The melody of Ode To Billy Joe by Bobbie Gentry runs 219 notes across 24 bars, 2:10 long in Bb at 100 beats per minute. The tab sits low on the neck, mostly under the fourth fret, one note at a time — no chords to barre and no strumming pattern to keep up with. A piano backing track plays the chords and bass underneath, so the line you are learning sounds like the record even at half speed.
Prefer to strum and sing it instead? Ode To Billy Joe chords and lyrics.