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.
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) |
Video 1 – Playthrough with Tablature
Video 2 – Full Breakdown
