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 Chords: Understanding the chord progression
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. Here’s a link to the TAB lesson with the complete transcription: Hide Away – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
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.
Should you try to play along with the original recording, you must either tune Hide Away down by 4.3% using a software like Serato, or tune the guitar up to 460Hz using my online guitar tuner.
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 | Course Preview
In the course, you get TAB for all of Hide Away by Freddie King—it took me days to transcribe it note for note!
What Freddie does is alternate between playing the licks/melody and the honky-tonk rhythm. That transition isn’t easy, so in the course we begin by focusing only on the licks from verse 1. From there, we work through the remaining verses before returning to verse 1, this time adding the honky-tonk part.
As a preview, here’s verse 1 without the honky-tonk. Since the rhythm part is absent, the chords shown reflect what the piano is playing.
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
Want to master this song? Check out the full TAB lesson here: Hide Away (Freddie King) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy:
