Learn to Play Mississippi John Hurt’s “I’m Satisfied” | Patreon Song of the Month

Mississippi John Hurt (1893–1966) was one of the great country blues singer-songwriters, and a superb, subtly eccentric guitarist whose work was teeming with colorful details. One of his most well-known recordings, “I’m Satisfied,” related to the Memphis Jug Band piece “You May Leave, But This Will Bring You Back,” offers a glimpse into what made his accompaniment work so interesting.

At a casual listen, “I’m Satisfied” might seem straightforward, incorporating familiar fingerpicking patterns on the I, IV, and V (C, F, and G) chords in the key of C major. But try counting along with the recording, and you’ll notice something unexpected: Throughout, Hurt adds two beats to certain measures, and this is not by accident—the time signature changes happen in the exact same places on the repeats. While these metric shifts might at first seem awkward, try playing along with the recording, and things should begin to feel natural.

In the F-chord measures, rather than sticking to notes from an F major triad (F A C), Hurt adds both melodic movement and harmonic color by consistently incorporating the major sixth (D) and major seventh (E). And in many of the G-chord bars (6, 13, etc.), he creates a striking but fleeting dissonance when instead of playing the root note (G) on beat 1, he plays the open A string, pinching it with a blue note (in this case, B-flat) a minor ninth (or an octave plus a half step) above.

Moves that would be frowned down upon from a theory standpoint can sound cool and intriguing in context—a concept we encourage you to explore in your own music.

The TAB and notation for “I’m Satisfied” are available to members of the Acoustic Guitar Patreon page at the Supporters tier or higher. Join our community to access live workshops, song transcriptions (like “Hotel California,” “Hello in There,” “The Entertainer,” and more!), exclusive podcast episodes, and guitar lessons.