# 15 Easy Guitar Solos to Learn First > 15 Easy Guitar Solos to Learn First: #1 is Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes, then Smells Like Teen Spirit and Come as You Are. 15 solos, ranked. Canonical URL: These are the solos guitar teachers hand out first: short, mostly minor pentatonic, and slow enough to learn by ear. The list runs from one-string melodies (Seven Nation Army, Smells Like Teen Spirit) up to solos with real bends and vibrato (Parisienne Walkways, Nothing Else Matters, Californication). Every video starts right at the solo, so you can loop the part you are learning. 1. [Seven Nation Army](https://greatestsolos.com/song/the-white-stripes-seven-nation-army/) — The White Stripes · solo by Jack White · 2003 2. [Smells Like Teen Spirit](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-smells-like-teen-spirit/) — Nirvana · solo by Kurt Cobain · 1991 3. [Come as You Are](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-come-as-you-are/) — Nirvana · solo by Kurt Cobain · 1991 4. [Holiday](https://greatestsolos.com/song/green-day-holiday/) — Green Day · solo by Billie Joe Armstrong · 2004 5. [About a Girl](https://greatestsolos.com/song/nirvana-about-a-girl/) — Nirvana · solo by Kurt Cobain · 1989 6. [Apache](https://greatestsolos.com/song/the-shadows-apache/) — The Shadows · solo by Hank Marvin · 1960 7. [Wish You Were Here](https://greatestsolos.com/song/pink-floyd-wish-you-were-here/) — Pink Floyd · solo by David Gilmour · 1975 8. [Can't Stop](https://greatestsolos.com/song/red-hot-chili-peppers-can-t-stop/) — Red Hot Chili Peppers · solo by John Frusciante · 2002 9. [Let It Be](https://greatestsolos.com/song/the-beatles-let-it-be/) — The Beatles · solo by George Harrison · 1970 10. [Knockin' on Heaven's Door](https://greatestsolos.com/song/guns-n-roses-knockin-on-heaven-s-door/) — Guns N' Roses · solo by Slash · 1991 11. [Highway to Hell](https://greatestsolos.com/song/ac-dc-highway-to-hell/) — AC/DC · solo by Angus Young · 1979 12. [Paranoid](https://greatestsolos.com/song/black-sabbath-paranoid/) — Black Sabbath · solo by Tony Iommi · 1970 13. [Parisienne Walkways](https://greatestsolos.com/song/gary-moore-parisienne-walkways/) — Gary Moore · solo by Gary Moore · 1978 14. [Nothing Else Matters](https://greatestsolos.com/song/metallica-nothing-else-matters/) — Metallica · solo by James Hetfield · 1991 15. [Californication](https://greatestsolos.com/song/red-hot-chili-peppers-californication/) — Red Hot Chili Peppers · solo by John Frusciante · 1999 ## Quick answers ### What is the easiest guitar solo to learn? Most teachers start students on solos that stay on one string or follow the vocal melody. Seven Nation Army and Smells Like Teen Spirit are the usual first picks, because you need no bends and no fast picking. ### How long does it take to learn an easy guitar solo? The first few solos on this list are short and repetitive, and most players get them after a few practice sessions. The last few add bends and vibrato, which take longer to sound clean. ### Do I need to know scales before learning solos? No. Learning solos note for note is one of the best ways to pick up the minor pentatonic scale, because nearly every solo here is built on it. Many players learn the shape from songs and put a name to it later. --- GreatestSolos ranks the greatest guitar solos by consensus across published lists. Agent guide: [llms.txt](https://greatestsolos.com/llms.txt) · [Sitemap](https://greatestsolos.com/sitemap.xml) · [Dataset (CSV)](https://greatestsolos.com/data/greatest-guitar-solos.csv) · [How we rank](https://greatestsolos.com/method/)