Choosing the perfect next song on guitar isn't easy – especially when every player's experience is different. There's no one-size-fits-all answer to "What song should I learn on guitar?" because song difficulty is subjective. A riff that's a breeze for one player might be frustrating for another, and a song deemed "easy" in a book might feel hard in practice.
This is where Riff.quest comes in. It's a free guitar practice and song discovery platform that helps you browse thousands of songs by actual difficulty levels, rated by the players who practiced them – not just theory.
Key Takeaways
- Difficulty is subjective – theoretical labels (beginner/intermediate/advanced) rarely match how a song actually feels to play.
- Riff.quest scores songs 0–10 based on real player feedback, grouped into five tiers from D (easiest) to S (legendary).
- You can browse the public song library without an account to see ratings for thousands of tracks.
- Ratings improve over time – every practice session you rate makes the community score more accurate.
- Filtering by tier helps you avoid songs that are far outside your comfort zone in either direction.
Why Picking Your Next Guitar Song Is Tough
Picking a new song to learn involves more than just liking the tune – you have to match it to your current skill. If it's too easy, you'll get bored; too hard, and you'll get frustrated or quit. One guitarist wisely advises: "Make sure you play songs that match your skill level at first, then start challenging yourself (it'll be frustrating)." Without guidance, trial-and-error selection leads to wasted practice time and aggravation.
The challenge is compounded by the subjective nature of song difficulty. Every player has different strengths (fingerpicking vs. strumming, speed vs. feel) and different musical tastes. As Guitar Tricks instructors explain, "Different standards are used to label different styles and different songs… it's difficult to assign difficulty ratings objectively across the board for all songs & all players." A complex fingerstyle ballad might be easy for a classical player but hard for a rocker, while a fast rock riff may feel simple to a metal fan but tough to a beginner.
Guessing song difficulty alone is risky. Beginners commonly feel discouraged when progress is slow, and tackling an overly ambitious song can make it worse. Setting realistic goals — like starting with suitable songs — is key to staying motivated.
Because of this, many guitarists searching "what guitar song should I learn next?" or "how hard is [song name] on guitar?" find conflicting answers:
- One tutorial lists a song as intermediate, another calls it advanced
- "Easy songs for beginners" lists that don't match your own experience
- Chord charts that say "3 chords, simple strumming" while ignoring tricky finger movement or fast tempo
- Ratings based on theory (chord count, time signature) instead of how the song actually feels under your fingers
Difficulty Is Personal — How Riff.quest Solves It
Because ratings from books and tutorials are inconsistent, Riff.quest takes a different approach: instead of analyzing a song's structure on paper, it lets real users rate each song after practicing it. The result is a dynamic difficulty rating that reflects actual player experience.
Every song entry on Riff.quest shows a difficulty score from 0–10, tallied from user feedback. A couple of real examples from the library:
| Song | Artist | Difficulty | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wish You Were Here | Pink Floyd | 3.5 / 10 | D — Beginner |
| Master of Puppets | Metallica | 8.9 / 10 | A — Expert |
These aren't arbitrary — they come from guitarists like you who practiced the tracks. At a glance you see: Master of Puppets is really tough, but Wish You Were Here is beginner-friendly.
Understanding Riff.quest's Difficulty Tiers
Riff.quest groups every song's 0–10 score into five tiers, so you always know what you're getting into before you commit hours of practice to it:
Legendary difficulty. Reserved for the most technically demanding songs.
Expert-level pieces that challenge experienced guitarists significantly.
Advanced songs with complex fingering, speed, or expressive demands.
Intermediate songs requiring basic technique and consistent practice.
Great starting point. Simple chord progressions and beginner-friendly riffs.
You can browse the public song library and filter by tier, genre, or artist — no account needed to explore.
Start with songs firmly in your current tier to build confidence. Once you've mastered a handful of D-tier or C-tier pieces, move up to the next tier gradually rather than jumping straight to S-tier.
What Makes the Library Different
Riff.quest's song library covers rock, pop, metal, jazz — any genre — and pairs every song with real player feedback instead of a static "beginner/intermediate/advanced" label:
- Explore by difficulty tier: Jump straight to D-tier if you're starting out, or browse S-tier for a challenge as an advanced player.
- Community-rated scores: After you finish learning a song, Riff.quest asks how hard it felt. Your rating joins everyone else's, so the displayed difficulty is always crowd-sourced.
- Avoid frustration: Filtering for your skill level means you don't waste time on songs far beyond you — or get bored with ones that are too easy.
- Level up gradually: Once you master enough songs in your tier, move up one step at a time instead of guessing.
- Progress tracking: Riff.quest is also a practice tracker. It logs your sessions and remembers which songs you've learned and rated, painting a clear picture of how you're improving.
Browse the Song Library
See real difficulty ratings for thousands of songs before you commit a single practice session — filter by tier, genre, or artist.
Explore Song LibraryAdd Your Voice: Rate Songs and Refine Difficulty
One of the strengths of Riff.quest is its community aspect. Once you sign up (it's free), you can not only search and filter songs but also contribute your own ratings. After practicing a song, Riff.quest prompts you to rate how hard it was — each new rating fine-tunes the community difficulty score.
Over time, obscure or miscategorized songs get corrected by consensus. If a song's difficulty feels off (say a "beginner" tune actually contains a tough solo), your rating helps adjust its tier. This crowdsourced method means the library reflects real-world practice challenges, helping everyone avoid the trap of misleading "easy chord charts."
How to Find Your Next Song on Riff.quest
Using Riff.quest is straightforward — think of it as your personal song-finder:
- Set up your profile: Free account creation only takes a minute. You can indicate your skill level or goals if you like.
- Browse the song library: Sort or filter by difficulty tier, artist, or genre.
- Check difficulty ratings: For any song, see the average score (0–10) and how many users rated it.
- Plan your practice: Add the song to your practice list, and Riff.quest tracks your practice time.
- Practice and rate: When you feel you've got it down, rate how hard it was — this updates the community score.
By repeatedly doing this — filter, select, practice, rate — you steadily build both your skills and a curated list of songs you've mastered.
Ready to Find Your Next Song?
Learning guitar should be fun and rewarding, not frustrating. With Riff.quest, you can finally answer "What song should I learn next?" by letting data and community feedback guide you instead of guessing. Beginners can confidently pick their first acoustic track, intermediate players can explore more advanced riffs without guesswork, and veterans can challenge themselves with songs marked in the top tier.
Find Your Next Guitar Song
It's free to join — no credit card needed. Search by difficulty, track your progress over time, and contribute to the guitar community by rating songs yourself.
Start FreeFAQs
How does Riff.quest calculate a song's difficulty rating?
Every song's difficulty is a 0–10 score averaged from ratings submitted by guitarists who actually practiced it. Instead of theoretical criteria like chord count, it reflects how hard the song genuinely feels to play, and it updates as more players rate it.
What do the D, C, B, A, and S tiers mean?
They're difficulty bands built from the 0–10 score: D (1–3.9) is beginner-friendly, C (4–5.9) is intermediate, B (6–7.4) is advanced, A (7.5–8.9) is expert-level, and S (9–10) is reserved for the most technically demanding songs.
Do I need an account to see song difficulty ratings?
No. You can browse the public song library and see difficulty scores and tiers for free without signing up. Creating a free account lets you add songs to your practice list, track progress, and rate songs yourself.
How do I pick a song that's challenging but not frustrating?
Look for a song one tier above what you can already play comfortably. A song firmly within your current tier builds confidence, while going more than one tier higher usually leads to frustration rather than progress.
