My Girl | Chords + Lyrics
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 Chords: Learn the progressions
My Girl starts with the legendary C Major Pentatonic riff, we are best to play this, as well as a chord stab on the 2 of every bar, should we be the only guitar player in the band.
The verse chords are simply 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 TAB, here’s a link to that part of the lesson: My Girl – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
The bridge is ascending as it moves: I – II – IV – V on repeat, like this in the key of C:
||: C (I) Dm (II) | F (IV) G (V) :||
Later on, after the key change the verse becomes D (I) – G (IV) and the bridge D (I) – Em (II) – G (IV) – A (V).
The bridge builds tension for the chorus which releases this tension over the I – IV again (same as verse).
Toward the end of the solo, we modulate up a tone and continue playing My Girl in the key of D.
The outro has a lovely descending progression going V – III – IV – II, or A – G – F#m – Em.
Use the TAB (link above) and the original recording to get to terms 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 improvised.
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
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 that file: My Girl iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
My Girl is a must for the working Motown band!
This genius composition by Smokey Robinson, performed by The Temptations, backed by The Funk Brothers is one of Motown’s signature songs and a guaranteed hit for the working Motown band.
Released in 1964, it sold over 2 million copies and remains a classic to this day, perhaps mainly helped by the wedding industry as the perfect Father-Daughter dance.
Temptations even recorded the song in German and Italian as well in ’65 and ’66. My Girl was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998, what took them so long?
I can highly recommend you play My Girl in the first set, perhaps surrounded by Let’s Stay Together, My Guy, Son Of A Preacher Man, and Baby Love.
You may think you only need a few slow songs like this as most of the time, it is up-tempo that is needed but then you forget that once in a blue moon when the first set all needs to be chilled out.
There’s nothing more embarrassing than playing You Can’t Hurry Love when people are trying to eat, just because you’re band only knows 30 tunes!
Being a professional, working musician is much more rewarding if you take it seriously, so make sure you know all the classics.
My Girl Chords | Related Pages
My Girl | Guitar Lesson + TAB
With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play My Girl by The Temptations using TAB and chord analysis.
| C | F | C | F |
I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
The Funk Brothers tunes
Motown’s house band, The Funk Brothers was the most successful group of studio musicians of all time.
Their contributions can be heard on Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, Dancing In The Street, I Heard It Through The Grapevine, My Girl, and My Guy.
The Funk Brothers on the web
Smokey Robinson tunes
Smokey Robinson was a huge part of Motown’s success with his band The Miracles but also wrote and produced a big part of Motown’s legendary catalogue.
Robinson’s hits include Shop Around, You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me, The Tears of a Clown, My Guy, My Girl, and Get Ready.
Smokey Robinson on the web
The Temptations tunes
The Temptations are a five-piece vocal group that has been active since 1960. After the original five members, another nineteen singers have come and gone.
Early hits like My Girl was produced by Smokey Robinson, later they ventured into a more psychedelic soul sound with Papa Was A Rolling Stone.
The Temptations on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about My Girl chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
