Devin – Page 49 – Country Guitar Online

Big Sciota

April 13, 2025October 1, 2017 by Devin

Lesson ID: A0137

In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach you how to play “Big Sciota“, a traditional song credited to Burl Hammons. This song is named after a 231-mile stretch of river in Ohio that was very important to many Native American cultures. It is believed that Ritchie Stearns was the first to attach words to the tune, and much later, “Big Sciota” was made more popular by Old Crow Medicine Show.

Overview

Playthrough with Tablature

Chord Progression

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Rhythm Overview
01:03 min	“Big Sciota” Chord Progression
03:21 min	Playthrough with Tablature
05:50 min	Helpful Chord Transition Tips

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Big Sciota Guitar TAB Rhythm Guitar TAB Woodtone Strings

Railroad Bill

April 13, 2025September 25, 2017 by Devin

Lesson 5 – Hybrid Picking Rhythm Course

Course Outline Previous Lesson Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0140

“Railroad Bill” is an old traditional song based on a legend about a man in south Alabama during the post-Civil War era known as Railroad Bill. Sources suggest that Railroad Bill was a “Robin Hood” type of character that would steal from food trains and sell items to poor families at below market prices. As legend has it, Railroad Bill’s ghost is still roaming the L&N Railroad tracks to this day.

This song has a great melody that we’ll play using Chet Atkins and Merle Travis style picking. This is a challenging tune, but if you relax your right hand and take it slow, everything will fall into place with a bit of practice. We’ll focus on hybrid picking in this lesson, but feel free to play these arrangements with a thumb pick or finger plucking if you find that more comfortable. Download the tablature below the lesson video. Hope y’all enjoy learning this one!

Lesson Overview

Playthrough with Tablature

Arrangement 1

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Arrangement 1 Preview
00:42 min	Line 1 Breakdown
04:10 min	Extra Hybrid Picking Detail
07:36 min	Line 2 Breakdown
13:05 min	Line 3 Breakdown
15:53 min	Practice with Me

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Arrangement 2

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Arrangement 2 Preview
00:54 min	Line 1 Breakdown
05:28 min	Line 2 Breakdown
10:21 min	Line 3 Breakdown
13:33 min	Practice with Me

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Listen

Here are some nice YouTube videos of other folks playing “Railroad Bill”…

Chords & Lyrics Arrangement 1 Tablature Arrangement 2 Tablature Woodtone Strings

Adding Fills Between Your Chords with Key of D Scales

April 13, 2025September 1, 2017 by Devin

country fill riffs in d guitar lesson bluegrass licks scales

Lesson 12 – Rhythm Fill Riffs and Lead Guitar Course

Course Outline Previous Lesson Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0133

In this guitar lesson, I’ll show y’all some fun ways to use key of D guitar scales to play country & bluegrass fill riffs. All of the licks we’ll cover today are great for transitioning between chords, and they’re also useful for playing country & bluegrass guitar solos. First, we’ll cover the main scale shapes that you need to memorize. After that, I’ll teach you ten of my favorite country fill riffs in the key of D. My main goal for this lesson is to show you how I visualize key of D scale shapes when I’m improvising key of D riffs. This should be a very useful lesson for the rhythm guitar folks and also for the country & bluegrass lead guitar pickers!

Overview

Guitar Scales

Country Fill Riffs

Your Homework

Member Content

Guitar Scale Charts Fill Riff Tablature Woodtone Strings

Kentucky Waltz Country & Bluegrass Strumming

April 13, 2025August 25, 2017 by Devin

kentucky waltz guitar lesson bill monroe

Lesson 10 – Country & Bluegrass Rhythm Course

Course Outline Previous Lesson Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0136

In this guitar lesson, we’ll take a look at another strumming pattern used all the time in classic country and bluegrass music. This strumming pattern is in 3/4 time (waltz time) and we’ll count it out by saying “one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three”. Beat one will be the down beat and that’s where we’ll pick the bass note string. Then, we’ll down strum on beats two and three. After you learn the strumming pattern, we’ll practice over a couple of chord progressions borrowed from the old classic “Kentucky Waltz” by Bill Monroe. I’ll also show you a few fills you can use to transition between chords.

Overview

Strumming Pattern

Progressions

Chord Fills

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Listen

Practice picking your country strumming over the song “Kentucky Waltz” by Bill Monroe. Play “Kentucky Waltz” below using the embedded player from Spotify. We’d highly recommend using Spotify for online radio. If you don’t have a Spotify account, click here to sign up free with your Facebook or e-mail.

Backing Track

Member Content

Guitar Tablature Woodtone Strings