How to play OLD MAN by Neil Young (guitar lesson w/ chords + lyrics + tabs)

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View my additional notes for this lesson: songnotes.net/lessons/328/
***
In this lesson I'll teach you how to play Neil Young's classic song "Old Man" from his 1972 album Harvest. From start to finish, I'll teach you each part of the song: the chord shapes, progressions & timing, strumming patterns, and tabs (both beginner-friendly and advanced) for each section. While this is a tricky song, it's very much possible to simplify each part to make it more accessible without a ton of practice.
A final note, if the intro is giving you trouble -- check out the other video lesson I made, which is a 20 minute deep dive on nailing the strumming of the very difficult first chord.
Video timestamps:
- 0:00 Lesson overview
- 1:31 Chord shapes needed
- 3:37 Chord progresssions for intro/verse/chorus
- 7:36 Strumming patterns
- 9:05 Deep dive: intro riff
- 18:28 Deep dive: verse riff
- 23:15 Deep dive: chorus riff
- 27:57 Full playthrough w/ lyrics
MORE NEIL YOUNG LESSONS that I've made, right here... check'em out!
• Heart of Gold songnotes.net/lessons/204/
• My My Hey Hey songnotes.net/lessons/157/
• Harvest Moon songnotes.net/lessons/92/
• Out on the Weekend songnotes.net/lessons/28/
If you want to view more of my lessons, visit songnotes.net which is my personal collection of lessons, tabs, and notes -- all created with care by me (David Potsiadlo).
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[@songnotes]

Get the PDF @ playsongnotes.com/lessons/328 Timestamps: - 1:31 Chord shapes needed - 3:37 Chord progresssions for intro/verse/chorus - 7:36 Strumming patterns - 9:05 Deep dive: intro riff - 18:28 Deep dive: verse riff - 23:15 Deep dive: chorus riff - 27:57 Full playthrough w/ lyrics

[@madaxe79]

Don’t you mean: get the pdf by paying patreon money? No thanks, rather not support patreon.

[@500sureshot]

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP AND HARD WORK ‼ For a 70yo. Beginner, - This is exactly how I need the lessons explained…… CLEAN, clear, & simple ‼ And , by someone who seems to like what you’re doing-- TEACHING ‼ I’d like to just learn to STRUM a little bit & this was a big help‼ I’ll keep trying. Richard

[@padre4306]

I’m 72 and this guy is by far the best teacher I have ever seen ! Such Clarity and no wasted time !

[@gertvanwyk8989]

Hi David, I'm 56 and have been battling with my guitar for 2 years, but you have been making it easier for me. Thank you.

[@masonsteven77]

Outstanding. Perfect. Yours are the best lessons on KZbin. So many others gloss over details that matter. You've left no detail unexplained. You're a gifted teacher. Subscribed!

[@philipredgrave6647]

hands down the best 'Old Man' lesson online

[@adriennegulyassy757]

Great lesson. I love that you emphasize singing, and word placement. Most other KZbin teachers don’t do that. So thank you. 🙂

[@gregvaneekhout]

This is a terrific lesson. It’s clear how much thought and care and work you put into these. Very much appreciated.

[@songnotes]

Thanks Greg, appreciate that!

[@emilykeating2844]

Me too!

[@oliverappleby5827]

what an exceptionally well taught, clear and thorough lesson

[@_trevorkidd]

This lesson is amazing. went from not knowing how to play this song yesterday to pretty much nailing it today, and I'm by no means a pro guitar player.

[@mikeponcia6693]

can’t thank you enough for such an excellent lesson, painstakingly thorough and gives me so much to practice. i’m a huge fan!

[@jerseyjess6151]

You've absolutely nailed this, the perfect tab, thank you so much.

[@hoytmccurry6909]

I never thought I’d play this song. Best tutorial I’ve seen.

[@roberttaylor1588]

BOY!! You really nailed this song down in both the visual lesson and the written. Best wishes to you.

[@MrErik038]

53 and só much improved on the gitar in 2 years, thank you

[@Truth-is-King]

The intro was so tough and this is the best lesson on that part I’ve seen…. Great job making it reachable for us!!

[@stoopsolo66]

I had a LOT of “AHA!” moments watching this! What a great explanation!

[@tig954692]

Amazing lesson!!! Thanks for posting!

[@keithli9905]

This is the best and clearest tutorial of old man on KZbin!man you know what?i m from China and there’s no such lesson for the song though out wetside or any app but finally and fortunately found you here!very useful and helpful thanks a lot!!!!😊

[@josephpanzarellasr.8370]

Did a great job on this classic David. Thank You. Looking forward to your other lessons!

[@titteryenot4524]

You’re easily one of the best on KZbin doing this stuff. Your attention to detail is superb! 👍

[@JeffSG71]

Great tutorial, couldn’t figure out the nuances and hammer ons until this leason!! Thank you ! Much appreciated!!

