The 2010s Guitar
2010–2019
The 2010s saw guitar music thrive in new ways. While pop charts were dominated by electronic production, guitar-driven artists found massive audiences through streaming, social media and live performance. A new generation of players emerged alongside the legends.
Ed Sheeran proved acoustic guitar could top global charts. Ghost brought theatrical metal to a mainstream audience. Metallica and Iron Maiden continued to fill stadiums. And creators on YouTube made guitar education more accessible than ever.
Essential Songs from The 2010s
A
Adele 9
Jason Aldean 1
Marshmello & Anne-Marie 1
James Arthur 1
Avantasia 1
Avicii 4
Iggy Azalea 1
B
Zac Brown Band 1
Clean Bandit 3
Bastille 1
James Bay 2
Never Be 1
Belousova, Sonya 1
Justin Bieber 10
- 1 Cold Water ACOUSTIC 2015
- 2 Company ACOUSTIC 2014
- 3 Despacito ACOUSTIC 2017
- 4 Hard 2 Face Reality ACOUSTIC 2013
- 5 I'll Show You COVER 2013
- 6 Let Me Love You ACOUSTIC 2015
- 7 Life Is Worth Living ACOUSTIC 2013
- 8 Love Yourself ACOUSTIC 2013
- 9 Sorry COVER 2015
- 10 What Do You Mean ACOUSTIC 2013
Sheet Music Boss 1
Fall Out Boy 1
Alter Bridge 1
C
Camila Cabello 3
Alessia Cara 2
The Chainsmokers 6
Milky Chance 1
Kelly Clarkson 1
Coldplay 5
The Chainsmokers & Coldplay 1
D
Darkenhöld 6
Dusk Till Dawn 1
Jason Derulo 1
Zooey Deschanel 1
One Direction 29
- 1 18 ACOUSTIC 2012
- 2 ACT MY AGE ACOUSTIC 2014
- 3 AM ACOUSTIC 2015
- 4 Drag Me Down COVER 2015
- 5 GIRL ALMIGHTY ACOUSTIC 2015
- 6 Half a heart ACOUSTIC 2012
- 7 History ACOUSTIC 2014
- 8 Home ACOUSTIC 2012
- 9 I Want To Write You A Song ACOUSTIC 2014
- 10 If I Could Fly ACOUSTIC 2014
- 11 Infinity ACOUSTIC 2012
- 12 Irresistible ACOUSTIC 2014
- 13 Little Things ACOUSTIC 2012
- 14 Love You Goodbye ACOUSTIC 2014
- 15 Moments ACOUSTIC 2011
- 16 MORE THAN THIS ACOUSTIC 2011
- 17 Night Changes COVER 2014
- 18 NO CONTROL ACOUSTIC 2014
- 19 Over Again ACOUSTIC 2012
- 20 Perfect ACOUSTIC 2015
- 21 READY TO RUN" ACOUSTIC 2015
- 22 Right Now ACOUSTIC 2012
- 23 SPACES ACOUSTIC 2014
- 24 STEAL MY GIRL ACOUSTIC 2014
- 25 Stockholm Syndrome ACOUSTIC 2012
- 26 Story of My Life ACOUSTIC 2014
- 27 Through The Dark ACOUSTIC 2012
- 28 Where Do Broken Hearts Go ACOUSTIC 2014
- 29 You and I ACOUSTIC 2013
Panic! at the Disco 3
Djawadi, Ramin 1
Imagine Dragons 10
E
Echosmith 1
F
Foo Fighters 2
Greta Van Fleet 3
Five Nights at Freddy's 1
G
Lady Gaga 5
Disturbed / Simon & Garfunkel 1
Ghost 11
Tokyo Ghoul 1
David Gilmour 1
Selena Gomez 1
Ryan Gosling 1
Ellie Goulding 2
Lukas Graham 1
Andy Grammer 1
Ariana Grande 4
David Guetta 1
H
Halestorm 2
Ella Henderson 1
Niall Horan 3
Bring Me The Horizon 4
I
Tones And I 1
J
Jessie J 1
Carly Rae Jepsen 1
Vance Joy 1
K
Kavinsky 1
Kehlani 1
Tori Kelly 2
Machine Gun Kelly 1
The Black Keys 1
Wiz Khalifa 1
We The Kings 1
Kygo, Selena Gomez 1
L
Adam Lambert 1
John Legend 1
Kings of Leon 2
Def Leppard 1
British Lion 1
Dua Lipa 1
Martin Garrix & Dua Lipa 1
Tove Lo 1
Demi Lovato 5
All Time Low 2
Al Di Meola & Paco de Lucía 1
The Lumineers 4
M
Iron Maiden 9
- 1 Empire Of The Clouds Dave Murray TAB 2015
- 2 The Book of Souls COVER 2015
- 3 The Book Of Souls Dave Murray's TAB 2015
- 4 The Book Of Souls Janick Gers TAB 2015
- 5 The Final Frontier Adrian Smith TAB 2010
- 6 The Writing On The Wall Adrian Smith TAB 2015
- 7 When The Wild Wind Blows TAB 2010
- 8 When The Wild Wind Blows Dave Murray's TAB 2015
