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Souvenirs

by John Prine • Lesson #353 • Feb 28, 2021

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Video lesson

Song Sheet with Lyrics 3 pages

A printed arrangement with the lyrics, chords, and other guitar parts taught in my video lesson. Available for purchase through Musicnotes.com.

Have questions? Read this help page to learn how buying & printing works, with answers to many common questions about my song sheets.

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Editor’s notes

Hey friends! Today we’re looking at Souvenirs by John Prine, a song so many of you have written in & requested over the past few months. This is a song that’s brand new to me – and in this video I’m going to show my real-time process of transcribing the 16-measure intro fingerpicking sequence. Specifically, I’ll show how I:

Figured out what key the song is in (1:17)
Figured out the chord progression & rhythm (5:16)
Figured out the alternating bass notes (15:07)
Figured out the melody notes (29:39)

To clarify, this is not a “lesson” like most of my other videos… because I haven’t fully learned this song yet! It’ll honestly take me a few weeks of practice to get it fully learned (and I can record a proper lesson then). But again, I captured this first hour of learning it (i.e. writing up the tabs) and wanted to share this with you, in case helpful. If you aren’t interested in the transcribing process and only want the PDF chord sheet, you’re in luck! I’ve made that and it’s available via the link just above.

One final note, this transcription is based off the version from John Prine’s 2000 album “Souvenirs” - where he performed many of his older hits. I learned this version because it only has one guitar, which makes it easier to hear the notes being played. This song was originally written & released in 1972.

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Souvenirs

Video lesson

Song Sheet with Lyrics 3 pages

Editor’s notes

Some of my other John Prine lessons

Unlock My Secret Stash!

Browse Related Lessons

Enjoy My Lessons? Show Your Support!

Looking for More Song Lessons?

Featured Courses

Travis Picking Essentials

Practical Music Theory

Guitar for Beginners

Beginner Chord Guide

Blues Starter Kit

Reading Music for Guitarists

Fun & Helpful Tools I've Made

Fret Monster

JamBox

Key Master

Capo Captain

Blank Tabs

Subscribe to my YouTube channel

Recent Lessons