Most of my students want to learn how to play songs on the guitar. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the case for you as well. However, that can mean extra work for the instructor, since they are the one who has to work out the different songs for each student.
As a teacher, my aim is to encourage my students in the direction they want to go. In order to do this, I try to accommodate their interests by providing appropriate practice material. One of the things I have noticed over the years, is that my students generally practice more when they are learning how to play songs rather than just a series of exercises.
So, to make things easier for myself, I try to keep a few songs "on hand" that use interesting chords and/or strumming, flatpicking and fingerpicking patterns. This helps my students learn specific techniques while at the same time, they are learning how to play songs on the guitar. They can then apply the techniques they've learned from these songs to any style of music they may be interested in playing later on down the road.
For example, two songs that I find serve this purpose rather nicely are Good Riddance, by Green Day and Closer To Fine by the Indigo Girls. Both of these songs use the same basic chord structure and they also have a similar rhythm. They are fairly easy to play as well, so students tend to pick them up rather quickly. The benefits of learning these songs are many. Good Riddance teaches students how to isolate specific strings on the guitar while using a pick, which is an important technique to acquire. Closer To Fine, on the other hand, has a nice strumming pattern and is useful for developing such techniques as speed control, even tempo and smooth chord changes.
I must say that one of the nice things for students today is the amount of free guitar learning material that is available on the internet... Everything from free guitar tab to free guitar lesson videos. This is really quite remarkable when you think about it. In my early days I learned a lot by just hangin' out with other guitar players and listening to records. I learned how to play a lot of great songs that way and recommend that you try to do the same!
Learning how to play songs on the guitar is definitely fun and it's very practical too! It's not that hard either. Plus, songs can provide a great incentive for practicing, as well as give you a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction when you've finally mastered a particular tune you've been working on. Not to mention that songs will make you feel like a guitar player. They will also supply you with the experience and material to play in front of an audience or in a band.
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