Chords + Lyrics | My Girl
Intro
| N.C | N.C | C riff | C riff |
Verse 1
||: C | F | C | F :||
I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day.
When it’s cold outside, I’ve got the month of May.
Bridge 1
||: C Dm | F G :||
I guess you’d say, what can make me feel this way?
Chorus 1
| C | C | F | G Dm7 G |
My girl, my girl, my girl, talkin’ ’bout my girl. My girl.
Verse 2
I’ve got so much honey, the bees envy me.
I’ve got a sweeter song, than the birds in the trees.
Bridge 2
Well, I guess you’d say, what can make me feel this way?
Chorus 2
My girl, my girl, my girl, talkin’ ’bout my girl. My girl.
Breakdown
| N.C | N.C | C riff | C riff |
Ohh, ohh.
Solo
| C | F | C | F |
Hey hey hey. Hey hey hey.
| Dm | G | Em | A |
Oh yeah.
Verse 3 (new key)
||: D | G | D | G :||
I don’t need no money, fortune, or fame.
I’ve got all the riches baby one man can claim.
Bridge 3
||: D Em | G A :||
Well, I guess you’d say, what can make me feel this way.
Chorus 3
||: D | D | G | A G F#m Em :||
My girl, my girl, my girl, talkin’ ’bout my girl. My girl, talkin’ ’bout my girl.
I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day with my girl. I’ve even got the month of May with my girl.
Talkin’ ’bout, talkin’ ’bout, talkin’ ’bout.
My Girl Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning My Girl. I’ve used stem separation to extract the guitar while keeping the drums, bass, keys, horns, strings, 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 447Hz. In the backing tracks, I’ve done this job for you by tuning it to 440Hz.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
The Temptations smash hit My Girl starts with the iconic C major pentatonic riff. If you’re the only guitar player in the band, it’s best to play this riff along with a chord stab on the second beat of every bar.
Verse
The verse chords are I – IV, or C – F, with that pentatonic riff following the chords in the key of C. To demonstrate how to best play this, I need to show you the TAB, keep scrolling to find it.
Bridge + Chorus + Solo
Next, we have the bridge. Here, we move diatonically like this:
||: C (I) Dm (II) | F (IV) G (V) :||
I found it most effective to play this using three strings from each chord shape, strumming on beat 1, holding it, then snapping it off on beat 2. Keep this concept going and experiment with different chord shapes.
The chorus is similar to the verse with its I–IV movement, finishing on V and then a quick II–V. You could also extend the C to Cmaj7 for a more lush sound—especially since you likely won’t have a string section on the gig.
| C (I) | C | F (IV) |
| G (V) Dm7 (II) G |
I found it best to arpeggiate these chords—keep it improvised.
The breakdown is a re–intro, followed by the solo. The solo starts like the verse with I–IV, then creates a key change where Em first functions as a III, then as a II in the new key—genius!
| C (I) | F (IV) | C | F |
| Dm (II) | G (V) | Em (III) (II) | A (V new key) |
Post Solo
Toward the end of the solo, we’ve modulated up a tone and continue playing My Girl in the key of D.
The next verse, bridge, and chorus are the same as before—just now in the key of D rather than C.
||: D (I) | D | G (IV) | A (V) G (IV) F#m (III) Em (II) :||
The outro has a lovely descending progression: V – III – IV – II, or A – G – F#m – Em.
And that’s all of My Girl’s chords. It’s super simple, pure genius, and a world-class lesson in how to write a hit.
Use the backing tracks to get familiar with how to play My Girl’s chords. To me, this is a great opportunity to play chords in different shapes, keeping the rhythm guitar part improvisational.
With that in mind, a chord chart is helpful even if it doesn’t include the notation for the major pentatonic intro riff. Here’s one I made for you.
My Girl Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: My Girl chord chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro. Here’s a link to the file: My Girl iReal Pro. Using the iRealPro app, you can change the key. Although, to be honest, I’ve never played this tune in a different key.
My Girl | TAB
Displayed here as TAB, I recommend you play the verse of My Girl like this:
If your sax player gets stuck in traffic, you could play the solo on guitar, like this:
My Girl Chords: Continue Learning
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