As a guitar teacher, I have found that certain songs, properly taught, can really propel a student forward. "Heart of Gold" is just enough beyond basic to be a good choice for the student who's on the edge of getting her chords down. "Day Tripper" uses power chords and has that great riff played three different ways. "A Hard Days Night" and "Eight Days a Week" both use Bm, a major hurdle for students to overcome, but doable with practice. "Hard Days" also uses F major, 'nuff said. "The Wind Cries Mary" is a relatively easy Hendrix tune that uses lots of barre chords. "Hoochie Coochie Man" (original Muddy version), has a great riff and just three simple chords. "Black Magic Woman" (I use the Santana version) is a minor blues with a melodic solo that I want my students to hear. In order to succeed, the tunes have to be by artists that the student respects. So, my question: what songs have influenced you as a teacher or student, and why?

What, no songs by Britney... or Justin... or Pink...?

Are your students reading the staff or strumming or is it TAB, etc.?

I honestly taught myself to play with a Beatles fake book. It had all their songs and a picture showing where to put my fingers for each chord. I learned more with that book than with any other supposed tools before or since.

If students bring me stuff to teach them, I'll learn it and teach them. First I teach them to read with the Hal Leonard method books. I try to get them into chords ASAP, even sooner than the books do. The tunes I mentioned are written out as lyric sheets, with the chords embedded in the lyrics. This presupposes a familiarity with the tune--I give them work cd's with the songs on them. I guess my question boils down to, "what are your favorite tunes to teach, and why?" When it dawned on me to teach "Heart of Gold" I had no idea that it would be such a successful tune. I've taught it to many of my students, no one has complained and it has moved them forward musically.

I learned how to fingerpick with a book called "Fingerpicking Guitar Licks" by Brett Duncan. Great book for spelling out exactly how to play what when. I also like the Mark Hanson books, but I found the Duncan book to be really good. It focuses on fingerstyle blues which is easy on the ears but doesn't try to replicate any specific song.

This topic caught my eye because one of my son's 15 yr. old classmates has been stopping by once a week for a talk/lesson. I try and keep things low-key cause I don't really teach or read music but glad to pass on what I know.

One thing I found out is kids these days know a lot from looking up tab of their favorite songs/groups on the net and just learning things from friends who take lessons.This kid knows the terms and technique of hammer-ons,pull-offs and double stops already and he's just getting started. I told him after the second week....your lessons are over with me son.Kinda joking there but kinda not...I gave him a book by Marand(?) publishing that has great text and pics and is really self-explanatory. My son used it after I showed him a few chords and taught himself pretty much with a helping hand from me at times.

I find there's a generation (or two) roadblock if kids don't know or appreciate 50's/60's/70's music... I can't relate. I got turned down at a local music store for a teaching job because I wouldn't/couldn't teach Johnny the latest Skillet song and he doesn't know who The Beatles are. So, I have to screen people pretty much to find if we have anything in common musically before agreeing to any teaching.

Having said all that,and to get back on topic,I always found Neil Young to be a great source for songs to learn/teach. I showed both my boys right off the bat Down By The River just to get a basic solid rythmn down on the Em-A strumming and then how to play some lead lines over top of that....excellent song for beginners and one they can jam endlessly to cause it's so long.

My oldest son learned a lot on his own from Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever...Free Fallin,Runnin Down A Dream...are you kidding....excellent stuff! When I was in college (skipping classes) Eric Clapton's 461 Ocean Blvd. was my template and it's an excellent source for chording,lead lines,and melodies in different styles... electric and acoustic blend is great.Clapton's take on Elmore James' Can't Hold Out is a nice moderate tempo Blues that gives lots of space to learn/jam along in E.

Good topic and I'm interested to see what other folks use when teaching.

Lately I've started to use Link Wray's "Rumble." It's a basic instrumental (I know that many of you know it). It's a great introduction to rock and roll in the key of E.

Granted that recognizing a tune motivates learning, but a good tune stands on it's own no matter what. Starting with just strumming you can't miss with 2 and 3 chord wonders like Jambalaya and Blowin' in the Wind etc. I found it appeals to all ages. Travis intro begs for Freight Train, The Boxer, Dust in The Wind etc. The anthem I've found many people wanting to learn is Anji by Davy Graham via Paul Simon/Jansch/Renbourn et al. Then it's on to alternate tunings and........