Bass Line Walks Archives

Merle Haggard Style Classic Country Intro & Fills

April 13, 2025December 11, 2017 by Devin

merle haggard style intro and fills in e

Lesson 15 – Rhythm Fill Riffs and Lead Guitar Course

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Lesson ID: A0141

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play a classic country intro in the style of Merle Haggard along with some nice country fill riffs that’ll spice up your country rhythm guitar. First, we’ll work through the intro with tablature. Then, we’ll talk about the guitar scales you should learn to get this classic Merle Haggard sound in the key of E. After that, we’ll go over two rhythm progressions in the style of Merle Haggard that are loaded with classic country bass line walks and fills.

Overview

Country Intro

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Playthrough with Tablature
01:42 min	Full Breakdown of the Intro

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Guitar Scales

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Scale Charts
02:28 min	Notes Used to Play the Intro

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Progression 1

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Progression 1 Overview
00:21 min	Playthrough with Tablature
01:23 min	Classic Country Strumming Pattern
03:57 min	Line 1 Breakdown with Country Fill
06:31 min	Line 2 Breakdown with Another Country Fill
09:19 min	Line 3 Breakdown with More Country Fills
10:54 min	Line 4 Breakdown
12:00 min	Practice Along with Me

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Progression 2

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Progression 2 Overview
00:32 min	Playthrough with Tablature
01:27 min	Line 1 Breakdown with Country Fill
02:14 min	Line 2 Breakdown with Another Country Fill
04:54 min	Line 3 Breakdown with More Country Fills
06:50 min	Line 4 Breakdown
08:00 min	Practice Along with Me

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Practice

Practice with Merle Haggard

Practice your classic country strumming and fills over the song “Fightin’ Side of Me” by Merle Haggard 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 account or with an e-mail address.

Scale Charts Lesson Tablature Woodtone Strings

Railroad Bill

April 13, 2025September 25, 2017 by Devin

Lesson 5 – Hybrid Picking Rhythm Course

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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

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

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Guitar Tablature Woodtone Strings

Red River Valley

April 13, 2025August 16, 2017 by Devin

Lesson ID: A0135

“Red River Valley” is a traditional folk song and cowboy music standard that was written sometime during the 1800s. The exact song origins are unknown, but many believe it was composed at the time of the 1870 Wolseley Expedition to Manitoba’s northern Red River Valley. This song has been recorded by several artists over the years, including Woody Guthrie, Gene Autry, Roy Acuff, Jimmie Rodgers, and many others.

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn two instrumentals for “Red River Valley”. We’ll play the first with “Carter Style” boom chick country strumming. The second break will be loaded with bluegrass crosspicking riffs. For the fast learners, I’ll play through the each instrumental at a slow pace along with the tablature. Then I’ll break down each measure in detail and give you some pointers for working on your country rhythm and crosspicking technique. Download the tablature below the video!

Carter Style Arrangement