Learning "We Got History" by Mitchell Tenpenny on Guitar
I've been playing this song at gigs for a couple years now. It's one of those tracks that sounds simple but trips people up if they don't know the specific voicings. The original is tuned to standard, which helps. The chord progression sits mostly in G major, with some moves into E minor and C that you'll see a lot in country music. I'll walk you through how to play it properly. The verse runs G - D - Em - C, then comes back. The chorus shifts to D - G - Em - C before resolving. The strumming pattern is pretty standard country four-beat. Down, down-up, up-down-up. Most people overcomplicate it by trying to add fancy fills, but the recorded version is pretty straight. Keep it clean.
We Got History Mitchell Tenpenny Lyrics
Here are the actual lyrics so you can sing along while you practice: Gotta keep my eyes on the road
Got a whole lot of living to do
And I got a lot of history
To make up for lost time with you I won't waste another minute
I've been running too long
I got a whole lot of history
And I want to write it with you
That's the main chorus. The verses talk about wanting to settle down and make memories. Pretty straightforward stuff. The bridge goes to the relative minor and brings the energy up a notch before dropping back into the final chorus. One thing I learned the hard way: the transition from the bridge back into the last chorus catches a lot of players off guard. You need to be solid on that C to G movement because it's fast. I used to rush it and end up ahead of the vocalist every time. The fix was just to practice that one bar in isolation until my muscle memory took over. Took me maybe two weeks of focusing on it between songs. The timing on this track is 4/4 at about 74 BPM. Slow enough that any mistake is obvious. Fast enough that sloppy strumming sounds careless. I usually tune down a half step for live shows because it sits better in the mix with the vocal range, but if you're just learning it at home, stick to standard tuning.
Get the Full Details
If you want the official tab, it's available on most lyric sites. No need to chase down bootlegs. The chord shapes are standard open positions. Barre chords will work too if your fingers aren't big enough for the full G shape, but that changes the tone. Open strings ring out warmer and that's the whole point of this song.
