'Hokey Pokey' Chords

Learn to Play Children's Songs on Guitar

kids playing guitar in back of car
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 Chords Used: C (x32010) | C7 (x32310) | F (xx3211) | G (320003)

           C
You put your right leg in. You put your right leg out.
G
Put your right leg in and you shake it all about.
You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around.
C
That's what it's all about.
C
You put your left leg in. You put your left leg out.
G
Put your left leg in and you shake it all about.
You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around.
C
That's what it's all about.

CHORUS:
C
Ho-key, hokey pokey
G
Ho-key, hokey pokey
C C7        F
Ho-key, hokey pokey
G                   C
That's what it's all about!

OTHER VERSES:
Put your right arm in...
Put your left arm in...
Ho-key hokey pokey...
Put your nose in...
Put your backside in...
Ho-key, hokey pokey...
Put your whole self in...

Performance Tips

The Hokey Pokey should be a pretty easy one to play - just a few chords with a basic strumming pattern. You'll use eighth note strums (one-and-two-and-three-and-four-and) - meaning you'll strum the guitar on both your down-strum and up-strum without skipping any. The chords themselves should be easy. This may be a situation where you want to play your G major chord by using your third (ring) finger on the sixth string, your second (middle) finger on the fifth string, and your fourth (pinky) finger on the first string. This fingering for G major makes it very easy to move back and forth from C major.

A Brief History of the Hokey Pokey

According to Wikipedia, the Hokey Pokey (referred to in the United Kingdom as the "Hokey Cokey") was born as a British folk dance, appearing as early as 1826. The song became popular in the United States in the 1950s, based largely on a recording by the Ram Trio.