- 9 When The Wild Wind Blows Janick Gers's TAB 2019
Portugal. The Man 1
Rag'n'Bone Man 1
The Mandalorian 1
Bruno Mars 4
John Mayer 3
Shawn Mendes 26
- 1 Act Like You love Me ACOUSTIC 2014
- 2 Air ACOUSTIC 2014
- 3 Bad Reputation ACOUSTIC 2014
- 4 Because I Had You ACOUSTIC 2018
- 5 Believe ACOUSTIC 2014
- 6 Bring It Back ACOUSTIC 2015
- 7 Crazy ACOUSTIC 2015
- 8 Fallin' All In You ACOUSTIC 2014
- 9 Honest ACOUSTIC 2014
- 10 I Don't Even Know Your Name ACOUSTIC 2014
- 11 Imagination ACOUSTIC 2014
- 12 In My Blood ACOUSTIC 2018
- 13 Kid in Love ACOUSTIC 2014
- 14 Life of the Party ACOUSTIC 2014
- 15 Mercy ACOUSTIC 2014
- 16 No Promises ACOUSTIC 2017
- 17 Patience ACOUSTIC 2016
- 18 Show You ACOUSTIC 2014
- 19 Stitches COVER 2015
- 20 The Weight ACOUSTIC 2015
- 21 There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back ACOUSTIC 2017
- 22 There's Nothing Holding Me Back COVER 2017
- 23 This is What It Takes ACOUSTIC 2014
- 24 Three Empty Words ACOUSTIC 2017
- 25 Treat You Better COVER 2014
- 26 When You're Gone ACOUSTIC 2018
Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello 1
Metallica 12
- 1 All Within My Hands LESSON 2016
- 2 Atlas, Rise! LESSON 2017
- 3 Dream No More LESSON 2016
- 4 Halo On Fire LESSON 2016
- 5 Hardwired LESSON 2016
- 6 Moth Into Flame TAB 2016
- 7 Now That We're Dead LESSON 2016
- 8 Spit Out The Bone LESSON 2016
- 9 Spit Out The Bone Guitar Solo LESSON 2016
- 10 The Unforgiven III TAB 2011
- 11 Through The Never TAB 2013
- 12 Through the Never - Main Riffs LESSON 2013
Bea Miller 2
Little Mix 3
Arctic Monkeys 4
Walk the Moon 1
N
The Neighbourhood 1
O
P
Linkin Park 1
Passenger 1
Christina Perri 1
Katy Perry 5
Twenty One Pilots 4
Five Finger Death Punch 1
Charlie Puth 6
R
One Republic 1
Martin Garrix & Bebe Rexha 1
Lana Del Rey 1
Rihanna 3
Mark Ronson 1
S
Calum Scott 2
The Script 1
Avenged Sevenfold 5
Ed Sheeran 46
- 1 AFIRE LOVE " Complete ACOUSTIC 2014
- 2 Afterglow ACOUSTIC 2017
- 3 All Of The Stars ACOUSTIC 2014
- 4 Autumn Leaves ACOUSTIC 2011
- 5 Beautiful People ACOUSTIC 2017
- 6 Best Part Of Me People Yebba ACOUSTIC 2014
- 7 Bloodstream ACOUSTIC 2014
- 8 Castle on the Hill LESSON 2017
- 9 Dark Times ACOUSTIC 2014
- 10 DIVE ACOUSTIC 2017
- 11 DON'T ACOUSTIC 2014
- 12 Drunk ACOUSTIC 2014
- 13 Eraser ACOUSTIC 2014
- 14 First Times ACOUSTIC 2011
- 15 Friends ACOUSTIC 2011
- 16 Galway Girl ACOUSTIC 2017
- 17 Give Me Love ACOUSTIC 2011
- 18 Happier ACOUSTIC 2014
- 19 Hearts Don't Break Round Here ACOUSTIC 2014
- 20 How Would You Feel ACOUSTIC 2014
- 21 I See Fire ACOUSTIC 2013
- 22 I'm A Mess ACOUSTIC 2014
- 23 Kiss Me ACOUSTIC 2011
- 24 Lego House ACOUSTIC 2011
- 25 Life Goes On ACOUSTIC 2017
- 26 Love In Slow Motion ACOUSTIC 2014
- 27 New Man ACOUSTIC 2014
- 28 One ACOUSTIC 2011
- 29 One Life ACOUSTIC 2014
- 30 Perfect TAB 2014
- 31 Photograph COVER 2014
- 32 Photograph - Super Easy w/No Capo LESSON 2014
- 33 Salt Water ACOUSTIC 2011
- 34 Sandman ACOUSTIC 2017
- 35 Save Myself ACOUSTIC 2014
- 36 Shape Of You COVER 2017
- 37 Shape of You - Guitar ACOUSTIC 2014
- 38 Slowly ACOUSTIC 2011
- 39 Small Bump ACOUSTIC 2011
- 40 Supermarket Flowers ACOUSTIC 2017
- 41 Tenerife Sea ACOUSTIC 2014
- 42 The A Team ACOUSTIC 2011
- 43 Thinking Out Loud COVER 2014
- 44 Thinking Out Loud Pt.1 - Chords LESSON 2014
- 45 Thinking Out Loud Pt.2 - Solo LESSON 2014
- 46 What Do I Know ACOUSTIC 2014
Tori Kelly & Ed Sheeran 1
