As stated in the first article of this series, the acoustic guitar is a bare-bones instrument. Its sound quality almost solely depends on the skill and technique of the player.
Here are a few more songs that feature great acoustic guitar parts. All of them deserve to be mentioned on a list of best acoustic songs.
1. She Talks to Angels - The Black Crowes. This songs comes to us via the Brothers Robinson, that would be older brother Chris and young brother Rich. The two brothers formed the Black Crowes in the late 80's and this song was on their 1990 debut album "Shake Your Money Maker," which was a huge album for them. The song start with a beautiful acoustic guitar melody played by little brother Rich that repeats throughout the track and the lyrics and vocal melody supplied by Chris fit the song perfectly. And the lyrics are absolutely perfect. It is a very sad, yet incredibly beautiful song at the same time.
2. Dust in the Wind - Kansas. Cliche? Yes. Corny? Perhaps. But no matter what your feelings are about this over-played, over-done song, it is still worthy to be on this list of best acoustic songs. The whole song is centered around a repeated finger-picked melody that does not deviate often. It's one of those songs everyone knows, but may not know who sings it. The lyrics are what you would expect from a band called "Kansas," kind of blah and cliche, but the memorable finger-picked acoustic guitar part is the reason this song makes a bid to be on this list.
3. Over the Hills and Far Away - Led Zeppelin. I am kind of deviating from the list a bit here because this song is not a genuine "acoustic" song. However it is Zeppelin and they were going to make an appearance at some point. I think it is fair to say when people think of a Led Zeppelin acoustic piece, "Stairway to Heaven" instantly comes to mind, but not me. The acoustic guitar part that leads "Over the Hills and Far Away" I think is one of the best uses of acoustic guitar in music. It is fast, it is clean, and Robert Plant's voice works so well with what Jimmy Page is doing on guitar. That is why "Over the Hills and Far Away" makes the cut for one of the best acoustic songs.
4. To Be With You - Mr. Big. It does not get more 80's than Mr. Big. One, of what seems like a million bands of the time that blew up fast and faded even faster. Though the 80's metal genre was notorious for turning over crappy bands left and right, every once in a while a gem of a song slipped in, and that is where "To Be With You" comes in. With a simply chord transition with a sold vocal performance by singer Eric Martin, the song has stood the test of time. Everyone knows the song, and whether they want to admit it, everyone loves the song. Simply put, it deserves to, at least, be a mention on the list of best acoustic songs.
Benjamin J. Cloyd is a guitar instructor and has a website called best acoustic songs where you can find and print great songs for beginners to intermediate to advanced. He also has a humorous clothing line for musicians at Music Tshirts ETC.
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