Learn how to play "Harvest" by Neil Young on the guitar

In this lesson, we'll learn how to play Harvest by Neil Young on the guitar. This beautiful song is straightforward and a fantastic tune to add to your repertoire.

One of the fantastic things about this song is its consistent strumming pattern, which adds a lot to its charm. The strumming involves a bass note played with the thumb, alternating between the root of the chord and the fifth of the chord. This pattern keeps the song moving and gives it a unique rhythm that is delightful to play. Let's jump right in!

Chord Progression

The chord progression for Harvest is beautifully simple and consists of open chords. We mainly work with a D chord and occasionally throw in a B minor barre chord.

During the verse, we repeat D to A and a G. We then move to a sequence of G, A, B minor, and E. This sequence is repeated throughout the song, making it easy to follow and get into its rhythm.

The instrumental section is a simplified version of the verse, playing the first half of the sequence. This part of the song lets you focus on your strumming and feel the groove.

Strumming and Bass Note Changes

The strumming pattern in Harvest is not only consistent, as mentioned before, but also involves a cool technique of changing the bass note. This technique involves moving the bass note from the D to the A, adding a nice dynamic touch to the song.

Adding a muted hit on beats two and four can also give your strumming a bit more of a groove. This is done by hitting the thick strings with the palm of your hand while your first finger is hitting down, creating a satisfying click.

The Intro and Verse

In the intro, we start with a D chord, with a little trick of moving the first finger up a bit to mute the D string when it goes to the A. This gives a nice, clear bass note.

The verse follows the chord progression mentioned earlier, and it's repeated throughout the song. It's not a verse and chorus but rather a repeating verse that sets the song's mood.

Wrapping Up

I hope you enjoy this look at Harvest. It's a fantastic tune, lots of fun, and fairly simple to play, but it sounds really good if you put the time in to play it exactly right. So, don't forget to check out the video and follow along.

Stay tuned for more lessons, and remember: practice makes permanent. Keep playing, keep learning, and most importantly, enjoy the music!

🎵 Check out and listen all my fave tunes with this Neil Young Favourites Spotify playlist. So many awesome tunes - the orginal recordings might inspire you to learn more of his songs on acoustic guitar. :)

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