How to play like John Prine

As part of an ongoing series of artist lessons for Acoustic Guitar magazine, I put together this feature on John Prine’s guitar style—which of course is inextricably tied to his songwriting. The songs covered include:

• Paradise

• Hello in There

• Souvenirs

• Dear Abby

• In Spite of Ourselves

• Summer’s End

This Spotify playlist includes the original Prine performances that the examples are based on, plus a sweet tribute from Carsie Blanton (mentioned at the close of the story) called “Fishin’ with You.”

My lesson video is above, and you can find the full text and tab online and in the book/video Play Guitar Like the Great Singer-Songwriters.

More

• Along with my feature on Prine’s guitar style, the November/December 2020 issue of Acoustic Guitar includes a complete transcription of “Angel from Montgomery,” as Prine played it on the Souvenirs album, with my performance notes.

• In Episode 3 of Guitar Sessions, I teach my own arrangement of “Angel from Montgomery”—played in dropped-D tuning with a chord melody solo.

• In another episode of Guitar Sessions, I share how to play Prine’s “Hello in There.”