Taylor Swift is an artist with millions of adoring fans around the world. And if you’re a fan who plays guitar, you probably know of a least a couple of her songs you’d like to learn. Luckily, most of her songs are relatively easy to play. In this article, we’ll take you through some easy Taylor Swift guitar songs even beginners can learn.
Meet Taylor Swift
Before we get to the easy Taylor Swift guitar songs on the list, here are a few fun facts about Taylor herself:
- She’s been playing guitar since she was 12. She also can play the banjo, ukulele, and piano!
- Her family was supportive. They even moved to Nashville when she was 14 to help her pursue a music career.
- Her songs are very personal. Taylor herself has compared listening to her songs to reading her diary. Many songs can be connected to her relationships with high-profile men, too.
- She’s been in other music videos. Her acting debut was in a video for the Brad Paisley song “Online.”
- There’s a documentary about her. In 2020, Netflix released a documentary about her called “Miss Americana.” Much of the documentary centered around Taylor’s political beliefs and the efforts of her handlers to get her to keep them to herself.
Easy Taylor Swift Songs to Learn on Guitar
A lot of Taylor Swift acoustic guitar songs, especially those written early in her career, are essentially country songs. Without further ado, here are a few easy Taylor Swift songs to learn on guitar:
1. Shake It Off
This is one of the more popular Taylor Swift acoustic guitar songs. And though it can be hard to get a rhythm pattern that approximates the one on the recording, it’s pretty easy in terms of chords: you just need G, Am, and C. The song also has a very positive message — though it’s about Taylor ignoring media rumors about her, it’s a useful anthem for anyone who has been bullied or picked on. Since the chord progression is fairly simple, this one is an especially good song to practice if you want to work on palm muting or percussive playing techniques.
2. Speak Now
Of all the easy guitar songs Taylor Swift has written, this one just might be the easiest to learn. It’s made up of three chords that are often some of the first ones beginners learn: G, Am, and C. It was the title song on Taylor’s third album. You can certainly learn to strum it, but it’s a great song to practice fingerpicking with as well. The song itself is about an ex-lover crashing a wedding, so it’s an interesting story, too!
3. Back to December
“Back to December” is a great example of one of Taylor’s country songs. She wrote it about the actor Taylor Lautner, who she dated briefly. To play this one, you just need to place a capo at the second fret and play C, Am, F, G, and Em.
4. Wildest Dreams
This is one of those easy Taylor Swift guitar songs with both simple chords and a slow tempo. As you may have found out, slower songs can be helpful when you’re learning to switch between chords. It’s a good song to play while you practice switching chords, too. It has five chords, but all are relatively easy open shapes. With a capo at the first fret, you’ll need to play C, Em, D, G, and Am. “Wildest Dreams” is a reflective, dreamy-sounding song that’s a little different from much of her earlier work.
5. You Belong With Me
“You Belong With Me” is a fairly easy song to learn, although it includes some D suspended chords that may pose a bit of a challenge. Taylor has said that she wrote it about one of her friends in high school. He was dating someone else, but Taylor thought he would be much better off with her. To play this song, you’ll first need a capo at the fourth fret. Then, just play D, A, Em, G, Dsus2, and Dsus2.
Final Thoughts
Now that you know a few easy Taylor Swift guitar songs, we hope that you’ll have fun learning to play them! And best of all, just about every song sounds good on acoustic guitar or electric guitar. Make sure to be patient with yourself as you learn, and don’t be afraid to experiment with strumming and picking patterns, too!
FAQs
Now that you know a bit more about Taylor and her songs, you might still have some questions:
As we saw above, there are lots of beginner Taylor Swift guitar songs out there. We think the easiest one is “Wildest Dreams” because it has both easy chords and a more relaxed tempo.
As you search for easy Taylor Swift songs to learn on guitar, you might start to wonder — what was the first song Taylor learned to play? Taylor has said it was “Kiss Me,” a Sixpence None the Richer hit from 1998.
You might notice that some of the Taylor Swift songs guitar chords you come across have versions with a capo. That’s because Taylor does use a capo often, as it enables her to use fairly easy chord shapes.
Taylor’s list of her favorite songs includes two of her own songs: “Delicate” and “End Game.” Both are from “Reputation,” her album from 2017.
Her teacher was Ronnie Kremer, a computer repairman who was also a working musician in Pennsylvania, where Taylor was born. Kremer helped Taylor understand song structure so she would be better equipped to write her own songs.
According to her first guitar teacher, he started out giving her guitar lessons for six hours a week. And at least while learning guitar, Taylor has said she played 4-6 hours a day.
If Taylor does name her guitars, she doesn’t seem to do so publicly. She mostly plays Taylor brand guitars, leading some people to think the guitars are named after her. They aren’t, although Taylor has made a signature model named after her.
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