U2 Songs for Beginners

A lot of U2 songs require the use of a delay pedal, but most of the ones on this list can be played without one.  I tried to find songs that were basic strumming songs, or had some sort of guitar riff.

Staring At The Sun

This one is a good one for acoustic guitar players.  Just A minor, G, F, and E minor in the verse, and then C, A minor, D, and F in the chorus. The tempo is 70 bpm and the strumming is based on 16th notes.

One

There are two guitar parts in this song – an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar.  The acoustic guitar part is just a simple bass note strum pattern.  The chords are A minor, D sus2, F major 7, and G6 in the verse, and then C, A minor, and F major 7 in the chorus.  The tempo is 92 bpm and the strumming is based on 16th notes.

Van Diemen’s Land

This is an arpeggiated song using G, E minor, C add9, D, and (unfortunately for beginners) B minor.  It’s in E flat tuning and played at 104 bpm.  The Edge also has a slapback delay on his guitar, so there are more notes happening than he’s actually playing due to the echo.

Below is a list of some more songs with the category and approximate tempo listed.

Desire – 212 bpm – just E, A, and D, but super fast.
All I Want Is You – E flat tuning, A, D F#min – Bmin – 92 bpm
Vertigo – power chord song, pretty simple guitar solo too.
Pride – 108 bpm, riff song, and there is an arpeggiated part in the 2nd verse using barre chord forms, without the barre, so to speak.
40 – G, C – Capo 1st fret 78 bpm
Sunday Bloody Sunday – 100bpm, Bminor, arppeggiated, E flat tuning.  The strumming pattern is good for people just learning B minor.
Wild Honey – 126 bpm, C chord song – G and C in the verse, G, C, E minor, and D in the chorus
In A Little While – arpeggiated 3 note triads (Fmaj open form, D/F# form) – chorus is Bm, G, D, A  96 bpm
All Because of You – 136 bpm, E, G, D, A, Bm  Chord changes are kind of fast in this one
A Man and a Woman – 130 bpm, Bmin , A major, G major 7, and F#minor in the verse.