My Girl | TAB
Starting 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.
This concept is then repeated over chord IV, now with the F Major Pentatonic, and a chord stab. Using TAB, I would recommend you play My Girl’s verse like this.

Next, we have the bridge. Here we move, diatonically, like this:
||: C (I) Dm (II) | F (IV) G (V) :||
I found it best to play this using three strings from a chord shape, strumming on beat 1, holding it and then snapping it off on beat 2, keep that concept going, and experiment with different chord shapes.
The chorus is similar to the verse with its I – IV movement, just finished off on V, and then a quick II – V.
You could experiment with extending the C to Cmaj7 to create a more lush sound, as you most likely won’t have a string section on the gig.
| C (I) | C (I) | F (IV) | G (V) Dm7 (II) G (V) |
I found it best to arpeggiate these chords, keep it improvised.
The breakdown is a re–intro, which is followed by a solo. The solo starts like the verse with the I – IV, then creates a key change where the Em functions first as a III, then as chord II in the new key, genius!
| C (I) | F (IV) | C (I) | F (IV) |
| Dm (II) | G (V) | Em (III) (II) | A (V new key) |
Should the sax player have gotten stuck in traffic, you could play the solo on guitar, like this:

The next verse, bridge, and chorus are the same as before, just in the key of D, not C. The outro has a nice little twist in it as it descends V – IV – III – II, like this:
||: D (I) | D (I) | G (IV) | A (V) G (IV) F#m (III) Em (II) :||
And that’s all of My Girl’s chords. It’s super simple, genius, and a world-class lesson in how to write a hit.
My Girl TAB | Related Pages
My Girl | Chords + Lyrics
You can learn to play My Girl by The Temptations using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| 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 guitar lesson by Dan Lundholm features TAB and covers My Girl. 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.