Lynyrd Skynyrd Simple Man Guitar Lesson – Guitar Lessons For Beginners

Here’s my guitar lessons for beginners for Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man. I first heard this song in high school and whenever I listen to it, it takes me right back to junior year. I learned how to play the basics a long time ago (Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man was actually one of the first songs that I had learned to play on guitar). The great thing about learning Simple Man is that is really teaches you how to use alternate picking with your right hand and gets you really good at making sure you hit the individual guitar strings and the right guitar strings at the same time. I also love the fact that this is one of those guitar songs that makes you sound like a legendary guitarist even if you haven’t been playing for that long. This song has been in a ton of movies and is a classic rock favorite. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man is definitely a must know and every beginner should try to learn this song and or take a peek at the guitar lessons for beginners.

What is Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man About?

I’ve heard a few different stories about this song. I’ve heard that the lyrics were something that was said to Ronnie Van Zant or Gary Rossington by their mothers. Ronnie actually said that it was a great model to live by.

What’s going on in the song?

The guitar part of simple man is pretty simple (no pun intended). There’s a rhythm and a lead guitar in this song and you can definitely get away with playing it all on one guitar. In my guitar lessons for beginners, the part I teach will definitely make it sound like two guitar parts.

It’s also tuned ½ step down. I’ve put up a lesson that shows you how to tune your guitar ½ step down. If you try to play it in standard E tuning, it doesn’t sound exact and you won’t be able to play over the mp3 or backing track.

Simple Man Guitar Chords

The Simple Man Guitar Chords that you need to know are: C, G, Am (both basic chords and power chords). That’s basically the whole song.

First Tune Your Guitar ½ step down

In this song, for the guitar part that I teach, I’m basically making a few basic chords with my left hand and then using my right hand to pick the individual notes within the chord. Your right hand is always going so this will definitely help you practice getting good with discipline in your right hand.

Simple Man Intro and Verse

Simple Man Chorus

Simple Man Guitar Solo

The Solo is basically a bluesy solo with pentatonic licks and basic blues licks played both on the low and high end of the fret board. I’ve also made a guitar lesson for beginners that slows it down and breaks it down.

Simple Man Guitar Tab

I’ve also posted the Simple Man Guitar Tab to my site. I’ve tabbed it out by ear and this is the tab that I follow in the guitar lessons for beginners that I did. Click Here – Simple Man Guitar Tab

How Do I Make My Guitar Sound Like Lynyrd Skynyrd’s in Simple Man?

I’ve made it sound pretty close with my Fender guitar and/or my Epiphone Les Paul Guitar. I’d use a semi-clean tone for the intro and verse and then hit your stomp box for distortion at the chorus. I’ve got a pod xt live that gives me a tone that is almost exact. Let me know if you want it and I’ll send it to you. In terms of an amp to use, I’d use like a Fender Tweed Amp or use maybe a Marshall Amp with very low distortion and play the bridge pickup. Hope that helps… Enjoy my guitar lessons for beginners and Keep Rockin’

Tags: free online guitar lessons, guitar lessons for beginners, lynyrd skynyrd