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Jimmie Rodgers Style Rhythm and Fills

waiting-for-a-train-guitar-lesson-jimmie-rodgers
Lesson 12 – Country & Bluegrass Rhythm Course
Lesson ID: A0156

In this guitar lesson, we’re going to work on some Jimmie Rodgers style rhythm guitar techniques. First, we’ll go over a nice classic country strumming pattern that has a hint of Texas swing. After we break down the strumming pattern, we’ll practice our “boom chuck” country strumming over a Jimmie Rodgers style chord progression. You’ll also learn a few Jimmie Rodgers style country guitar riffs. The first riff sounds great as a song intro, the second riff mimics Jimmie Rodgers’ signature yodeling, and the third is a nice guitar riff that you can play as a song ending. At the end of this lesson, you should be able to practice your country strumming and fills along with the iconic song “Waiting for a Train” by Jimmie Rodgers.

Lesson Overview

Strumming

Progression

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Guitar Riffs

Video 1 – Intro Riff

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Video 2 – “Yodal” Riff

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Video 3 – Ending Riff

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Song Example

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Practice

Practice Strumming with Jimmie Rodgers

Capo 1st fret to make your guitar sound close to the tuning Jimmie Rodgers used in this video.

Jimmy Brown the Newsboy

jimmy-brown-the-newsboy-guitar-lesson-a0154
Lesson ID: A0154

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play the traditional country & bluegrass song called “Jimmy Brown the Newsboy”. This song was originally written by William Shakespeare Hays in the late 1800s and it has been recorded by several country & bluegrass artists over the years including Flatt & Scruggs, Mac Wiseman, Roger Miller, Norman Blake, Bill Monroe, A.P. Carter, and several others.

It’s common to see this song played out of the C position with a capo on the 7th fret (Key of G), but in this guitar lesson, we’re going to play it out of the C position with a capo on the 2nd fret (Key of D). The lower pitched melody with a capo on the 2nd fret seems to be a bit easier for singing. We’ll cover two different variations of the instrumental, and then we’ll go over the rhythm guitar part for those of y’all wanting to sing and play this one. Overall, this is a great guitar lesson for all levels of pickers.

Lesson Overview

Instrumental 1

Video 1 – Playthrough with Tablature

Video 2 – Full Breakdown

Instrumental 2

Video 1 – Playthrough with Tablature

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Video 2 – Full Breakdown

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Chord Progression

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Backing Track

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You Are My Sunshine in the Style of Gene Autry

you-are-my-sunshine-country-guitar-lesson
Lesson 11 – Country & Bluegrass Rhythm Course
Lesson ID: A0151

In this guitar lesson, we’ll practice some classic country strumming patterns over a country & bluegrass version of “You Are My Sunshine”. This arrangement incorporates a simple melody line with your standard Carter style “boom chick” country strumming. We’ll also work on a few country guitar fill riffs in the style of Gene Autry. Overall this is a great guitar lesson for developing accurate picking and strumming.

Overview

Playthrough with Tablature

Full Breakdown

Backing Track

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12 Bar Blues with a Country Twang

country 12 bar blues guitar lesson
Lesson 16 – Rhythm Fill Riffs and Lead Guitar Course
Lesson ID: A0148

In this country guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play a variation of the 12 bar blues that has a country & bluegrass twang. In both arrangements below, we’ll use triplets to spice up our country fills and we’ll also replace strumming with crosspicking in certain measures to make our rhythm sound even more country. These country 12 bar blues progressions are in the key of G and you can use the fill riffs that we’re studying in this guitar lesson with a bunch of other country & bluegrass songs. Pay close attention to how we’re structuring each country guitar lick around the rhythm chords.

Lesson Overview

Playthrough with Tablature

Video 1 – First Round Playthrough

Video 2 – Second Round Playthrough

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Full Breakdown

Video 1 – First Round Breakdown

 
 

Video 2 – Second Round Breakdown

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Backing Track

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