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Bluegrass Standards

Sunny Side of the Mountain Flatpicking Guitar Solo

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Lesson ID: A0177

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play a country and bluegrass flatpicking guitar solo that you can practice over a chord progression from the old classic song “Sunny Side of the Mountain” by Harry C. McAuliffe and Bobby Gregory. “Sunny Side of the Mountain” was first recorded by Hank Snow and it has been recorded by several other country and bluegrass artists over the years. “Sunny Side of the Mountain” is also a really popular song to play at bluegrass jams.

The guitar solo that we’re learning today is challenging but it is doable for newer pickers if you slow it down a bit. Overall, this solo has a really nice melody and it is loaded with some hot bluegrass licks that will help improve your flatpicking accuracy and speed.

Overview

Playthrough with Tablature

Full Breakdown

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Measures 1 through 5
08:49 min Measures 6 through 9
14:08 min Measures 10 through 13
18:01 min Practice the First Half of the Solo
19:22 min Measures 14 through 17
24:44 min Measures 18 through 21
30:20 min Measures 22 through 25
34:38 min Practice the Second Half of the Solo

Practice Along

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Backing Track

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Black Mountain Rag

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Lesson ID: A0173

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play the traditional fiddle tune “Black Mountain Rag” in the style of Doc Watson. This is one of the most common songs that you’ll hear at bluegrass jams. In this lesson, we’re going to learn the old way of playing this song which includes four different parts — the A Part, B Part, C Part, and D Part. Sometimes you’ll hear people playing this song without the C Part that you’ll learn in this lesson. Also, we’ll learn this song in the key of C without a capo but a lot of times people will capo 2nd fret to play this melody in the key of D. After you learn the guitar arrangement and optional ending lick, practice your bluegrass flatpicking with our “Black Mountain Rag” backing track in the key of C.

Overview

Flatpicking Arrangement

Video 1 – Playthrough with Tablature

Video 2 – Full Breakdown

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min A Part – Measures 1 through 5
07:05 min A Part – Measures 6 through 9
10:10 min A Part – Practice with Me
11:08 min B Part – Measures 10 through 13
17:16 min B Part – Measures 14 through 17 (Available to CGO Members)
20:36 min B Part – Practice with Me (Available to CGO Members)
21:51 min C Part – Measures 18 through 21 (Available to CGO Members)
24:47 min C Part – Measures 22 through 25 (Available to CGO Members)
25:34 min D Part – Measures 26 through 29 (Available to CGO Members)
29:35 min D Part – Measures 30 through 33 (Available to CGO Members)
33:07 min D Part – Measures 34 through 37 (Available to CGO Members)
37:45 min D Part – Measures 38 through 41 (Available to CGO Members)
41:27 min D Part – Practice with Me (Available to CGO Members)
43:11 min Practice the Entire Arrangement with Me (Available to CGO Members)

Optional Ending

Video 1 – Playthrough with Tablature

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Video 2 – Full Breakdown

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Backing Track

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Using Jazzy Chords in Your Bluegrass Rhythm

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Lesson ID: A0172

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to use jazzy chord shapes in your bluegrass rhythm guitar. This technique will really make your rhythm guitar stand out at your next bluegrass jam. First, we’ll go over some useful jazzy chords that you can use to replace standard open chords. Then, you’ll learn some strumming patterns that work great with these jazzy chord shapes. Finally, we’ll work through a practice progression so you can get an idea of how to use these jazzy chords in a bluegrass song.

Overview

Chords & Strumming

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min G6 Chord
02:13 min C7 Chord
03:29 min D7 Chord
04:05 min “Foggy Mountain Special” Chord Progression
06:24 min Alternate Voicing for a G Major chord
08:07 min C9 Chord
09:14 min D9 Chord
09:38 min Strumming Patterns
15:24 min Standard Bass Line Walk (Available to CGO Members)
19:06 min Jazzy Bass Line Walk (Available to CGO Members)
23:57 min Extra Tips (Available to CGO Members)

Practice Progression

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Jam Along

Here is a video of Russ Carson and Jake Workman playing “Foggy Mountain Special” on banjo and guitar. Try jamming along by playing the jazzy practice progression that you learned in this guitar lesson. You can hear Jake Workman playing some jazzy bluegrass rhythm guitar at 1:50 in this video.

Salt Creek

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Lesson ID: A0171

“Salt Creek” is a popular bluegrass flatpicking tune that you’ll hear at bluegrass jams all the time. This song was originally titled “Salt River” and it was renamed by Bill Monroe in the 1960s to honor the actual Salt Creek in Indiana near the location of Monroe’s annual Bean Blossom Festival. This song has been recorded by several bluegrass artists over the years, including Tony Rice, Doc Watson, Bill Monroe, Norman Blake, Clarence White, Billy Strings, and many others.

In this bluegrass guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play two flatpicking guitar solo breaks for “Salt Creek”. Both of the guitar solo breaks have a ton of momentum and they are loaded with some really nice bluegrass guitar licks. First we’ll play through each of the flatpicking guitar solos with guitar tablature. Then Devin will teach you each solo line by line and he’ll give you some helpful flatpicking tips along the way. The “Salt Creek” guitar tablature is available for download below the lesson videos.

Overview

Flatpicking Solo 1

Video 1 – Playthrough with Tablature

Video 2 – Full Breakdown

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Kickoff – Measures 1 through 4
03:27 min A Part – Measures 5 through 8
08:55 min A Part – Measures 9 through 12
14:06 min A Part – Measures 13 through 16
15:52 min A Part – Measures 17 through 20
18:47 min Practice the A Part with Me
20:14 min B Part – Measures 21 through 24
25:24 min B Part – Measures 25 through 28
30:05 min B Part – Measures 29 through 32
31:42 min B Part – Measures 33 through 36
33:16 min Practice the B Part with Me

Flatpicking Solo 2

Video 1 – Playthrough with Tablature

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Video 2 – Full Breakdown

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min A Part – Measures 1 through 4
03:09 min A Part – Measures 5 through 8
08:46 min A Part – Measures 9 through 12
10:17 min A Part – Measures 13 through 16
16:01 min Practice the A Part with Me
17:30 min B Part – Measures 17 through 20
22:39 min B Part – Measures 21 through 24
27:50 min B Part – Measures 25 through 28
28:57 min B Part – Measures 29 through 32
31:37 min Practice the B Part with Me

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Chord Progression

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Backing Track

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