The Needle and the Damage Done by Neil Young | acoustic
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An acoustic guitar lesson on how to play “The Needle and the Damage Done” by Neil Young from the 1972 album, “Harvest.”
The version on the Harvest album was taken from a live solo performance at UCLA on January 30, 1971 and that's the version I'm teaching. It's such a classic song and a really good one to learn to practice picking notes from chords. Like a lot of people, I always used to just fake my way through this, but once you learn the proper picking patterns, it makes a world of difference. My goal in this lesson was to breakdown as close as possible exactly what was played on the album version. Of course, Neil never plays it exactly the same twice but as I often say, if you've been listening to a track for 40+ years when you go to learn it you want it to sound like the record. It's a very nuanced part with a number of variations on the main progression. The chords aren't difficult except for one that requires a bit of a stretch. The trick for most players will be getting the picking right. I really enjoyed working this one out as it's always been one of my favorites of Neil's. I hope you get something from the video and that it helps you learn this seventies acoustic classic. Cheers Andy |
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