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26 Easy Songs to Sing for Beginners That Sound Amazing

November 6, 2023
Easy songs to sing

Want to improve your singing skills?

I’ve compiled the best easy songs to sing for beginners.

This list features crowd-pleasing tunes with simple melodies and vocal ranges perfect for building confidence.

Top picks of the easy songs to sing for beginners

  • “Fly Me to the Moon” – Frank Sinatra
  • “Let It Be” – The Beatles
  • “You Ain’t Nothin’ but a Hound Dog” – Elvis Presley
  • “Bye, Bye Love” – The Everley Brothers
  • “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” – Cyndi Lauper
  • “Blue Moon” – Ella Fitzgerald
  • “Waterloo” – ABBA
  • “Dance Monkey” – Tones and I
  • “A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square” – Vera Lynn
  • “I’m a Believer” – The Monkees

1. “Fly Me to the Moon” – Frank Sinatra

A classic crooners piece that can be adapted with a few flourishes once your confidence builds, and you can improvise vocally.

2. “Let It Be” – The Beatles

This song is sung with a heartfelt vocal line; it doesn’t require a lot of vocal strength behind the notes because of its vulnerability.

The lyrics of the chorus are very repetitive, and the tune is undemanding.

Don’t forget to pin this playlist for later!

A playlist of easy songs to sing for beginners.

3. “You Ain’t Nothin’ but a Hound Dog” – Elvis Presley

The majority of the verse melody takes place over just 3 notes, rising slightly toward the end.

You can get away with singing it with relatively little effort if you put in the energy.

Everybody loves to listen to a bit of Elvis, but the rock and rollers, and dreamy vocals can be a lot more difficult when it comes to many of his popular songs.

We wouldn’t recommend starting with “Can’t Help Falling in Love”, but this classic from the king is less of a vocal stretch.

4. “Bye, Bye Love” – The Everley Brothers

“Bye, Bye Love” is a straightforward tune, and the melody sits on a repetitive ostinato note.

Because the song was written as a duet to be sung in unison, it was more about showing off the harmonies between the two vocals, so the melody itself is minimalistic.

In fact, the words “Bye Love” that gives the piece its title are all on the same note each time around. The words will also not be a problem to memorize.

5. “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” –  Cyndi Lauper

The highest and lowest notes are not too far from one another.

It is a fun song to sing and will rally the audience to join in. It has an easy refrain with simple lyrics.

6. “Blue Moon” – Ella Fitzgerald

As a real classic piece, the words are very well known. The melody is repetitive.

It can be sung in a very laid back sultry style or chested to the heavens, making it great for a beginner who will eventually develop as a singer later on.

7. “Waterloo” – ABBA

The power behind “Waterloo” is not so much a strong set of lungs. It is almost a shouted sort of power.

The words are pretty memorable, sing-along lyrics. The melody is effortless staccato notes.

There are a few low notes to contend with that may not be within your range, though, so make sure you have a good idea of what your voice type is.

Songs for Beginners with High Voices

8. “Dance Monkey” – Tones and I

“Dance Monkey” is a little trickier in terms of rhythm and fitting in the syllables, but the tune is straightforward and pretty.

It will show off your vocals without being too difficult to maneuver your vocal cords around.

The key is fairly high, but it is a safe bet if you have a mid -to-soprano voice. The words are once again very simple as a lot of dance music tends to be lyrically speaking.

9. “A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square” – Vera Lynn

“A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square” is another well-known ‘jazz standard’ that has a slow tempo giving you space to breathe well throughout.

The words are easy, the tune isn’t complex, and it has a few areas that give you a little challenge without asking too much of a beginner.

10. “I’m a Believer” – The Monkees

“I’m a Believer” is a great song. It has a chipper tempo, and the words and melody lines are straightforward, but it is on the higher side. Making it a good option for males with higher voices to tackle.

There are some powerful notes towards the end during the outro, but they aren’t key to the song’s main part and down to your own interpretation.

So long as you don’t push yourself outside of your capabilities, it is a great beginner’s song to sing.

Beginners’ songs for a low voice

11. “Hit the Road Jack” – Ray Charles

This one is a classic that has a straightforward undulating melody line that climbs but is not out of comfortable reach.

12. “Brown Eyed Girl” – Van Morrison

The highest part of this tune is ‘you’re my.’ Just before the chorus with its sing-along la, la-la’s that you will probably find you get a lot of help from the audience with anyway!

The words are unvaried, and the pace, although musically quite uptempo, is pretty chilled.

There are no big lines that need a stolen breath. It is quite the middle of the road but fun nonetheless to perform.

