Bluegrass Standards – Page 14 – Country Guitar Online

Foggy Mountain Rock

April 13, 2025November 23, 2016 by Devin

Lesson 4 – Country & Bluegrass Rhythm Course

Course Outline Previous Lesson Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0104

In the previous lessons of this course, I taught y’all one of the most important strumming patterns in country and bluegrass music and we practiced it over a really common chord progression. We also applied the strumming pattern to the chord progressions in “Forever And Ever, Amen” by Randy Travis.

In this lesson, we’re going to expand upon the strumming pattern we’ve been studying this series and make it a bit more complex using the bluegrass song “Foggy Mountain Rock”. We’ll cover all the song’s chord progressions, extra strumming techniques, a few common bluegrass licks, and some awesome bass line walk-ups that’ll spice up your chord transitions. If you like the guitar licks and bass line walks, you might also like our Rhythm Fill Riffs and Lead Guitar Course.

Lesson Overview

Chord Progressions

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Song Structure
01:11 min	A Part Chord Progression
02:57 min	Alternating Bass Line Notes
04:26 min	B Part Chord Progression
05:40 min	Practice Along with Me

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Strumming Tips

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Adding Accent Strums
02:08 min	When to Use Accent Strums
05:51 min	Practice Over the A Part
06:50 min	Live Chat

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Bluegrass Licks

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Overview
00:18 min	Intro Lick
01:16 min	Turnaround Lick 1
04:24 min	G Licks and Bluegrass Rhythm
05:16 min	Turnaround Lick 2
06:35 min	Syncopated Rhythm
08:03 min	Ending Lick

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Walk-Ups

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Easy Walk-up to C Chord
02:40 min	Easy Walk-up to D Chord
04:22 min	Intermediate Walk-ups
05:09 min	Intermediate Walk-up to C Chord
07:18 min	Getting Your Speed Up
08:34 min	Intermediate Walk-up to D Chord
10:48 min	Intermediate Walk-up to G Chord
12:55 min	Practice Drill over A Part Progression

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Listen

Listen to “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” performed by a few different bluegrass artists below using the embedded player from Spotify. I’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.

Chord Progressions Bluegrass Guitar Licks TAB Transition Walk-Ups TAB Woodtone Strings

Honey, You Don’t Know My Mind

April 13, 2025October 4, 2016 by Devin

Lesson 8 – Rhythm Fill Riffs and Lead Guitar Course

Course Outline Previous Lesson Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0096

Last lesson, we used the hybrid country and bluegrass scale to improvise with fill riffs over the song “Cripple Creek”. We went over the chord progression, some beginner nice fill riffs, and some more advanced fill riffs for the intermediate players.

In this guitar lesson, we’re going to practice the 5th position key of G hybrid scale over the song “Honey, You Don’t Know My Mind”. First, we’ll break down the song’s chord progression and strumming. Then, I’ll teach you three different variations of the song’s instrumental break — we’ll have a version for the beginner pickers, a more complicated intermediate version, and an advanced version for the experienced pickers. This is another great song to play at your next jam!

Lesson Overview

Rhythm Breakdown

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Instrumental Break Chord Progression
01:59 min	Verse Chord Progression
04:42 min	Strumming Overview
06:00 min	Alternating Bass Line
09:08 min	Strumming – Pick DU Pick DU
10:28 min	Strumming – Pick DU Pick UDU
12:19 min	Strumming – Pick D Pick D Pick Pick Pick U UDU

Intro & Instrumental Break Chord Progression

Verse Chord Progression

Strumming Pattern Ideas

Pattern 1

Pick D Pick D — we’re calling this one the “boom chick” pattern

Pattern 2

Pick DU Pick DU — hear this one in action at 08:45 in the video above

Pattern 3

Pick DU Pick UDU — crank it up a notch with this one at 10:28

Pattern 4

Pick D Pick D Pick Pick Pick U UDU — hear a sample at 12:19

Instrumental Breaks

Scroll down on this tab to watch three different instrumental break guitar lesson videos — beginner, intermediate, and advanced. The beginner break is a combo of the “boom chick” strumming pattern and a nice melodic bass line. The intermediate version adds a little more complexity to the beginner break. The advanced version is tricky but I’d recommend trying to learn it if you’re a beginner to intermediate player because it’ll push your pickin’ to the next level!

