Easy DMB songs on guitar

[BOWA91]

Ok, I just learned Christmas Song and #34. What are some somewhat easy songs should I move on to next?

[jiac_69]

stay or leave, abi

[xUglyNakedGuyx]

stay or leave, abi

Stay Or Leave isn't the best song to recommend for a beginner cause there are some parts with different time sigs...

off the top of my head, I would recommend:
Watchtower
Recently (sounds hard, but isn't too bad)
Hunger For The Great Light
The Maker (D&T version)
Beauty Of Wynona
Oh
Dancing Nancies

[rantingthespian]

These are what I think are the easier DMB songs out of their whole catalog (minus covers):

Seek Up
I'll Back You Up
Minarets (maybe)
The Song That Jane Likes (minus the outro, unless you can do the stretch)

Dancing Nancies
Typical Situation

#41 (only if you can do the stretch)
Too Much
Proudest Monkey
Let You Down

Rapunzel
Don't Drink the Water
Don't Burn the Pig/Pig
Halloween
Spoon

Sweet Up And Down

#36/Everyday
I Did It
the Space Between

Grey Street
Bartender
Digging A Ditch
Big Eyed Fish
Kit Kat Jam

Gravedigger
So Damn Lucky
Save Me (if you can do the stretch)

Almost anything on Stand Up

Alligator Pie
Shake Me Like A Monkey
#27
Corn Bread

Granny
True Reflections
Blue Water
Eh Hee
Deed Is Done
Dreamed I Killed God
Kind Intentions
Toy Soldiers
Once On A Wild Afternoon

[leesDREAMNGTREE]

It all depends on how long youve been playing? I mean, most of the songs are easy if you know a handfull of chords. Daves no BB King?

[theant06]

I'm no guitar player, but Crash is pretty easy

[rantingthespian]

I'm no guitar player, but Crash is pretty easy

if you can hold it for the full song, which Dave sometimes can't do (he cheats and mutes the B string if his hand is getting tired).

[Stabn]

The list mentioned above is pretty solid (not sure about SMLAM and Grey Street though, pretty tough rhythms for a beginner at least if you want to sing along).
And So Damn Lucky is long-haul project for a beginner. Those hammer ons and the right timing need training. A LOT of training.

Where Are You Going
Little Red Bird
Say Goodbye
Grace Is Gone
An' Another Thing/Little Thing
Beachball
Butterfly
Spaceman

[SundanceJCL]

BOWA91 --

I've been playing Dave on acoustic for many years, and if it weren't for "Live at Luther College", I might've lost interest in playing guitar all together (and wound up a Guitar Hero playing wannabe...but I digress).

Ranting Thespian mentioned "I'll Back You Up", which is not only relatively easy, but very pretty as well. (I think I read somewhere it's the first song he wrote, but don't hold me to that).

Ditto for "Grace Is Gone", not too hard, and once you get it right (even playing with a pick -- Dave uses his fingers in the verses) it's a pretty tune.

"Typical Situation" is also relatively easy (compared to, say, "Crush", which has at least 15 chords/variations -- I remember counting once).

Ultimately, pick a song you really like -- beak it down, section by section (there are always some easier and harder sections in Dave's tunes), and practice till it feels and sounds right. The more you learn, the more you notice the "Dave chords", and certain patterns and shapes that he repeats from song to song.

As a beginner you may not learn a song all in one sitting, or one day, or one week, but that's okay. If they were easy, anyone could play them. And they don't have to be perfect, either. I still can't quite grasp what Dave is doing during the verses in "Tripping Billies", and watching him play *and* sing "Rhyme or Reason" is almost discouraging (kind of like watching SRV play "Pride & Joy" on a 12 string) but if you can catch the vibe and the spirit of the music, that's the whole point. To me, at least. Now, go play till your fingers hurt. =]

[pathetic]

proudest monkey, typical, aatw, nancies, angel from montgomery are all easy

[theoliveri]

Stay Or Leave isn't the best song to recommend for a beginner cause there are some parts with different time sigs...

off the top of my head, I would recommend:
Watchtower
Recently (sounds hard, but isn't too bad)
Hunger For The Great Light
The Maker (D&T version)
Beauty Of Wynona
Oh
Dancing Nancies

I would think stay or leave would be easier than Oh. The time signature changes can be picked up from listening and playing along. Oh's intro/middle/end riff might be harder to pick up on, especially if you're still a beginner. Even Recently has certain parts that can be real tricky.

I'm surprised no one mentioned Dreaming Tree. The intro isn't any more hard than Oh, Recently, or whatever type of variation you would choose to play Grace Is Gone.

[sean52692]

The Dreaming Tree is very easy

[bradshaw06]

one sweet world isnt too bad... (i just learned the intro and cant stop playing it)
help myself
#34 was the first song i ever learned.
#41 isnt bad if you can stretch
heartbeat intro is easy

[rantingthespian]

The Dreaming Tree is very easy

The hard part with the Dreaming Tree is getting the rhythm down.

[sean52692]

The hard part with the Dreaming Tree is getting the rhythm down.

Maybe, I thought it was a sinch.

[theoliveri]

The hard part with the Dreaming Tree is getting the rhythm down.


I could see the intro/between verses being a little tricky at first, but other than that, it's just chords.

When I first started learning, I had the UTTAD tab book and even from the beginning, I challenged myself to take on the harder songs. That helped with my learning and I could pick stuff up easier after that.

I don't think there's too many "hard" DMB songs that you can't pick up from playing a different song. It's just a matter of sitting down and taking the time to learn it. Though, I will admit, I still get tripped up on Trippin' Billies (no pun intended) and trying to get Warehouse to sound perfect but I can't get the proper muting down. One of these days I'll take lessons and hopefully unlearn some bad habits I probably picked up from self-teaching.

Oh, and add Crazy Easy to the list of easy songs.