13. “What a Wonderful World” – Louis Armstrong

Although Louis Armstrong has a recognizable, powerful voice, the repetitive structure, slow tempo, and simple lyrics of a wonderful world make it a great beginner song to sing.

The range is a little more of a stretch, but if you have power in your chest register, it is a good tune to show off your low-end.

Beginner Songs Suitable for Children

14. “Price Tag” – Jessie J

With memorable lyrics that have a strong positive message to impart and a low-demand melody, “Price Tag” is a fun song for young singers to begin with.

15. “Roar” – Katy Perry

With fun, empowering lyrics, and a tune that doesn’t really climb, “Roar” is a great song for kids to learn.

The verses have staccato words that span less than an octave. They are sung in an almost spoken manner, and the choruses waver zig-zagging on those big notes that kids will love to over-emphasize.

16. “A Million Dreams” – From The Greatest Showman

Children naturally have a higher vocal type until they become adults, and their voices develop differently, changing quite dramatically.

Although this one shows the tune, which typically we would advise you away from as a beginner, it has uplifting lyrics ideal for children, and the tune is easy to remember.

17. “I Believe I Can Fly” – R.Kelly

With some of the simplest lyrics written for a chorus and a tricky melody to get out of your head, “I Believe I Can Fly” is another solid choice for younger singers.

The range has a reasonable span, but it is manageable.

Beginner-friendly songs for groups and choirs

18. “Lean On Me” – Bill Withers

“Lean On Me” is a timeless piece for choral arrangement; it can be kept as simplistic as you need it for a beginner or be intricately expanded upon.

At its core, it is an effortless piece; the lyrics are easy to get to grips with and positive and bubbly. The main melody is basic, and you can easily add interest with even the simplest of harmony lines.

19. “This Little Light of Mine (I’m Gonna Let It Shine)”

The same can be said for this one as above. The words repeat, there isn’t much to them to remember, so you can really let go and have fun with it.

The tune is very easy, but the gospel style of the piece gives the choir leader plenty of wiggle room to make it into a huge piece.  

For beginners, it can simply be a 3 or 4-part harmony piece utilizing the drop-in and drop-out of unison choral singing, stripping it back to its root melody line.

Easy Duets for Beginners to Sing

20. “Sweet Dreams” – The Eurythmics

“Sweet Dreams” has 2 parts to sing, so depending on your range, it could be a no-no as a solo piece, but the two are super-simple when considering each part separately.

The words are repetitive, and the main melody spans just 4 or 5 notes. So if you are beginners forming a duo, it is an ideal song to learn when starting.

21. “The Sound of Silence” – Simon, and Garfunkel

With its almost monotonous melody and close harmonies with easy guitar tabs that follow one another very strictly, “The Sound of Silence” makes a great track to learn for a couple of beginners.

More simple songs to sing: Honorable mentions

A few other easy songs that don’t fit well into the categorizing we have chosen to stick to above. Or, on the contrary, don’t tick all the obvious things to look for in an easy song to sing for one reason or another. Here they are…

22. “Take a Walk on the Wild Side” – Lou Reed

This song relies on the spoken word rather a lot, which means you don’t have to have the best voice in the world to perform it.

It has a very relaxed manner about it, and you won’t need any real power or diaphragmatic support behind it to give a good rendition.

23. “We Will Rock You” – Queen

Again, this song doesn’t tick all the usual ‘easy’ to sing boxes. For starters, it is sung by someone who undoubtedly has one of the best voices in musical history.

It is also a powerful piece of complicated guitar chords but, the lyrical content is easy, it is a crowd-pleaser, and the range isn’t complicated.

The power comes from the chest register, where we are all naturally a little more developed anyway. You need to be a bit gutsy with the delivery and try not to shout or strain.

24. “The Man Who Sold the World” – David Bowie

“The Man Who Sold The World” has a slow, melancholy downwards tilting melody.

Although a higher singer will struggle with it, anyone with a lower voice or less power in their chest register is going to enjoy this one.

It is almost apologetically spoken and conversational. The words are relatively straightforward, and even the highest-held notes are still comfortably low considering.

25. “Blowin’ in the Wind” –  Bob Dylan

“Blowin’ in the Wind” is a memorable song with a pretty basic tune; it doesn’t have any high notes that you will struggle with.

26. “American Pie” – Don McLean

Although this song is a saga with many verses and words to learn, the tune is relatively simple and unwavering.

It doesn’t demand much of a vocalist as a very middle-of-the-road song, and you will likely get the crowd singing along throughout, which always provides great encouragement.