[@johnfields1442]

Thanks David as many others world wide i have always enjoyed Neil Young and following you along today has been a buzz

[@stanleykostrzewski7222]

This is a great Neil Young song. What a terrific lesson , so informative, thanks for that .

[@mikeponcia6693]

Fantastic lesson, painstakingly detailed which will help me grow as a player. keep up the great work and thanks

[@Grndcrckr]

Dude..! WOW, finally someone who gets it!.. w/instructions...Thank You for helping me 🙏

[@kevinwackerly3540]

Great job. I love the detail and tips you give regarding how you mastered this.

[@ShamanEarthRising]

i feel my soul got this pretty easy and was happy when i seemed to intuitively strummed in all the right places...Neil is my alter ego!..great video..love your song choices to teach :) thank you for all the extra work..i can tell

[@ShamanEarthRising]

i wish i could find some SAcramento guitar players to practice with..

[@thetruthful9805]

David are an awesome TEACHER! THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND KNOWLEDGE.

[@jasonturner5626]

Thanks mate good breakdown of the whole song 👍. I now C it &hear it clearly now. Good work Cobba.

[@boulderdesigner]

Fantastic lesson David, thank you so much!

[@Bmobetter]

Wow, i have never seen this song layed out as clearly as you did it. Thanks for all the labor you put in to this. You earned a like and sub from me

[@gtsipejr]

Great lesson David! The section on the Dm9 was the icing on the cake. Thx. GT

[@volfoniraoul6743]

The very best tuto i found for this song ! Many thanks to you and congratulations!!!

[@ceramictilepro]

Wow David, such a great lesson packed with detail stacked on top of detail. i like to practice small bits at a time, incorporate some of the higher detailed stuff at times and build slowly. my brain can only handle a few minutes at a time so i visit frequently.

[@evidencesuggests1697]

Dave, you are the man!!! Thank you sincerely, much love from SW FL;)

[@josephfinlay8253]

Very good and helpful lesson 👍 cheers david

[@glassapple21]

Brilliant! Ive been trying to nail this for ages but couldn’t get the hammer ons to sound right despite watching loads of tutorials on You Tube. After watching your detailed but simple explanation i got it. Subscribed.

[@jimwildasin4464]

Double U- OH- Double U !!! WOW! This is the type of lessons I need, I'm only 4 months into lessons, and yeah a lot of this is "NOT ME" yet. But you gave me a lot to work with here and to work my way to another level. Thanks for the in depth details from beginning to end. I watched everything w/o touching my guitar, now I cant wait to try this song. Thanks again David

[@songnotes]

Hell yeah, thanks Jim! Great to hear. Glad you dug it. Best of luck when trying it out! May take a bit of time to find the feel to match whatever skill level you're at - but when it comes to guitar giving it time works wonders.

[@emilykeating2844]

Thanks so much. One of my favorite songwriters of all time. I stuck with it for four days (gifted singer and songwriter) but guitar has always been a challenge. Thank you specifically for how you broke down the parts on the PDF. Please keep covering the greats.

[@aguilarxx]

Excellent, love it.

[@brettbryner9486]

EXCELLENT video's bro, so helpful!!!

[@richardgarzon977]

awesome! thanks david!

[@carelmartens663]

thanks from Holland, nice and clear lessons.

[@Truth-is-King]

Great lesson sir, thank you! 👍🏻

[@ralphstaedler]

Great Tutorial! Many tks for your Great Job. Greetings from Switzerland

[@walther9161]

Damn! That’s all I got… 😊 great lesson thank you so much

[@johnhealy4529]

good job Sir. Thanks for making it easy for us. I liked the pace of the video

[@rafapalomarescompany8828]

Thanks for your lessons, especially Neil Young.

[@edfulginiti8798]

Superb lesson!

[@PaulJohnson-ey4ui]

This is such a well done lesson.

[@patrickpied8374]

Thank you for your PDF, i try to do that immediatly. Good job i'm very happy to find a good tuto. Bye from FRANCE

[@craigmacnaughton6858]

Excellent lesson. Thanks!

[@r.michaelchavez5561]

Subscribed thoroughly magnificent great lesson

[@cannon20ft]

Thank you, now i will play right!

[@user-ke6vn6qn2x]

thank you always.

[@jakeet999]

Great lesson very well laid out

[@timwilson8289]

Awesome lesson, thank you.

[@keylamejia1771]

Very well explained

[@bobwright4945]

Great lesson, thankyou

[@uspsdaveable]

Great lesson, it’s a lot more difficult then one would think, nice Taylor by the way

[@ritterplays7404]

good lesson , it took me some time to understand, then i learned pretty fast, i recomend!

