acoustic guitar songs
Guitar, Popular

Top 75 GREATEST Acoustic Guitar Songs That Ever Existed

The acoustic guitar is one of the most popular instruments around. It’s versatile, low maintenance and sounds great. You don’t need to lug around an amp if you’re just playing for a few friends and it provides enough volume to accompany vocals but not so much that it overshadows them. I personally love the sound of playing a great acoustic guitar. Everything from the sound to the feel of playing a nice acoustic is satisfying. What’s even more satisfying is learning how to play some great acoustic guitar songs. There are so many amazing acoustic guitar songs out there that

June 16, 2020
guitar chords
Popular

Mastering Guitar Chords – 15+ Experts Share Their Advice and Insights

I’m super excited for this post as it’s the culmination of some of the biggest names in online guitar lesson providers coming together to offer their advice and insights on guitar chords. Understanding the right way to play guitar chords is one of the first things you’ll learn as a beginner guitar player. It can also be quite frustrating when you are just starting out.That’s why I decided it would be a great idea to get a bunch of experts together all giving their insight into learning more about the wonderful world of guitar chords. I basically asked everyone two questions:

February 12, 2020
easy guitar songs
Popular

Top 100+ Easy Guitar Songs – BEST List For Beginners and Intermediate Players

As a musician, learning songs for whichever instrument you are playing is one of the best exercises. Not only do you get to practice your chops but you also get to learn exactly how a particular song is played. As a beginner/intermediate guitar player, learning songs is all about knowing where to put your fingers on the fretboard, listening to the strumming patterns used, and taking note of any special techniques or chord combinations. Being aware of these things as you learn songs will help you become a better guitar player and composer. However, as a new/intermediate guitar player, you

February 12, 2020
power chords
Popular

Everything You NEED To Know About Power Chords

Power chords are one of the staples of rock music and one of the most important guitar chord types you need to have in your toolbox. They are important to learn for a few reasons: They’re easy to play They’re used a TON in many popular songs and are very versatile. They’ll help broaden your repertoire of guitar sounds / styles. This post will walk you through step-by-step what a power chord is, how to play them and what songs you can learn to start practicing them. What are Power Chords? Whether you play an acoustic or electric guitar, you are going

February 12, 2020
guitar scales
Popular

MOST Comprehensive Guide to Learning Guitar Scales

For many people who pick up the guitar for the first time, learning scales is often not at the top of their priority list. This is normal and as a beginner guitarist, there is other more important foundation knowledge that should first be acquired. However, at the point when you start learning scales as a guitarist is when you know you’re starting to get serious about playing. Learning guitar scales is a fantastic way to practice your technique and theory. Scales also come in handy for a variety of purposes such as: Writing music Improvising/jamming with others Understanding how music

February 12, 2020
guitar fretboard
Popular

EASIEST Guide to Learning the Notes on Your Guitar Fretboard

Learning the notes on your guitar fretboard is one of the most important things you can do to advance your guitar playing skills. Knowing this information opens up an enormous amount of possibilities and can greatly help ease the learning curve for future guitar exercises. From scales, to soloing, to chord positions / progressions, knowing where each guitar note without having to think about it will put you well ahead of other guitarists who have not mastered this yet. This guide will give you some background information regarding how the notes on your guitar fretboard are laid out and of

February 12, 2020
beginner guitar chords
Popular

Most Popular Beginner Guitar Chords Chart

Learning guitar chords is often one of the first things beginner guitarists do. You only need to know a few popular chords in order to be able to play a huge amount of songs. This beginner’s guitar chords article will provide you with the necessary chords you’ll want to learn for both beginner and intermediate players. Before jumping into learning the chords provided in the guitar chords chart below, I wanted to first explain what a guitar chord actually is. What Is a Guitar Chord? As wikipedia defines it, “a guitar chord is a set of notes played on a guitar”. Although a

February 12, 2020
how to play guitar
Popular

How to Play Guitar (an EASY Beginner’s Guide)

So you want to learn how to play guitar but don’t know where to start? No worries. This how to play guitar for beginners guide will cover all the basic requirements to get you started with playing guitar. The guide is split into 2 sections: The Basics – where you’ll learn about the various parts of the guitar, how to hold the guitar and how to tune your guitar. Playing – where you’ll learn popular chords, strumming techniques, and how to read guitar tabs. This guitar for beginners guide is meant for guitarists just starting out, however there are also tips and

February 12, 2020
Home
Top 25 Hard Guitar Songs – A List for Aspiring Virtuosos
hard guitar songs
Guitar

Top 25 Hard Guitar Songs – A List for Aspiring Virtuosos

By Guest Author Updated: February 12, 2020 No Comments

When you want to make it to the next level as a guitarist, you need songs that challenge you. Songs that introduce you to new techniques and take you out of your comfort zone keep you growing as a player and introduce you to the core repertoire of a serious guitarist. Challenging yourself to climb the mountains made by the masters who came before you will prepare you to blaze your own way as a musician, pushing the boundaries further than they have been in the past.

