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About This Lesson
In today’s lesson I’ll teach you to play Ohio, the Crosby Stills Nash & Young protest classic from 1970. This one came in by request a few weeks back… and though I’d heard it a hundred times in the prior twenty years, it immediately hooked me this time around. And so, after learning it the past couple weeks… here’s my latest lesson! I teach you how to play the main riff & strum the chorus, with my usual step-by-step treatment.
For the main riff itself, I’m excited to share 3 different variations in this lesson. They all sound more-or-less the same — but each one has a slightly different feel to it. My hope is these give you some options as you learn the song. I very much hope you enjoy!
- 0:00 Playthrough
- 1:45 Riff: Chord Shapes
- 3:56 Riff: Hammer-On & Bass Notes
- 6:18 Riff: Drop-D Tuning
- 8:28 Riff: Variation 1 of 3
- 11:40 Riff: Variation 2 of 3
- 12:41 Riff: Variation 3 of 3
- 13:27 Riff: Add’l Tips
- 15:17 Chorus Strumming & Fill
- 21:10 Palm Muting & Farewell
Quick Links
Practice Notes 5 pages
Lesson Discussion
Extended Video Lessons
Here’s a few extra videos, made in thanks to those supporting me with Premium membership here on my Song Notes website. To those showing your support, you have my true thanks and appreciation — and I hope you find these additional videos helpful!
Slow Playthrough: Riff Variation 1 of 3
Slow Playthrough: Riff Variation 2 of 3
Slow Playthrough: Riff Variation 3 of 3
Playthrough of Each Section
Here’s me playing through the intro, verse, and chorus sections. Zoomed in, with my arrangement shown on screen in tab format. Use this to reference how it sounds when I play everything taught in my main tutorial.
Related & Recommended
First, here’s Neil Young’s live performance from Massey Hall in 1971. Note, his tuning is a bit flat on all six strings. This means you’ll need to adjust the pitch by +45 or so, as I teach in lesson #617 using the Transpose plugin for Google Chrome.
As for the techniques used in this song, here’s the recommende lessons I’ve made. These tackle things like Drop D tuning, palm muting, and more.
Looking for help with minor keys? Check out my Minor Key Handbook:
Interested in my other Neil Young and CSNY lessons? Here they are!
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