Help? - easy songs for a newbie?

[jargey3000]

I am a complete newbie & just signed up for some beginners group keyboard lessons for seniors!
Instructor asked us to pick a SIMPLE song to try to learn to play on our own by the end of 8-week course. Any suggestions? I would like, if possible, to try the EASIEST Beatles song out there...?
Or any other ideas appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[CowboyNQ]

Any pop song can be easy if arranged the right way. If you Google “easy Beatles piano” you’ll find all sorts of resources. Pick your favourite.

Also, there’s a chap named Dan Coates who specialises is arranging easy versions of popular music for piano. His books are well worth checking out.

 

[Biggles]

Amazon.com

Hey Jude.

Or John Lennon’s classic Imagine has a pretty easy and repeating backing score if you are up for the vocals.

 

[jargey3000]

^^^^
oh god! We're not doing vocals! LOL

thanks all, yes Hey Jude, Michelle and Let It Be seem to show up on most searches.

I guess I should say it doesn't HAVE to be a Beatles song....
maybe ANY classic popular song! that's relatively EASY to learn for a beginner.
Maybe an Elvis song? I dunno....anything?
I also thought about Stevie Wonder's " I Just Called"...no?

or any random song.....?

 

[Biggles]

How about one of the very many purely instrumentals that were hits in the Sixties?

I also play guitar and and like so many of our generation, was inspired to by Hank Marvin and the instrumentals of The Shadows.

Hence Apache, Wonderful Land, Man of Mystery, and Guitar Tango all transition to keyboard very easily, add delay and reverb via the effects to a Stratocaster guitar sound and away you go.

Pipeline by The Ventures is fun to play.

Telstar by The Tornados is one I play on my Keyboard, it is easy to learn and as skill level increases it can very easily be embellished by additional techniques.

Simon & Garfunkle’s Sound of Silence is another that makes a good instrumental. I have the sheet music for it, the score has a vocal melody line, an accompaniment line, and a bass line with the chords written above the vocal line and hence it is another that is easy to learn by playing the vocal line and the chords, and in doing so its a very easily recognised song.

 

[jargey3000]

thanks Biggles. all good suggestions! but I need to learn to crawl, before I can walk....lol
I've had 1 keyboard lesson......ever!

 

[Biggles]

thanks Biggles. all good suggestions! but I need to learn to crawl, before I can walk....lol
I've had 1 keyboard lesson......ever!

I bought The Complete Keyboard Player, The Beatles from Amazon when I started to transition from guitar to keyboard.

The songs in there are simple melody lines for right hand and bar length chords for the left, eminently learnable and a song like Hey Jude has enough note changes to make it easily learned.

Is the Group of Seniors you are joining one that uses specific course books? If not then look at Kenneth Baker, The Complete Keyboard Player series, all the songs are oldies and very quick to learn.

You can do it.

 

[karri]

I am a complete newbie & just signed up for some beginners group keyboard lessons for seniors!
Instructor asked us to pick a SIMPLE song to try to learn to play on our own by the end of 8-week course. Any suggestions? I would like, if possible, to try the EASIEST Beatles song out there...?
Or any other ideas appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Michelle by Beatles. It has a very nice melodic sequence and you alternate with the left hand and the right hand. The tempo can be slow. And the tune is so beautiful.

 

[jargey3000]

yes, considering Michelle...tks

 

[Tahitijack]

A couple of Beatles songs that seem easy for me.

Twist and Shout
Can't Buy Me Love

 

[happyrat1]

Actually I started out by playing TV theme songs.

The first two songs I learned were The Flintstones and Star Trek

Gary

 

[Rayblewit]

"Michelle" is very difficult. Hardly a beginners choice. . . I struggle with it. It is in the key of Ab and has numerous chord changes.

 

[Biggles]

Michelle from the Beatles fake book that I have.

Bb is awkward for my fingers but in first inversion its dead easy to play.

 

[Tahitijack]

One more easy old classic recorded by the Beatles and a long list of others...easy I, VI, V chord progression and repeating melody lines:

Kansas City

I was playing Jambalaya (on the bayou) last week and wanted to add it to your list. It covers a lot of genre as it has been recorded by a range of artist from the Neville Brothers to the Carpenters, I think even Jimmy Buffett has used it in a concert set list....made me hungry but a fun song to play.

 

[OldTimerBill]

I may be too late and this is not a Beatle song but the old song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” is an easy one to start on.

 

[Tahitijack]

I had some time open up this weekend so I pulled out some songs I hadn't played before, so I'm adding another Beatles song that seems easy to my limit skills.

Yesterday

 

[Tahitijack]

Easy Beatles song for this week

And I Love Her