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Harvest – How To Play on Guitar and Harmonica – Quick Facts

Harvest was recorded in 1972 and appears on the album of the same name.
The album Harvest was the best selling album of 1972 in the United States.
Also appearing on Decade, from Young’s liner notes “Written in London in 1971 and cut in Nashville that year. My favorite record from Nashville”

Sheet Music

Neil Young – HarvestNeil Young’s acclaimed album, Harvest, in its entirety with full guitar tablature. Also includes color photos and hand-written lyrics printed on special cream-colored stock.
Songs include
Alabama
Are You Ready For The Country?
Out On The Weekend
There’s A World
Words (Between The Lines Of Age)
Harvest
Heart Of Gold
The Needle And The Damage Done
Old Man
A Man Needs A Maid

You can check out all of Neil Young’s endeavours. In Canada, check out my Neil Young Canada Site.

Guitar Chords, Lyrics, Harmonica Tabs

Harvest music and lyrics are property and copyright of their owners and provided for educational purposes and personal use only.
The following is my transcription of my version of this awesome song. If you want how the author intended, check out the links above.

Harmonica Tabs – Melody
-6 -7 | 7 7 -7 6 -6 6 -6 | 6 5 4 4 5 | 6 6 5 -6 6 -4 | -6 -7 | 7 7 -7 6 -6 6 |-6 6 6 5 -4 4 |5 5 -4 4 6 |
-6 -7 | 7 7 -7 6 | -6 6 5 4 -4 5 | 6 5 5 -6 6 -4 | 7 7 -7 7 -7 6 -6 6 | -6 6 5 -4 4 |5 5 -4 4 6 |

Chords and Lyrics
Intro
D A D A D A D A

D A G D
Did I see you down in a young girl’s town
A
with your mother in so much pain?
G A Bm E
I was almost there at the top of the stairs
D
with her screamin’ in the rain
A G D
Did she wake you up to tell you that
A
it was only a change of plan?
G A Bm E
Dream up, dream up, let me fill your cup
D
with the promise of a man.

Did I see you walking with the boys
though it was not hand in hand?
And was some black face in a lonely place
when you could understand?
Did she wake you up to tell you that
it was only a change of plan?
Dream up, dream up, let me fill your cup
with the promise of a man.

Will I see you give more than I can take?
Will I only harvest some?
As the days fly past will we lose our grasp
or fuse it in the sun?
Did she wake you up to tell you that
it was only a change of plan?
Dream up, dream up, let me fill your cup
with the promise of a man.

Musical Instruments and Recording Equipment

Takamine Acoustic-Electric EG Series Guitar

In this video I am playing a Takamine Electric Acoustic EG series guitar similar to the one pictured here.
It has a solid spruce top with nato back and sides and a rosewood fretboard with abalone fret markers.
The built-in Takamine TK-40 preamp features EQ Bypass, Notch Filter, Mid Contour, Bass, Mid, Treble and Gain in addition to a built-in electronic tuner.
This guitar performs great and records great.

Hohner 560 Special 20 Harmonica D
I’m using a Hohner Special 20 in the key of D for Harvest. The song is in the key of D so I’m playing harmonica in first position.

Hohner Harmonica Neck Holder
I made my first harmonica holder out of an old wire coat hanger. It wasn’t beautiful but it worked and put me on the road to earning my McGyver certificate at an early age.
For me now, a comfortable and properly fitting harmonica holder is a must for hands free harmonica playing. This
Hohner Harmonica Neck Holder works great for me.
Another harmonica holder that you may want to try that has gotten great reviews is the
Lee Oskar Harmonica Holder. You can also check out other harmonica holders on my George’s Harp Shop page.

Video Transcription

Hi, George here. Welcome to this video where I go through Neil Young’s Harvest on guitar and harmonica. I’ll go through guitar chords, strumming pattern, pick out a harmonica key and then demonstrate and tab out the melody followed up by a jam along track. Ok, let’s do this.
The song starts off with a 2 bar intro that goes back and forth between D and A with each chord getting two beats. The rhythm has a kind of swing feel, do bah do bah do, where the second eighth note of an eighth note pair gets less time giving us that swing feel. Let me demonstrate that.
Play the root note on the downbeat so it’s counted 1 a 2 3 a 4. That strumming pattern will last through the entire song.
Now onto the verse. Here the chords are:
D A G D
D A
G A Bm E
D
That’s half a verse. Repeat it and you have an entire verse chorus pair.
Those are the chords. You have a short intro and then the verse chorus chords.
For the harmonica, I am playing in first position and using a D harmonica. So what I’ll do here is play the melody and highlight the tabs so you can follow along.
So let’s try jamming through this. Make sure your guitar is in tune and let’s give it a try.
Alright, so that’s Neil Young’s Harvest. I love that song. It’s got a great melody and chord progression.
So we talked about the chords, talked about the strumming, played the harmonica tabs and jammed through it. See you in the next video.
Cheers, George