Chords | Hide Away
Verse 1
| N.C |
| E5 E6 E5 E6 | E5 | E5 E6 E5 E6 | E5 |
| A5 A6 A7 A6 | A5 | E5 E6 E5 E6 | E5 |
| B7 | A7 | E7 | B7 |
Verse 2
| E7 | E7 | E7 | E7 |
| A5 A6 A7 A6 | A5 | E7 | E7 |
| B7 | A7 | E7 | B7 |
Verse 3
| E7 | E7 | E7 | E7 |
| A7 | A7 | E7 | E7 |
| B7 | B7 | E7 | E7 |
Verse 4
| E7 | E7 | E7 | E7 |
| A7 | A7 | E7 | E7 |
| B7 | A7 | E7 | B7/F# |
Verse 5
| E9 N.C | E9 N.C |
| E E6 E7 E6 E E6sus4 E E6 E E6 | E E6 E7 E6 E E6sus4 E E6 E E6 |
| A5 A6 A7 A6 | A5 A6 A7 A6 | E5 E6 E5 E6 | E5 E6 E5 |
| B7 | A7 | E7 | B7 |
Verse 6
| E7 | E7 | E7 | E7 |
| A7 | A7 | E7 | E7 |
| B7/F# | A7 | E7 | A7 B7 |
Verse 7
| E5 E6 E5 E6 | E5 | E5 E6 E5 E6 | E5 |
| A5 A6 A7 A6 | A5 | E5 E6 E5 E6 | E5 E6 E5 |
| B7 | A7 | E7 | B7 E7 ||
Hide Away Backing Track | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning Hide Away. I’ve used stem separation to extract the guitar while keeping the drums, bass, keys, and vocals intact.
After studying the chords and TAB, use my backing tracks to prepare for playing this tune with a band.
Should you want to play along with the original recording instead, you need to tune your guitar sharp to 444Hz. In the backing track, I’ve done this job for you by detuning.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
You could simplify Hide Away by Freddie King into a dominant 7th 12-bar in the key of E, like this:
| E7 | E7 | E7 | E7 |
| A7 | A7 | E7 | E7 |
| B7 | B7 | E7 | E7 |
That said, this risks oversimplifying things—and it’s just as easy to go too far the other way and over-explain the harmony when breaking the tune down.
As shown above, I’ve included all the variations, which was only possible after transcribing the full track note-for-note. Speaking of note-for-note, there’s TAB further down this guitar lesson as well!
Once you’ve worked through the full transcription, simply reading the chords as shown here is often enough to remind you what to play.
When chords try to explain too much and when not
The most extreme example comes in verse 5, where Freddie plays a lick very similar to what he uses in The Stumble. Here’s how that single bar might look if forced into chord names:
| E E6 E7 E6 E E6sus4 E E6 E E6 |
But is that really helpful? It arguably takes things too far.
By contrast, in verse 1, the chords are far more useful, clearly outlining the honky-tonk feel before breaking for the licks/melody:
| E5 E6 E5 E6 | E5 | E5 E6 E5 E6 | E5 |
| A5 A6 A7 A6 | A5 | E5 E6 E5 E6 | E5 |
| B7 | A7 | E7 | B7 |
In verses 3, 4, and 6, chord symbols again become less effective, as the parts rely on moving bass line riffs that don’t translate neatly into chord names. If you tried, you’d end up with the same issue—far too many chords crammed into a single bar.
Those bass line riffs are slightly modified versions of other tunes released only a few years before Hide Away.
- Verse 3 is a reference to The Walk by Jimmy McCracklin, released three years before Hide Away.
- Verse 4 comes from The Virtues Guitar Boogie Shuffle.
- Verse 6 is Henry Mancini’s Peter Gunn.
Ultimately, to play Hide Away with any real accuracy, TAB is essential. Once memorised, however, a chord chart like below can still serve as a useful guide.
Hide Away Chord Chart | PDF + i Real Pro Download
You can download my chord chart a s PDF or in the musician friendly iReal Pro format.
Hide Away | TAB
There are seven verses to work through here, so it’s best to let each one speak for itself. Take your time, and use the original recording as your reference point.
It’s not actually that difficult to play Hide Away. The challenge is that it never really stops—it’s like playing seven solos in a row. This is why it’s listed as an Advanced Electric Song, rather than Intermediate, even though the scales are all pentatonic.
Let’s start with verse 1, without the honky-tonk.
Verse 1
The scales here are E major pentatonic, up until the final A7 chord in bar 10, where we introduce the note A. This comes from the E minor pentatonic and sets up the scales used in the following bar when we return to the E chord.
Verse 2
We begin with a trill, hammering on and pulling off quickly in the first bar, followed by E major pentatonic phrasing.
There’s a chromatic run leading into the honky-tonk comping over the IV chord. It climbs up to the dominant 7th before dropping back down.
The turnaround is similar to verse 1, but not identical.
Verse 3
Here we enter the section where bass-line riffs take over. The first is a nod to The Walk by Jimmy McCracklin, released three years before Hide Away.
Verse 4
Verse 4 introduces another bass-line riff, this time referencing Guitar Boogie Shuffle by The Virtues.
Verse 5
We begin with an E9 chord in an unusual voicing, followed by a clear reference to another Freddie King tune, The Stumble, released on the same album as Hide Away.
Verse 6
Verse 6 returns to the idea of quoting other tunes—this time referencing Henry Mancini’s Peter Gunn theme.
Verse 7
The final verse closely mirrors verse 1, but with the honky-tonk feel already in place and an ending.
Verse 1 (with honky-tonk)
Before you work through everything in detail, here is verse 1 again—this time with the honky-tonk part included.
Once you can play through all of this TAB, try it to the backing track!
Hide Away: From 1961 Classic to Blues Guitar Benchmark
Hide Away by Freddie King stands as one of the most influential instrumental blues tracks ever recorded. Released in 1961, the song became an unexpected commercial success, reaching the top five on the R&B charts and even crossing into the pop charts—an impressive feat for an instrumental.
Built around a sharp, punchy guitar tone and a series of memorable melodic phrases, Hide Away showcased Freddie King’s ability to blend Texas and Chicago blues styles into something both accessible and exciting.
Its structure, which weaves together musical references and playful nods to other tunes, helped it connect with a wide audience and cemented its place as a cornerstone of electric blues guitar.
The track’s legacy was further amplified by high-profile cover versions, most notably by Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan (both available in the playlist at the top of this guitar lesson).
Eric Clapton recorded the tune with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers in 1966, introducing it to a new generation of British blues fans and helping to spark the blues-rock explosion of the late ’60s. His version remains largely faithful to the original, but features fewer open strings and drops the honky-tonk-style comping between phrases.
Decades later, Stevie Ray Vaughan delivered his own electrifying take, pushing the song into a heavier, more modern blues-rock direction with his signature intensity and technical brilliance.
Together, these versions highlight the song’s adaptability and enduring appeal, confirming Hide Away as a rite of passage for blues guitarists and a defining instrumental that continues to inspire players across generations.
Hide Away Chords: Continue Learning
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