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Bass Line Walks

Country Bluegrass Jam in G – 12 Bar Picking Workout

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ountry Bluegrass Jam in G – 12 Bar Picking Workout
Lesson ID: A0223

Looking to improve your acoustic guitar chops for country and bluegrass? Here’s a 12-bar picking workout that’s perfect for building your flatpicking technique and rhythm skills. This short guitar lesson features a classic 12-bar progression in a traditional country and bluegrass style.

Every time I sit down to practice, I like to warm up with something like this—simple, melodic, and rooted in the traditions of acoustic country and bluegrass guitar. This wasn’t rehearsed or polished—just some spontaneous flatpicking, strumming, and riff ideas I thought I’d share with tablature included.

If you’re a fan of players like Tony Rice, Norman Blake, or Doc Watson, or you’re just starting your journey into bluegrass and country acoustic styles, this video is for you. Take a listen, grab the tab, and pick up a few new licks for your next jam session.

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12 Bar Picking Workout TABWoodtone Strings

“Dear Mr. Arizona” Cowboy Waltz by Soonka

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mr-arizona-by-soonka-classic-cowboy-country-music

Video lesson coming soon! In the meantime, find the guitar tablature for Instrumental Breaks 1 and 2 below. Click the download button in the top right corner of the PDF viewer to download a print-friendly tab sheet.

IMPORTANT NOTE: There’s an unusual B7/F# chord in this song (chord chart in tablature). Learning this B7/F# chord and practicing this song has made me a better guitar player so wanted to share!

The B7/F# is your standard B7 chord, you just need to move your middle finger from the 5th string to the 6th string (same fret). That’s it! It’s a chord shape that I wasn’t used to landing on, and playing through this song using this chord shape helped expand my rhythm guitar skills. It’s useful especially for adding country baseline walks to your rhythm guitar.

READ SOONKA’S STORY BEHIND THE SONG:

There’s a cool story behind this song that you can read in the description of Soonka’s video on YouTube here âžœ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2eeFlYdy88

Be sure to LIKE & SUBSCRIBE to Soonka on YouTube — more song performances coming soon!

Listen to the Song
TABLATURE – Instrumental Break 1

– Instrumental Break 1 starts at 0:59 in the YouTube video.

– DOWNLOAD THE TAB by clicking the small download button (top right corner of PDF viewer).

TABLATURE – Instrumental Break 2

– Instrumental Break 2 starts at 2:06 in the YouTube video.

– DOWNLOAD THE TAB by clicking the small download button (top right corner of PDF viewer).

Fingerstyle Delta Blues in Double Drop D Tuning

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fingerstyle-delta-blues-in-double-drop-d-tuning-guitar-lesson
Lesson ID: A0207

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn a 12 bar fingerstyle delta blues progression in double drop D tuning (DADGBD). This progression is best played at a slow speed and it has a really nice bluesy sound. We’ll work through the tablature two bars at a time until we cover all 12 bars. At the end, practice the 12 bar blues progression with me.

Pay close attention to my thumb that plucks the bass note line. The thumb plucks the bass note on each quarter note count and we’ll play various melody notes in between the bass line with our pointer and middle fingers. Overall, this is a great lesson for working on fingerstyle blues guitar.

The tablature download is available below the lesson video.

Video Start TimeLesson Topic
00:00 minListen to the delta blues progression
00:46 minLine 1 – Bars 1 & 2
01:39 minLine 1 – Bars 3 & 4
02:33 minLine 2 – Bars 5 & 6
03:26 minLine 2 – Bars 7 & 8
04:17 minLine 3 – Bars 9 & 10
05:08 minLine 3 – Bars 11 & 12
06:05 minPractice all 12 bars with me
Guitar Lesson TABWoodtone Strings

Easy Flatpicking Intro – Grateful Dead

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ripple-chords-grateful-dead-guitar-solo
Lesson ID: A0197

In this guitar lesson, we’ll take a look at some simple rhythm and lead from the song “Ripple” by Grateful Dead. First, we’ll work through two basic chord progressions in G and we’ll add some vocals for those of y’all wanting to sing with this song. Then, in the second half of this lesson, you’ll learn a nice guitar intro that mixes the melody of “Ripple” with country & bluegrass strumming.

Overview

Flatpicking Intro

Video 1 – Playthrough with Tablature – Flatpicking Intro

Video 2 – Full Breakdown – Flatpicking Intro

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Measures 1 through 4
04:16 min Measures 5 through 8
07:49 min Measures 9 through 12

Listen

Chords & LyricsFlatpicking Intro TABWoodtone Strings