I'm not the biggest fan necessarily, but from the other end of the spectrum to you (nearly 30 years of playing) I'll always recommend The Beatles for learning songs on an acoustic.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beatles-Complete-Chord-Songbook/dp/0711974594/re...

There are more difficult chords involved, but you can google chords online these days and find easy to play versions!

(where bar chords are concerned, just play the E shape up and down the neck. When the guitar is in tune it can be a very pleasing sound.

But it sounds like you need a better guitar. One with a lower action, and maybe a narrower neck. A good guitar can make the world of difference when you play.

A PINK guitar!!!!!!

contains

G, C, D, Em, A, Am

and that's about it

I never learned how to play them properly. I just stick my thumb over the top to hit the Low E and A strings (yes, my glove size is large, most players can at least hit the Low E) making the rest of the shape with the other four fingers. Neat trick if you can stretch although guitar purists claim it's "bad" technique that will lead to tendinitis. What do they know, ha!?

Failing that, just play the bottom 4 strings. Or even try the bottom 3 strings with the "D or Dm" shaped chord moving up and down the fret board. It's fun playing the guitar.

When I started to learn guitar (plucking the fat-necked Spanish Audition acoustic, £9 5s from Woolworths, whenever my brother, the legitiate owner, left the house) I added the chord of F to the mix simply be pressing, and playing, the top 4 strings only.

Barre not required. I commend the learning of it to you, it may extend your repertoire.

Speaking of which: you can add many of the songs of Simon & Garfunkel, given your current chord list. America and Bridge Over Troubled Water are not among them.

And to echo SimonL, try to have a go on a decent instrument and see what a difference it can make. No amount of effort can overcome the dead weight of a bad guitar.

One of the positives about learning on a bad guitar is that when you play on a decent one you immediately become a gazillion times better.

For easy string-bashing, try the Velvet Underground (and the D-A-G joy of 'Sweet Jane' in particular). There are tons of classic Stones songs that are a doddle too. A little more up to date, The Magnetic Fields - indeed, most of Stephin Merrit's output - can be alarmingly simple.

First song I ever learned.....

I've been 'learning' for about seven years, and only recently convinced myself to upgrade to an electric. You can't do any worse than buying one of those chord songbooks (like Simon recommends) you're likely to find in a recommended shop; though make sure you get one of the ones with the spiral spine otherwise it'll do your head in. I tend to flick through these until I find something that looks easy to play or that has a chord sequence that's recognisable and makes me look good.

Aside from having never really bothered to teach myself about scales (I know no further than major/minor scales) and having a primitive finger-picking style I think my own playing is let down by my ability to remember songs. I have to have the chords in front of me to be able to play them. Barre chords aren't too much of a difficulty, as I have long fingers, but they're either a lot easier to play on an electric (especially 'A-shaped' chords) or the the overall sound bypasses the strings I haven't pressed down with my remaining fingers.

get a better guitar.They have never been cheaper and you obviously have perseverance, so why make it hard for yourself?

Some Bob Dylan songs are easy enough as are the Verve. I agree with Simon that the action might be too high {the space between the fretboard and the strings].Your could take the bridge out{if its removable] and sand it down. This should lower the action but be careful not to over sand it cos the strings will buzz.
When I was learning I always found the strumming to be harder than learning the chords.

I'm no great shakes as a guitarist, but I find Floyd dead easy most of the time. I play nearly all of The Wall.

It does involve a little bit of single-string plucky stuff but it is very straightforward and is dead impressive to blokes of a certain age, especially if you do it on a twelve-string.

At the age of 103, I am learning. Though he is perhaps the wettest man alive, I have found Justin Sandercoe's justinguitar site very helpful.

Your guitar playing is probably sloightly more advanced than mibe as I haven;t picked the thing up for at least three years.

With the chords you have mastered give Space Oddity a go - I used to be able to ply most of it a few years back.

The Vintage V300 is staggeringly good for the money. It has a slightly smaller body than the typical dreadnaught style guitar and has a lovely sweet tone. I bought one for a friend of mine. You can find them a hair under a ton.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vintage-V300-Acoustic-Guitar-Natural/dp/B002JJ5B...

As for songs, I started with a Dylan songbook - every one a winner and everyone a synch to play.

(Provided you're content to strum through the solos.)

Also, most of R.E.M.'s stuff is based around C, Am, D, G, Em. Country Feedback is hypnotically simple. The One I Love is dead easy. And once you're ready to branch out into solos, they're normally a doddle too.

I completely agree with the other comments here about the need for a better guitar - you don't have to break the bank, and just playing something with a lower action will make a huge difference to those barre chords.

They sound like this.

Bad Moon Rising.

E D A - Gloria
D C G - Tangerine
AM G F - Rocking interlude as seen in Ziggy Stardust/Starway to Heaven etc
G C AM D - Wish You Were Here
E A B - Purple Haze

You can create a cheat Pinball Wizard by pretending it starts with a D-chord and adding/subtracting your pinkie to the 3rd fret on the top E string (D/DSus)

Brown Eyed Girl: G C D
Madame George: G C D
And It Stoned Me: G D C
See a pattern emerging?

London Calling: Em F/ Em G
Whiteman in...: Can be done C G Am F (as can The Only Ones' 'Another Girl Another Planet')

Get a capo and put it on the second fret, the action will be easier and the elusive barre chords move within reach...

Put it on the fifth fret, play a C shape and you have the start of 'Nothing Ever Happens" by the young Derek 'Boy' Amitri. Am, G and the dreaded F are the shapes you'll need to figure out the rest up to the 'middle 8' (which as usual is neither 8 bars or in the middle).

Inspired by this thread, I picked up my dusty - and rubbish - Antoria semi-acoustic and quite accidentaly ended up playing 'The Rake's Song' by The Decemberists.

Tis a piece of cake, as long as you don't try singing it at the same time. Verses are Em, with a finger on and off the bottom E string, and the 'Alright, alright...' chorus is Am then C then back to the Em.

Oh, and 'Satellite of Love' is easy as well as being ten tons o' fun.

is a typical country song, 4 chords and in G:
G-D-Em-C and on "still" just push your C shape up 2 frets and back again.

Or Come Together also only 4:
Dm-A-G in the verses,
Bm-A-G-D for the chorus.

For your Love too:
Em-G-A-Am,
although the middle eight then needs
B-A-C#m-B (easy way to play the 3rd chord is push Am up 4).

To continue, try rockongoodpeople on YouTube, but there's lots more. Good luck.

my party piece is 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover.

I've got the Paul Simon songbook and Beatles songbook (mentioned above) and found there were very few songs I could get through.

I've flicked through quite a few buskers songbooks at the local instrument emporium, and they look like the kind of thing you need.

I thought things had got interesting but then found it was about guitar playing.