GitaartabsPlaylist · 32 songs
The 32 best summer songs on guitar
Summer on guitar sounds different: looser, lighter, and almost always on the offbeat. These thirty-two songs are made for a terrace, a beach or a festival field — reggae from Bob Marley, latin from Santana, surf from the Beach Boys, and the Dutch summer classics. Each entry says where the lilt sits, because that is the real work here.
Three chords and the most infectious offbeat strum there is. Strike short and mute.
The strum lands on the beat you do not expect. Count out loud until you feel it.
Easy reggae with space between the chords. Ideal for practising your timing.
Four chords in a loop, and everyone joins the woy-yoy-yoy chorus by themselves.
The Dutch summer hit with a reggae strum on beats two and four.
Chuck Berry's riff with surf harmonies on top. Rock and roll does not get sunnier.
Cocktail chords and a list of islands. Play it light and without hurry.
The summer song par excellence. Power chords and a chorus any terrace takes over.
Four chords, a lazy groove and a wordless chorus. A perfect first summer song.
Three chords, round and round forever. Proof that very little builds a party.
Two chords and an organ riff that sits just as well on guitar. Latin groove in miniature.
Easy latin with room for a solo. Mind your vibrato — that is where Santana lives.
Am-F-E, the whole song long, and above it anything goes. Ideal for improvising.
The jazz standard that is literally about summer. A fine introduction to minor chords.
Four chords with a reggae lilt. If one song smells of sunscreen, it is this one.
Relaxed fingerstyle with a lazy, muted strum. A rainy holiday morning in sound.
Am-G-C, three shapes, and lyrics you trip over halfway. That is part of the charm.
The ukulele version works just as well on guitar. Light, warm and instantly recognised.
Capo on 7 and that rolling D figure. The cheeriest song in the Beatles repertoire.
Jazzy chords in a lazy groove. Sounds like coffee on a Sunday morning in July.
About coming home in summer. Big chords, capo high, a chorus made for shouting.
A restrained verse, a huge chorus, and an intro everyone knows from the first note.
A Dutch beach in four chords. The most sung-along summer song this country has.
Driving and summery, with a title that says exactly where you play it.
Warm chords and a build you can carry with a single guitar.
Sunny chords and a singalong chorus. Works on young and old, on any terrace.
Light-footed and clear — one of the best Dutch beginner songs around.
The festival song of the Dutch summer. Slow, spacious, and everyone knows it.
A ska strum on the offbeat. Strike short and mute immediately — then it swings.
Summery folk rock in dialect. Meant to be played with a group and a beer.
A Dutch classic that is literally called Summer. Simple shapes, plenty of feeling.
The finest closer: about that one last evening before autumn returns.
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