"My My Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)" by Neil Young

Riff Rundown

Difficulty: Intermediate

This song is really only intermediate because of Neil Young's strumming. There are quite a few strange twists that he throws in the song, but overall, just strum loosely on this one. On each verse, we tried to make it sound as much like the tablature shows, but the concept is really just his own style, and therefore, his own strumming pattern.

There have also been a few requests to show the chords when possible. They are shown on the tablature in this particular song, so there is no need to show them again. Each chord is noted above each tablature.

You will need to tune as followed :

D, G, C, F, A, D

Intro

The intro has a recurring theme of Am, G, Fmaj7, and F. What you will be doing is transititioning using walking notes. Notice that the F that we see below is the "Mel Bay" F, where you don't barre the F chord, as you see sometimes. Also pay close attention to the dotted note at the end of the fourth measure below. You will also see an accent, marked as ">" in the sixth and seventh measures below. Though the intro plays the same four chords, they are improvised a little more as we progress through the intro. However, each and every measure moves us right into the next one with the walking notes.

Video 1 ( Fingerings )

Video 2 ( Strumming )

Verse 1

The verse follows the same vibe as the intro, with more of a strumming going on. The chords are mostly the same, with the exception of the C/F chord, which is easly played if you are playing the "Mel Bay" F chord. The main thing to notice is the way he is playing the G chord, due to the tuning of the song.

Video 1

Video 2

Pre Verse

The pre-verse is just a recap of everything you played in the intro.

Verse 2

The only major difference with this verse is the mutes on the acoustic in the first two measures.

Interlude

We're still walking notes and playing the basic chord formation. Don't forget the slide after the accent in the sixth measure!

Harmonica Solo

Ok. This was rather difficult to get down because of the normal arrangement of the acoustic guitar. If you have a very deep cutaway, this solo won't be difficult. However, if you are like me and have a mostly standard acoustic guitar, you may have trouble getting this to sound right. IT CAN BE DONE, but it's rather tricky.

Video

Verse 3

Now we revert back to the basic strumming idea in this verse, minus the walking notes.

Out Solo

As referred in the first solo, you may have a little trouble getting this to work right. Once again, it can be done, but it will take some practice. We slowed down the video SUPER SLOW so that you could see the way the solo can affect the notes you are trying to play on your acoustic. It is rather difficult to get the sliding notes to sound right, but it is possible.

Video

Riff Resources

Complete Transcription To "My My Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)" (PDF)

Complete Transcription To "My My Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)" (PTB)