3, 4, 5
• Same thing on the sixth string: 2, 3, 4, 5
• Then on the fifth string: 3, 4, 5, 6

In th...

This SIMPLE Trick Makes Arpeggios EASY + EFFECTIVE

Hey guys, Brad Litton from SimpleGuitar.com. This blog post transcribes my YouTube lesson on arpeggios — what they are, how to practice them, and how to start using them musically. This is mainly geared toward beginners. If you're intermediate, it's a great refresher.

This one came back up because a student (Ricky) had a breakthrough with arpeggios in a coaching session, and I realized we hadn't talked about them in a while.

There's a related video on memorizing notes on the fretboard (about 4 minutes a day). That's worth doing, because knowing the notes is what really sets you free with this stuff. Link from the video: How to memorize notes on the guitar fretboard in 4 minutes a day

What Is an Arpeggio?

An arpeggio is the notes of any chord, played one at a time instead of all at once.

Another way to think about it: every other note of a scale. First note, third note, fifth note — that's an arpeggio. Those also happen to be t...

You NEED to Know the MAGIC CHORDS That Transform Your Playing

Hey guys, Brad Litton from SimpleGuitar.com. This blog post transcribes my YouTube lesson on what I call magic chords — open, lush shapes that instantly make your playing sound less like a campfire singalong and more like the music you actually hear in your head.

They're in the key of E major / C# minor. They use the open first and second strings. They work on acoustic and electric. You can capo them to change keys. They're movable. They're great for arranging songs, writing, or improvising on the spot. And they strengthen your hand for barre chords down the line.

We're not going deep on theory today. I'll give you the fancy names once so you know, then we'll just call them by the simple names.

Chord 1: E Major (With Fingers 2, 3, and 4)

Regular E is: first finger first fret of the third string, third finger second fret of the fourth string, second finger second fret of the fifth string. Other three strings open.

Fo...

If You Feel Stuck With Rhythm, THIS Will Fix It

Hey guys, Brad Litton from SimpleGuitar.com. This blog post transcribes my YouTube lesson on a series of exercises — inspired by drum rudiments — that build rhythm confidence so you're not leaning on memorized strum patterns as a crutch.

You know the drill: you memorize a pattern, then the song changes or you jam with people and it falls apart. This is how we fix that.

This came up in a coaching session. When I used to teach drums, a warmup I used a lot was a full measure of 16th notes, then remove one stroke at a time. We took that idea and did it with eighth notes on guitar.

The Rule for Today

Always a downstroke on the beat. Always an upstroke on the and. (16th notes change that a little. Not today.)

A full measure of eighth notes is: 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. Down up down up down up down up. A lot of people get used to that, then struggle with other patterns. Here's why: we spend way more time as guitar players on the downstro...

How to Know if Your Guitar Practice Is Helping You or Hurting You

Hey guys, Brad Litton from SimpleGuitar.com. This blog post transcribes my YouTube video on a question I get all the time from adult players: you've spent hours on scales, chords, or songs… and you still feel like you're not getting better. Like you're checking off a to-do list and still fumbling through the tunes you actually care about.

If you're picking up guitar later in life or trying to get unstuck, time is precious. You don't want to waste it on practice that doesn't move the needle.

Spot the Busy-Work Trap

Busy work feels productive but isn't building real skills. Examples:

• Running endless scales but never applying them to songs. Fingers are moving — but can you improvise a solo, play a melody, use the scale musically?
• Memorizing chord shapes but never transitioning smoothly between them in time with a beat, like in real music
• Watching video after video for more information without actually picking up
...