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
Print-Friendly 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.
On the fence? Here's a guide I made showing the purchase & print process, including answers to common questions about my song sheets.
Buy at Musicnotes.comListen to John Prine Play This Song
Related Lessons
I’ve also made the following instructional lessons, each of which will help with techniques used in this song:
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