Sierra Hull wrote this moving song, a highlight of her album A Tip Toe High Wire, in honor of her grandmother. “She went through so much in her 80 years, and there aren’t enough verses to express how she truly was tougher than thorns on a brier,” Hull wrote in background notes for the album release. “She was a beautiful, fiery woman who loved her family in the deepest of ways. When I need to find some extra strength in my own life, I remember her resilience.”
In addition to the vivid story of her grandmother’s hardscrabble life, “Spitfire” features Hull’s finely honed guitar work, played on her Bourgeois L-DBO. Her rich tone and attention to detail in the chord voicings and picking patterns are evident throughout. On the album, her bandmate Shaun Richardson plays a supporting acoustic guitar part, and Justin Moses (her husband) adds resonator guitar fills behind the vocals.
Hull uses hybrid picking in this song to mix fingerstyle-type patterns with single-note runs and double-stop riffs. She often plays hybrid style, using a flatpick and her middle finger, not just on guitar but on mandolin and octave mandolin.
To play “Spitfire,” capo at the first fret. In the intro, hold the Am(add9) shape and then use your ring finger to move the bass note to G. Let all the notes ring out as long as possible. For the F6/9 and the G, fret only the low strings as you flatpick the single-note line.
In the verse, shift to an alternating-bass pattern, playing the down-stemmed bass notes with the pick. As indicated in the chord diagrams, Hull frets the sixth string with her thumb when she’s playing Fadd9 (and the F in the chorus), but you can use a first-finger barre if you prefer. The notation shows the opening bars of the verse; the pattern continues similarly.
In the chorus, the basic chord movement is Am–G–F–G, but she subtly shifts the chord colors as the progression moves along. Initially she plays Am(add9) and Am(add9)/G, for instance, but then simplifies to Am and Am/G voicings.
The song’s two guitar interludes are similar to the intro but open with a harmonized A minor riff (in the first bar) followed by a descending single-note run over the G chord. The notation shows the second interlude, which starts off like the first interlude for four bars but then extends further, ending with a haunting F(#4)—an F chord with the open second string ringing.
In the final verse, Hull strips the accompaniment down to strummed power chord voicings (roots and fifths) and bass notes before taking us out with an extended chorus and the last four bars of the interlude.
Check out Hull’s recent NPR Tiny Desk Concert for a close-up view of Hull and her band performing this heartfelt and beautifully crafted song.
Due to copyright restrictions, we are unable to post notation or tablature for this musical work. If you have a digital or physical copy of the November-December 2025 issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine, you will find the music on page 50.
