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Bluegrass Standards

My New Favorite Guitar Picks

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best triangle guitar picks for flatpicking bluegrass

We just wanted to post a quick video to show you the new Woodtone Picks that I helped design. Long story short, I prototyped and sampled a ton of different pick shapes, and finally settled on three triangle shapes that felt very comfortable to grip. These new Woodtone Picks are made of an upgraded celluloid plastic and we put a ton of effort into making sure the edges of the picks are super smooth for better tone and less pick scraping noise.

We’re extremely happy with how the picks turned out! I use them as my go-to guitar pick and I’d put them up against any of the other high-dollar picks on the market. I like all of the sizes, but my personal favorites are the .96mm Small Triangle and .96mm Medium Triangle picks. If y’all have any questions about them, just let me know!

Here’s a link to the new picks if you want to check them out:
https://woodtonestrings.com/shop/?_sft_product_cat=guitar-picks

“Nothing To It” In the Style of Billy Strings

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nothing-to-it-billy-strings-doc-watson-guitar-lesson
Lesson ID: A0201

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play a variation of the song “Nothing To It” written by Doc Watson in the style of Billy Strings. This song is loaded with some classic Doc Watson style guitar licks that you can use when you’re improvising guitar solos in the key of C. The guitar riffs and melody line walks in this song use some unusual note combinations which will really help push your flatpicking to the next level.

If this song is a bit out of your comfort zone, we recommend trying to learn it at a very slow pace. Focus on getting clean pick strokes, relax the grip on your guitar pick, and pick each note softly. This practice method will help you build the right technique and muscle memory — your picking speed and volume will develop over time. Overall, this is a great song for working on flatpicking technique!

Overview

Playthrough with TAB

Fishin’ Creek Blues

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fishing-creek-blues-dan-crary-guitar-lesson
Lesson ID: A0198

In this guitar lesson, we’ll take a look at a flatpicking arrangement in the style of “Fishin’ Creek Blues” by Dan Crary. As you learn this tune, you’ll see how Dan Crary uses some unusual note combinations in his flatpicking. Try to commit some of his licks to memory and use them when you’re improvising over other songs in the key of D. Overall this is a great lesson for working on pick control and letting notes ring out to create nice overtones that will smooth out your playing.

Overview

Playthrough with TAB

Cold Frosty Morning

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cold-frosty-morning-guitar-lesson-chords-and-tablature
Lesson ID: A0194

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play the traditional bluegrass tune called “Cold Frosty Morning”. This song dates back to the 1700s and it has become a favorite tune played at bluegrass jams. It’s a great song to use for working on your bluegrass flatpicking — practice picking the melody at a slow pace in the beginning and increase your speed in increments. Also, don’t worry about volume at first. Try to pick each note with a nice, clean, and soft pick stroke. This will help you build the right technique and the speed and volume will develop over time. “Cold Frosty Morning” guitar tablature is available for download below the lesson video.

Overview

Arrangement 2

Video 1 – Playthrough with TAB – High-Pitched Arrangement

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Video 2 – Full Breakdown – High-Pitched Arrangement

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Chord Progression

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Backing Track

Video 1 – Slower Backing Track 160BPM

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Video 2 – Faster Backing Track 200BPM

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