Naruto Shippuden 1
The Greatest Showman 1
Sia 11
- 1 Alive COVER 2016
- 2 Big Girls Cry ACOUSTIC 2013
- 3 Chandelier COVER 2013
- 4 Cheap Thrills COVER 2015
- 5 Dusk Till Dawn ACOUSTIC 2016
- 6 Elastic Heart COVER 2014
- 7 Fire Meet Gasoline COVER 2016
- 8 Hero ACOUSTIC 2014
- 9 SALTED WOUND ACOUSTIC 2016
- 10 The Greatest COVER 2016
- 11 Thunderclouds COVER 2016
Alex & Sierra 1
Arijit Singh 1
Slash 5
Sam Smith 4
DJ Snake 2
Major Lazer & DJ Snake 1
Hailee Steinfeld 1
Harry Styles 4
5 Seconds of Summer 10
- 1 18 ACOUSTIC 2014
- 2 Broken Home ACOUSTIC 2014
- 3 Disconnected ACOUSTIC 2014
- 4 Fly Away ACOUSTIC 2011
- 5 Heartbreak Girl ACOUSTIC 2013
- 6 Invisible ACOUSTIC 2014
- 7 She Looks So Perfect COVER 2014
- 8 She's Kinda Hot COVER 2015
- 9 Vapor ACOUSTIC 2014
- 10 Want You Back ACOUSTIC 2014
Superheaven 1
Taylor Swift 12
- 1 ...Ready For It? COVER 2017
- 2 Bad Blood ACOUSTIC 2014
- 3 Blank Space COVER 2014
- 4 How You Get The Girl ACOUSTIC 2012
- 5 I Don't Wanna Live Forever ACOUSTIC 2016
- 6 Look What You Made Me Do COVER 2016
- 7 New Romantics ACOUSTIC 2015
- 8 Safe and Sound ACOUSTIC 2012
- 9 Shake It Off COVER 2014
- 10 STYLE ACOUSTIC 2014
- 11 Wildest Dreams COVER 2014
- 12 Wonderland ACOUSTIC 2014
Sandra Szabo 1
T
Dream Theater 2
Game of Thrones Theme 1
Game of Thrones 1
Attack on Titan 1
Louis Tomlinson 1
Little Big Town 1
Meghan Trainor 2
U
Undertale 1
V
W
Alan Walker 6
The Weeknd 11
- 1 Angel COVER 2014
- 2 Blinding Lights COVER 2019
- 3 Can't Feel My Face COVER 2015
- 4 Earned It COVER 2014
- 5 I Feel It Coming ACOUSTIC 2016
- 6 I Feel It Coming ft. Daft Punk COVER 2016
- 7 In the Night COVER 2015
- 8 Shameless COVER 2018
- 9 Starboy ft. Daft Punk COVER 2016
- 10 The Hills COVER 2015
- 11 Wicked Games COVER 2011
Westworld 1
Jacob Whitesides 2
Juice WRLD 1
Y
Years & Years 1
Yungblud 1
Z
Zimmer, Hans 1
#
Luke Bryan : 1
Pitch Perfect 2 1
Maroon 5 6
5SOS 10
- 1 Amnesia ACOUSTIC 2013
- 2 Don't Stop ACOUSTIC 2014
- 3 Good Girls ACOUSTIC 2014
- 4 I Can't Remember ACOUSTIC 2014
- 5 Jet Black Heart ACOUSTIC 2014
- 6 Permanent Vacation ACOUSTIC 2014
- 7 San Francisco ACOUSTIC 2014
- 8 She's Kinda Hot ACOUSTIC 2015
- 9 The Girl Who Cried Wolf ACOUSTIC 2014
- 10 Wherever You Are ACOUSTIC 2014
Guitar in the 2010s
Ed Sheeran redefined what a solo guitarist could do on stage, using loop pedals, percussive slaps and clever arrangements to fill arenas with just an acoustic guitar. On the heavier side, Ghost proved that riff-heavy, hook-laden metal could still break through to mainstream audiences.
The decade also saw a blues revival with artists like Gary Clark Jr., Joe Bonamassa and John Mayer keeping traditional guitar tones alive. Djent and progressive metal pushed technical boundaries through bands like Periphery and Animals as Leaders. And classic acts like Metallica, Iron Maiden and Slash released some of their strongest work in years.
Gear That Defined the Decade
Digital amp modelers (Kemper, Axe-Fx, Line 6 Helix) matured into professional-grade tools. Multi-scale and extended-range guitars became common in metal. Compact pedalboards replaced rack systems. And the guitar tutorial industry on YouTube created a new generation of educated players.
Key Genres of the 2010s
Pop Rock, Pop, Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Alternative Rock. The 2010s proved that guitar is never going away. It just keeps evolving.