What Makes a Song Easy to Sing?

As we mentioned in our intro, there is a lot to learn in the early days if you don’t want to strain your voice or embarrass yourself when a song is out of your comfort zone or above and beyond your current skill level.

To begin with, you want to pick a low-pressure song that has a comfortable but limited vocal range between its highest and lowest points, with no intricate melismas to manage.

Other things to consider are simplistic rhythms, 4/4 bars, and relatively simple lyrics, or, at the very least easy to remember, are a good place to start if you intend to perform.

They need to be easy to remember unless you are going to have the words on the screen.

You don’t want to forget the words or stumble over a wordy phrase with too many syllables. Fewer words usually mean the melody will be less staccato and slower as well making the singing easier.

The range of notes used in the melody is a huge factor. Sure eventually, you may want to impress with something complex that shows off your full range in all its glory, but baby steps are important as with anything as a beginner.

Some of the most popular hits throughout time have been simplistic melodies anyway. This is because an audience can sing along with it easily, making it memorable by the time the song has finished; usually, the chorus at the very least is stuck in your head.

Try to look for songs that don’t have notes held for the entire bar, especially if it is a slow-tempo piece, as you will need well-developed diaphragmatic support to hold a note for such a length without a breakup or problematic vibrato.

How to Pick an Easy Song to Sing Yourself?

Find a popular karaoke song, and there is usually a good reason why it is popular. Despite most karaoke performers liking to consider themselves outstanding singers, most are usually not.

Look for songs everyone sings along with when you are out, earworms. They are typically popular because they are easy to sing.

You want to find a repetitive melody that doesn’t have a huge disparity between the lowest and highest parts. Look at bands that had hits in the ’50s and ’60s, it was an exciting time for music, but with relatively little to compete with back in the early days, the songs were relatively simple.

The Beatles are a good example, catchy but simple tunes.

Avoid any big rock songs such as the Rolling Stones or musical theatre pieces; as a first-time performer, you need to strengthen your diaphragm to support belting out a big song.

Try to avoid songs that are listed as ‘great audition songs’ if you are new to singing and likewise avoid songs by notable performers, such as the likes of Freddie Mercury or Whitney Houston.

You can research artists who are considered some of the best singers to have graced us with their performances. By all means, use them as a goalpost but try to start with accessible goals.

Being able to play guitar and sing at the same time makes the performance much more engaging for the audience. People love to sing along to the acoustic guitar.

Try to practice guitar songs for beginners. Choose the simple acoustic guitar you like, learn the chords, and focus on the strumming.

Or, better still, select a few songs that share similar guitar chords so that you can learn different chord patterns and simple songs and slowly add chords while you’re still able to play your favorite songs.

Searching for the opposite is a good idea; without sounding condescending, there are plenty of artists who were not known for their impressive vocal skills but were popular in their own rights.

Such as Iggy Pop, Lily Allen, or Bob Dylan whose laid-back, almost talk-singing style might be a great place to start for someone who is not overly confident or well-practiced.

Easy Songs to Sing – Final Thoughts

If you want to start singing songs that have a little more interest within the melody structure and allow you to demonstrate your abilities and push yourself, then it is a good idea to take lessons or at least do some research.

There are many recommendable online singing lesson platforms we have reviewed to consider.

Check out our list of the best online singing lessons here or visit our recommended platform, 30 Day Singer!

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FAQs

What songs should a beginner sing?

“Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift
“Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera
“The Climb” by Miley Cyrus
“Stay with Me” by Sam Smith
“Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran
“Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles
“Can’t Stop the Feeling” by Justin Timberlake
“Shotgun” by George Ezra

What type of music is the easiest to sing?

The easiest type of music to sing is pop music because of its simple melodies with repetitive lyrics. Songs with a slow tempo are also easier for beginners to sing. It does vary from person to person however and depends on individual vocal range and style preferences.

What song is easy to sing on karaoke?

Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” is an excellent choice for karaoke, and it is widely regarded as the easiest of their songs to sing. Moreover, it is known for its potential to energize the party atmosphere.

How do I pick a good song for my voice?

To choose a good song for your voice, consider your vocal range and style preferences. Start by selecting a song that matches your vocal range and has a melody that you can comfortably sing. Additionally, choose a song that you enjoy and feel confident singing, as this can improve your performance.

You might also like to read through some of our singing guides:

Will Fenton

Will, the founder of MIDDER, is a multifaceted individual with a deep passion for music and personal finance. As a self-proclaimed music and personal finance geek, he has a keen eye for futuristic technologies, especially those that empower creators and the public.

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