Midsummers (Acoustic)
This song has a great, accidental backstory. For years, fans of the Netflix series Outer Banks believed the pivotal guitar motif from Season 1, Episode 5 was my arrangement of “Lion” by Dustin O’Halloran. It was a case of mistaken identity—the motif was most likely a piece of placeholder or temp music, which is typical of pilot episodes.
However, the connection was so strong that in 2021, I transcribed the actual motif and released it officially as “Outer Banks: Midsummers (Guitar Theme).” Fans flocked to the track, giving my version over 1.8 million plays on Spotify alone, solidifying its place in the Outer Banks fan canon.
The original piece (and my performance) is played on an electric guitar. For years I’ve wanted to do the track my way with an acoustic guitar and a deeper tone. I’m calling this new version—Outer Banks: Midsummers (Acoustic).
You can find this track on Spotify and All Streaming services:
How to play Outer Banks: Midsummers (Acoustic) | fingerstyle guitar
The guitar tab for this piece is beautifully written across 2 pages. [I’ve updated this guitar tab over the original electric version too.] I recommend this piece for beginner guitar players and up. Although the fingerstyle is relentless—the chord shapes are really easy to play.
Enjoy! The guitar tab is available below:
Within the guitar tab, you’ll see 4 dots following the interval at the start of each line ( . . . . ) — this indicates that you’ll play the starting interval of each line 4 times, then proceed. By doing it this way, the guitar tab looks much cleaner, and it’s easier to read.
You’ll play the section within the ||: repeat brackets :|| two times.
[guitar tab] **Outer Banks: Midsummers (Acoustic) | fingerstyle guitar
This arrangement is played in a one-whole step down tuning: D G C F A D. However you can just as easily play it in standard tuning…like the original piece.