With the possible exception of Tiny Tim and the ukulele, no musician is as closely associated with an instrument the way “Weird Al” Yankovic is with the accordion. However what made a recent performance of his memorable was when he didn’t use his signature musical tool, because after 35 years as a performer he made his guitar-playing debut with a rocking cover of Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl.” And let’s just say he definitely hit the right note.

This video, that we first saw at The Wrap, was shared by YouTube user Richard Green. It’s from Yankovic’s show on March 23rd at the famed Apollo Theater in New York. Calling it “a very, very special night,” Yankovic said that after a lifetime of not knowing how to play the guitar he “figured” it was time to fix that. “I’ve been in entertainment, I’ve been a recording artist, and a professional musician for most of my life, and I should know how to play the guitar,” he said. Telling the audience he had been studying for “the last several months” he then busted out a great rendition of Neil Young’s song that featured him playing the guitar solo. All one, repeated note of it.

Hey, you got to start somewhere, right? You can’t play two notes until you master one.

But before all you fellow Weird Al fans freak out, we also don’t know if this technically qualifies as his debut, because he appeared to play the guitar in his video for “The Saga Begins.”

In fairness, that was a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. No wonder he had to learn how to “play” the guitar all over again. And if you don’t think that was impressive, I bet Tiny Tim couldn’t play even one note on the accordion.

What “Weird Al” song would you most like to hear him play on the guitar? Shred our comments section with your best idea.

Featured Image: RCA Records

Want More Weird Al?

• Watch him sing a song about not getting nuked
• Watch him appear on an episode of Mothership on Alpha!
• Listen to his Captain Underpants theme song