Easy Acoustic Guitar Riffs: Beatles & Ben King Riffs For Beginners

If you want to play simple riffs, yet want to sound like a pro guitarist, you should be happy to know this is possible. Many popular songs may have complicated-sounding riffs, but they are easy to play, even for beginners. 

The secret? The base chords. These songs usually use a limited number of chords, which are the simpler ones.

In this lesson, I look forward to sharing two easy acoustic guitar riffs for you to play. Lessons like these are part of my Campfire Acoustics course bundle, too - feel free to check them out.

Beatles - Don't Let Me Down

The song itself may sound impressive, but the base chords are incredibly simple - a C chord and a capo are pretty much what you need to execute the easy riff for this song. 

Start by clamping a capo on the 4th fret on your guitar to play the riff. Remember to clamp right after the fret line where the 4th and 5th fret meet to get a more accurate sound. You can also play without a capo regularly, although the notes will be a bit lower and may not match the song.

Intro

To play out the intro riff:

1. Start with an open C chord strum.
2. Pick the 4th string, open.
3. Hammer on the 4th string, at the second fret (middle finger).
4. Pick the 3rd string, open (middle finger).
5. Pick 4th string at the second fret (middle finger).
6. Pick the 3rd string, open.
7. Hammer on the 3rd string, at the second fret (middle finger).
8. Pick the 3rd string, open.
9. Pick the 4th string, open.
10. Pick the 4th string at the 3rd fret(ring/pinky finger).
11. Pick the 4th string at the 2nd fret (middle finger).
12. End with an open C chord strum.

You can make the riff sound close to the original by picking the target string and the guitar string right underneath it. This should generate a rough sound close to the song recording itself.

First 'Don't Let Me Down'

Next, you can follow up with a couple of strums to round up the riff. This is where your audience would sing out the line 'Don't let me down,' and you should win a couple of impressed folks here.

Here's how you play it:

1. Keep your fingers in an open C chord, but add your pinky to the 3rd fret and 2nd string. Strum
2. Slide the entire chord up 2 frets. Strum.
3. Slide the chord back down 2 frets. Strum
4. Transition to a Dm chord

At this point, you can strum along on the Dm chord as your crowd sings, or you can add color to it by lifting and then hammering on your middle finger at the 2nd fret, 3rd string.

Second 'Don't Let Me Down'

Play out the second part in the following manner:

1. Have your ring finger on the 3rd fret, 2nd string.
2. Play the note, and then slide up 2 frets to the 5th fret.
3. Slide back down to the 3rd fret.
4. Index finger on the 1st fret, 2nd string.
5. Strum an open C chord.

This is how the whole riff should sound:

Ben E. King - Stand By Me

This is as classic as it goes. If your audience enjoyed your 'Don't Let Me Down' riff, they would enjoy this one too. Similar to the first riff, the riff for Ben E King's 'Stand By Me' also uses mainly the C chord. To play this riff, you do not need a capo. 

This is how the entire riff sounds:

Part 1

This is how you play it:

1. Start with a C chord
2. Pick the 5th string, 3rd fret with your ring finger 
3. Strum the open C chord
4. pick the string at the 3rd fret, 6th string (ring finger)
5. Pick the 5th string, 2nd fret with your ring finger
6. Pick the 5th string, 3rd fret with your ring finger 
7. Strum the open C chord
8. Pick the 5th string, 3rd fret with your ring finger 
9. Pick the 5th string, 2nd fret with your ring finger
10. Release all fingers, except your index finger on the 1st fret, 2nd string, strum down. 
11. Hammer on with your middle and ring finger, on the 2nd fret, 3rd, and 4th string; this should form an Am chord.
12. Pick the 6th string, with your pinky on the 3rd fret.
13. Pick the 5th string, open
14. Strum an Am chord.

Part 2

The second part rounds up the chorus. You basically play a lick and transition into the F chord. Here's how you play it:

1. Pick the 6th string, open
2. Pick the 6th string, with your ring finger on the 3rd fret
3. Pick the 6th string, with your index finger on the 1st fret
4. Strum the F chord
5. Pick the 6th string, with your index finger on the 1st fret
6. Pick the 6th string, open
7. Pick the 6th string, with your ring finger on the 3rd fret
8. Strum the G chord
9. Pick the 6th string, with your ring finger on the 3rd fret
10. Pick the 5th string, with your middle finger on the 2nd fret
11. Pick the 5th string, with your ring finger on the 3rd fret
12. Strum the open C chord

Now, all you have to do is repeat the riff on a loop as your audience sings along to the song.

Easy Acoustic Guitar Riffs For Beginners

Here you do, two easy to learn, and cool guitar riffs you can play to impress your audience. These are not difficult riffs, which means with some practice, you should be able to pick it up real quick.

Lessons like these are part of my Campfire Acoustics course bundle, too. If you enjoyed the lesson, feel free to check out my course bundle for more learning sessions like these.