Just starting to learn West Coast Swing? Are you wanting to practice but you just don’t know which songs are good for beginners? Well, you’re in luck! We’ve asked a variety of instructors/DJs from the Twin Cities and have compiled a list of songs that are good for beginners to practice to!
The list below is, by default, sorted by beats per minute (bpm) starting from slowest to fastest. Each song should have generally easy to hear beats that should make it easy for you to practice your West Coast Swing!
| Song Name | Artist | Genre | BPM | DJ | Buy | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royals | Lorde | Pop | 85 | Tim Eide | YouTube | |
| For What It’s Worth | Jeffery Osborne | R&B/Soul | 88 | Tim Eide | YouTube | |
| Everybody Knows | John Legend | R&B | 90 | Hieu Le | YouTube | |
| Save Me for Later | Suzie Vinnick | Blues | 90 | Hieu Le | YouTube | |
| I Got the Blues | Brother Yusef | Blues | 90 | Tim Eide | YouTube | |
| Black Velvet | Alannah Myles | Rock | 91 | Tim Eide | YouTube | |
| Let's Rock | Chrisette Michele | R&B/Soul | 92 | Chris Kempainen | YouTube | |
| Marvin & Miles | Gare Du Nord | Jazz | 93 | Tim Eide | YouTube | |
| The Ghost Inside | Broken Bells | Alternative Rock | 94 | Chris Kempainen | YouTube | |
| In Tangerine | Bernhoft | Pop | 95 | Chris Kempainen | YouTube | |
| The Big Bang | Rock Mafia | Pop | 96 | Hieu Le | YouTube | |
| The Itch | Keb' Mo' | Blues | 96 | Hieu Le | YouTube | |
| My Baby's Tellin' Lies | Keb' Mo' | Blues | 96 | Bob Zimmerman | YouTube | |
| Anything's Possible | Jonny Lang | Rock | 96 | Bob Zimmerman | YouTube | |
| Tired of Being Alone | Al Green | R&B/Soul | 97 | Bob Zimmerman | YouTube | |
| Change the World | Eric Clapton | Rock | 97 | Bob Zimmerman | YouTube | |
| All Rise | Blue | Rock | 98 | Bob Zimmerman | YouTube | |
| Ain't Leavin Without You | Jaheim | R&B | 99 | Chris Kempainen | YouTube | |
| Absolutely Positively | Anastasia | Pop | 101 | Chris Kempainen | YouTube | |
| Because of You | Ne-Yo | R&B/Soul | 110 | Hieu Le | YouTube |
Do you have any beginner songs that you’ve used for practice/lessons? List them below in the comments section!