[@stevematthews7813]

This is an amazing lesson David! It's one of my favorite Neil Young songs and you did an excellent job teaching it with all of its nuances Thank you so much! You are awesome! P.S. Good luck with the Patreaon copyright issues.

[@sapelesteve]

Great lesson of a terrific song David! Not that I can do any of this but it's still good to see how it's done. Thanks......... 👍👍👏👏🎸🎸😉😉

[@songnotes]

You got it Steve! you're very welcome

[@jeffreyschmoldt7798]

It's a great song going to learn it thanks

[@fabiandaroca]

Thank you!!

[@brendachristopher2693]

Thank you!

[@Tomgoestravelling]

Thank you David!!

[@songnotes]

sure thing, you're quite welcome!

[@georgeomaha3696]

RESPECT!

[@user-tb3zt7wk2l]

Ur awesome. Thanks

[@Anthony-vc8mr]

Thanks bro

[@garrettquinlan3452]

Thanks a bunch i always wanted to learn to at least play the basics of the song lol

[@LorneParsons]

Consider recording these sessions with camera view looking down from your eye view, which can help us learn the cord patterns as we see our fingers from our view.

[@dadadit]

Awesome, I bought the sheet music, thank you!

[@hankbray3790]

Thanks so much ****

[@jaminjim44]

I got am7 having the pinky on the high e 3rd fret but it appears your playing a regular Am? Great video!!! Thanks so much!

[@marcelofonseca6985]

Hello David, well done! I am going to support your work on Patreon. Regards.

[@songnotes]

thanks Marcelo, really appreciate that!

[@ManniEifel]

sehrgut erklärt Danke

[@remiljude]

Good instruction brot!

[@songnotes]

Thanks!!

[@Py1axRADIOAMADORISMOSEMSTRESS]

Well done like way

[@andyhawaii2819]

That’s a beautiful guitar

[@charlesrichards2632]

Taylor GS Mini Koa - very cool little guitar.

[@brendanconway7317]

You're a top dude David, great teacher 👍

[@songnotes]

thanks Brendan, appreciate it!!

[@AutoKlebe]

Nice tx

[@debrabish1494]

thank you have played this for years but wanted to count out the hammer ons thanks hard to fit em in for me Debra

[@DOGFOODACTUAL8541]

This makes me want to pull the Gretch acoustic out of the closet that I put it 10 years ago. If these videos were out back then I might not have hung it up. Reasons why........ Anyway, subscribed and thank you. 🤘

[@fractalnomics]

I find it hard to do the high note of old man, so I transposed it treating the D shape as an A (with a capo on 1st); it all goes well and sounds great.

[@_trevorkidd]

I do too, i just tuned down a half step. no capo necessary.

[@st.francisbrann5258]

What make and model of guitar is being used here. It sounds great.

[@user-jr3ko2dy7d]

good！

[@joeking433]

When you're starting out and playing that D9 at the 5th fret try lifting your index finger on and off the string. It sounds better.

[@gillescharron8142]

Hi David, tried to download you free pdf lesson 321 Betty can’t open it, error message. I also would like to get Old Man and others, but if the format is wrong again, I ain’t going anywhere for the others. Please solve, thanks

[@linacrocetti]

Could you do a short tutorial on finesse strings, please?

[@alantay9409]

Great instructions! Thank you.

[@GarySchiltz]

What guitar are you using?

[@daniellynn6138]

Overall, wonderful lesson. Enables me to play it. On the chorus, is the G on the 2nd or 3rd upstroke? Not able to follow this. I hope this thing notifies me of any responses.

[@theopoliswaters2405]

Really appreciate this video!!! Wouldn't it be easier for beginners to play a 3-finger F chord?

[@carlbartelt9509]

That's the way I do it. And I don't know if it's easier or not but it works very well

[@johnnybx3254]

Wonderful detailed lesson! Only one thing I miss your old Taylor guitar it sounds so much better 👍🇺🇸❤️🇺🇸❤️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️five Star lesson ✌🏻✌🏻

[@songnotes]

Oh nice - I still have that one, *almost* used it for this lesson! Glad you think it sounds better. Still in the honeymoon phase w/ the new one :)

[@Wildart2]

@@songnotes Have to disagree this one sounds nice tight and crisp.

[@LonskiBig]

......Classic song....about the "pain" of time passage......."Old man...take a look at my life, I'm a lot like you were..."

[@johnutah293]

What is that taylor, absolutely perfect!

[@coomaandsurroundsmultimedi2098]

Really nice and methodical. Only thing that would make it really professional would be bar lines and time signature. Chords above lyrics is open to timing errors.

[@karmatron]

This is by far the best tutorial. I have one question; your notes show a count of 4 for each measure but you are counting twice as slow, yes? The song is in 70bpm so you’re doubling the bars. In other words for the intro as an example, he plays Dm9 for 6 total beats then D for 4. Can you please confirm?

[@guycampbell1317]

Wow