Video 1 – Beginner Instrumental Break

Video Start Time	Beginner Break Topic
00:00 min	Overview
02:01 min	Measures 1 and 2
04:37 min	Measures 3 and 4
07:00 min	Measures 5 and 6
09:22 min	Measures 7 and 8
11:00 min	Measure 9
11:56 min	All the way through for practice

Video 2 – Intermediate Instrumental Break

Video Start Time	Intermediate Break Topic
00:00 min	Measures 1 and 2
03:12 min	Measures 3 and 4
04:45 min	Measures 5 and 6
07:01 min	Measures 7 and 8
08:24 min	Measure 9
08:59 min	All the way through for practice

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Video 3 – Advanced Instrumental Break

Video Start Time	Intermediate Break Topic
00:54 min	Measure 1
05:05 min	Measure 2
07:12 min	Measure 3
08:52 min	Measure 4
11:11 min	Measure 5
12:46 min	Measure 6
15:02 min	Measure 7
15:23 min	Measure 8
17:28 min	Measure 9
18:02 min	Recap
20:05 min	All the way through for practice

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Short Fill Riffs

In this video, I’ll show y’all 16 awesome country/bluegrass sounding fill riffs. These’ll be short fills that you can play over C and G chords. They sound great with “Honey, You Don’t Know My Mind” or you can use them with any other song in the key of G. I’ve added some scale charts to the next tab for reference. Each fill riff in this video is built around the 5th position key of G hybrid country/bluegrass scale. Visualize the scale as you learn each fill so you can start piecing together where these notes are coming from.

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Fill Riff Overview
01:58 min	Four Beginner C Chord “2e&a” Fill Riffs
04:15 min	Four Intermediate C Chord “2e&a” Fill Riffs
07:17 min	Four Beginner G Chord “2e&a” Fill Riffs
10:07 min	Four Intermediate G Chord “2e&a” Fill Riffs

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Scale Charts

G Major Scale

G Blues Scale

G Hybrid Country & Bluegrass Scale

Chords & Lyrics Beginner Break TAB Intermediate Break TAB Advanced Break TAB Short Fills TAB Woodtone Strings

Country Bluegrass Riffs over “Cripple Creek”

April 13, 2025September 26, 2016 by Devin

improvise bluegrass licks over cripple creek

Lesson 7 – Rhythm Fill Riffs and Lead Guitar Course

Course Outline Previous Lesson Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0095

Last lesson, we looked at the 5th position hybrid scale in the key of G. I talked about how this is the most important scale for making your guitar sound country and bluegrass. We also used this hybrid scale to add some bass line fill riffs over a simple progression.

In this lesson, we’re going to use this hybrid scale to improvise with fill riffs over the bluegrass song “Cripple Creek”. First, I’ll give you a quick recap of the hybrid scale. Then, I’ll teach you the “Cripple Creek” chord progression, some beginner fill riffs, and some more advanced fill riffs for the intermediate players. Everything we’re covering in this lesson will come in very handy at your next bluegrass jam!

Hybrid Scale

Chord Progression

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Chord Progression
04:21 min	Detailed Rhythm Breakdown
04:44 min	Kickoff “G” Potatoes
07:00 min	“A Part” Breakdown
09:38 min	“B Part” Breakdown

Beginner Riffs

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	A Part – Line 1
03:28 min	A Part – Line 2
04:49 min	B Part – Line 1
06:35 min	B Part – Line 2

Intermediate Riffs

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	A Part – Line 1
01:52 min	A Part – Line 2
03:20 min	B Part – Line 1
06:05 min	B Part – Line 2

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Backing Track

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Homework

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Lesson Tablature Chord Progressions Woodtone Strings

Rye Whiskey

April 13, 2025June 16, 2016 by Devin

Lesson ID: A0076

“Rye Whiskey” is a traditional folk song that was made popular by Blind Lemon Jefferson in 1926. At least twelve artists recorded the tune before World War II, and the song has been recorded under other titles such as “A Corn Licker Still in Georgia”. When first published, the song was originally titled “Jack of Daniels”. In this guitar lesson, we’ll go over an easy way to play the entire song on guitar, and we’ll also cover a slightly more intermediate song intro and instrumental break.

Main Lesson

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Song Overview
02:35 min	Chords and Strumming Pattern
03:31 min	Time Signature
04:20 min	More Strumming Tips
07:41 min	Walk Down Riffs Explained
11:19 min	Rye Whiskey Chord Progressions

Intermediate Intro and Break

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Overview
00:45 min	Intermediate Intro
01:55 min	Instrumental Break

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Rhythm with Vocals

Gold Pick Member Content

Chords & Lyrics Lyrics Only Intro & Break Tablature Complete Lyrics Woodtone Strings