Simple acoustic songs?

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danny.guitar

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Anyone know of some pretty simple acoustic songs to play with 2 or more guitar parts in it? There's a friend who recently started playing guitar and he's pretty good but he wants to record something with me and we need some song ideas.
 
There's always somebody play rhythm (the chords) and somebody play lead (the melody.)

When you say acoustic, do you mean steel string or classical (nylon string?)

For classical there's stuff all over the web like this:
http://www.derek-hasted.co.uk/takeaway/freepdfs/crabcanon.PDF
http://www.derek-hasted.co.uk/takeaway/freepdfs/allegretto.PDF
http://www.yatesguitar.com/duets&trios/Rondo-K361-G2.pdf
http://maurogiuliani.free.fr/en/duets.php
http://www.123-sheet-music.com/guitar-ensembles-tab-sheet-music.html
 
A friend and I used enjoy playing Oasis' 'Married With Children'. I'm not a big fan of Oasis but I do like that song. And it's fun to play. One guy plays rhythm, the other plays lead.
 
Some that come to mind right away:

G n R - "Patience"
Pink Floyd - "Wish You were Here" (only one acoustic part I think, but it sounds great doubled)
Tesla - "Love Song"
Beatles - "Norwegian Wood" (if you play the sitar part on guitar)
 
If the both of you just want to chord stuff and maybe sing along for fun, you might look into some old John Denver stuff, old-school folk songs, songs from the old west (I've been work'n on the railroad, The Fox Song, etc.) and other traditional type stuff.

The technical guitar stuff is fun between players. But if there's a bunch of non-playing friends then mixing in some sing along stuff can be a blast.
 
Two guitars playing Sweet Jane always sounds good.
Especially if you each play different voicings :)
 
Patience by GnR was a great suggestion. There's at least 2 acoustic parts all the way through that song, the parts are easy and the song is memorable.

Also "Old Shoes (And Picture Postcards)" by Tom Waits off of Closing Time is a good one. Capoed on the 5th fret I believe and it uses all easy chords. Then there's a lead guitar noodling through the song, plus a guitar solo.

"Dry the Rain" by the Beta Band off of The Three E.P.s is another good multi-acoustic guitar song, although all the guitars are playing the same thing throughout.

M. Ward has several acoustic guitar duets that are just a lot of fun, although I don't know where to find tab for them. "Duet for Guitars #1", "Duet for Guitars #2", "Duet for Guitars #3" are strewn across his albums, as well as "Transfiguration #1" and "Transfiguration #2" off of Transfiguration of Vincent.
 
famous beagle said:
Pink Floyd - "Wish You were Here" (only one acoustic part I think, but it sounds great doubled)
Click to expand...

That one has a cool solo at the beginning. I've always wanted to cover that and record the intro guitar part, play it back through my iPod's FM transmitter through a cheap radio and then record that to simulate the lo-fi thing they do at the beginning. :)
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. I haven't had a chance to listen to the songs that I haven't heard yet but I think there's a few we may record:

Wish You Were Here
Patience
Mother

And I'm going to listen to the rest as well and ask him.
 
Just to add, Metallica's Nothing Else Matters is a great one if you can pull it off.
 
Elliot Smith has some nice two guitar songs, if you are into navel gazing, overly precious, heroin-addicted indie rock.

Like "Say Yes" on either/or.
 
Dueling Banjos.

On a traditional note, House of the Rising Sun is pretty simple and has plenty of possibilities for melody and rhythm parts. You might be looking for something easier, I dunno.
 
Black - Pearl Jam
Yellow Ledbetter - Pearl Jam
Last Kiss - Pearl Jam
Anything by the Beatles - Maybe In My Life or Let it Be
Wild Horses - The Rolling Stones
 
Hotel Cali

Have the beginner play uncapo'd (starting with Bm at the 2nd fret).

Have the experienced player capo'd at the 7th fret.

This always sounds great when the guitars are in tune.
 
Lucky Man by ELP
Knocking on Heavens Door
Breakdown by Tom Petty
 
Lot of songs will sound good with strummed chords on both guitars as long as one is capoed and the other one isnt.

Songbird-Oasis
Anything Beatles
Anything Bob Dylan
Anything Tom Petty
 
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