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

Follow along with my print-friendly guide for this song! It’s available for purchase at Musicnotes.com, the web’s leading provider of licensed sheet music.

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Listen to John Prine Play This Song

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In Spite of Ourselves

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Licensed Song Sheet 5 pages

Listen to John Prine Play This Song

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Featured Courses

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Fingerstyle & Travis Picking

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Reading Music for Guitarists

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Using a Capo

Walk Ups & Walk Downs

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Fun & Helpful Tools I've Made

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Subscribe to my YouTube channel

Recent Lessons