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Home ❯ Songs ❯ John Prine ❯

In Spite of Ourselves

by John Prine • Lesson #437 • Jun 4, 2022

Today we’ll learn In Spite of Ourselves, the classic John Prine duet that he recorded with Iris DeMent (1999). I’ll start off by showing you campfire chords & strumming, allowing you to play this song even if you’re just getting started with guitar. From there, I’ll pile on a few additional tricks (e.g. strumming with alternate bass notes) before diving headlong into the Travis Picking fingerstyle used in the song’s intro. This passage took me a while to learn, but with time and persistence, I got over the hump! And I’m sure you can learn it just the same. Enjoy!

Free Video Lesson

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 Preview & Lesson Summary
  • 0:57 Basic Chord Shapes
  • 3:51 Chord Progressions
  • 5:51 Strumming Patterns
  • 7:50 Alternating Bass Notes
  • 13:40 Fingerstyle: Right Thumb
  • 19:45 Fingerstyle: Melody Notes
  • 23:48 Fingerstyle: Full Tab
  • 27:52 Full Playthrough
  • 29:38 Tour of my Song Sheet

Licensed Song Sheet 5 pages

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Listen to John Prine Play This Song

I’ve also made the following instructional lessons, each of which will help with techniques used in this song:

Travis Picking Any Song, Step by Step

★ Instructional PDF

F Chord, Made Easy: 7 Alternatives to the Barred Version

★ Instructional PDF

How I Finally Learned to Travis Pick (ft. Clay Pigeons by John Prine)

★ Instructional PDF

Travis Picking with an Anchored Left Pinky

★ Instructional PDF

Fingerstyle Chord Tip: F Major with Wrapped Thumb

★ Instructional PDF

Travis Picking vs. "Normal" Fingerstyle

★ Instructional PDF

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