If you’re looking for a list of established pieces of the guitar repertoire (and maybe a few hidden gems), this list was made just for you. You may have heard some of these pieces before, but others will be new to you. Those are the ones I would recommend you focus on the most. A number of these songs require a lot of practice hours because of the sheer volume of music.

Some songs are not as long or complex but have unusual techniques that will challenge you to extend into new technical territory. Blending an awareness of mastering tricky solos and developing improvisational sensibility, this list is a mix of older and newer guitar virtuoso pieces that will push you past where you thought your limits were!

In the following list, I’ve included the song title, the artist who made the performance famous, a link to the performance, and tabs. Some of these pieces have not been transcribed yet, and it may fall to you to learn them by ear or make the first tab. This is actually a really good way to learn the song and contribute something back to the community by posting the tab on a website like Songsterr.

That being said, it may be useful to have a program like GuitarPro which will often help you access and manipulate the tabs you need. It’s an extremely worthwhile investment for serious guitarists that will let you consume, as well as share, transcriptions of these pieces.

Song Artist Video Link Tab
1. Cliffs of Dover Eric Johnson Video Tab
2. Drifting Andy McKee Video Tab
3. Air Tap Erik Mongrain Video Tab
4. La Cathedral Agustin Barrios Mangore Video Tab
5. Through the Fire and Flames Dragonforce Video Tab
6. Sultans of Swing Dire Straits Video Tab
7. Passionflower Jon Gomm Video Tab
8. For the Love of God Steve Vai Video Tab
9. On Impulse Animals as Leaders Video Tab
10. Recuerdos De La Alhambra Francisco Tarrega Video Tab
11. Mombasa Tommy Emmanuel Video Tab
12. The D Minor Chaconne Johann Sebastien Bach Video Tab
13. Eruption Eddy Van Halen Video Tab
14. Pride and Joy Stevie Ray Vaughan Video Tab
15. Dance of Eternity Dream Theater Video Tab
16. Classical Gas Mason Williams/Tommy Emmanuel Video Tab
17. Neon John Mayer Video Tab
18. Guitar Boogie Arthur Smith/Tommy Emmanuel Video Tab
19. Jordan Buckethead Video Tab
20. Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee Nuno Bettencourt Video Tab
21. Phunkdified Justin King Video Tab
22. Satch Boogie Joe Satriani Video Tab
23. Concierto De Aranjuez Joaquin Rodrigo Video Tab
24. Limehouse Blues Django Reinhardt Video Tab
25. Misty Joe Pass Video Tab

Which Songs Should I Start With?

This list encompasses what may amount to decades of guitar study. So where should you start? There are several possible right answers. First, listening to the ones you don’t know is a good bet. Second, make sure you’ve learned a lot about “chunking,” or techniques for breaking down a song into small pieces.

Here’s a tip: get the tab, print it out, and cut up every single measure. Learn every single measure separately, starting with the hardest. Go so slow that people listening wouldn’t recognize the song. Slowly put the phrases back together, but go back to the individual measures as you need to, especially the tricky ones.

See Also: 5 Guitar Licks that Sound Hard but are Actually Easy

Another way to approach this question is to start with what you are attracted to. Are you drawn by the most difficult songs? The most unusual? The ones with the loudest solos? Think about what energizes you, since you will have to stay motivated through a very long learning process, and doing pieces you hate won’t be sustainable.

Then again, if you have already tackled some virtuoso pieces and you want to find something that will stretch you the most, try going into the territory of the songs you are least familiar with.

Another thing to consider is the balance of composition versus improvisation. Some of these songs have not a single note that isn’t in the original score. Others may have a simple hook, but demand a high level of style in the jam, or else they feel underwhelming. Ask yourself what your interests are, as well as your weaknesses that you’re trying to improve upon.

Here are a few lists to give you some suggestions:

Shreddiest Rock Guitar Songs

  • Cliffs of Dover
  • Flight of the Wounded Bumblebee
  • Eruption
  • Satch Boogie
  • Through the Fire and Flames

Hardest Fingerstyle/Polyphonic Songs

  • La Cathedral
  • Misty
  • Recuerdos de la Alhambra
  • The D Minor Chaconne
  • Classical Gas
  • Guitar Boogie

Songs with Improvisation/Soloing

  • Limehouse Blues
  • Pride and Joy
  • Sultans of Swing

Progressive Electric Songs

  • On Impulse
  • For the Love of God
  • Jordan
  • Dance of Eternity

Songs with Tricky Techniques (Tapping, Slapping, etc.)

  • Drifting
  • Neon
  • Phunkdified
  • Amazing Grace
  • Drifting
  • Passionflower
  • Mombasa

Leave a comment below if you think we left out any good songs, or if you need more tips for practicing! Also, if you find these songs too difficult, check out our other article on the 100 easiest guitar songs and see if that’s a better fit for you.

Happy practicing!

About the Author: Jonathan Bojan is a professional guitar instructor and writer for TakeLessons. TakeLessons offers free online guitar classes as well as private lessons for students of all ages.

Related Articles

Join The BEST Online Guitar Learning SystemFREE 7-Day Trial
+

Hey Fellow Guitarist!

Get my BEST free guitar content to help improve your playing skills.