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Country Strumming & Fills Style of Merle Haggard

Lesson 8 – Country & Bluegrass Rhythm Course
Lesson ID: A0129

In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach you a classic country strumming pattern and we’ll practice strumming over a chord progression in the style of “Today I Started Loving You Again” by Merle Haggard. I’ll also show you four fills that’ll make your rhythm guitar sound even more country. After you master the strumming and fills, practice them over the jam track. Tablature is available to Gold Pick members below the lesson video.

Overview

Strumming Pattern

Progression and Fill Riff

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Bonus Fills

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Backing Track

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Wabash Cannonball

wabash cannonball guitar lesson chords lyrics
Lesson ID: A0125

“Wabash Cannonball” is a traditional American folk song that was originally published to sheet music in 1882 under the title “The Great Rock Island Route” written by J. A. Roff. The song was later rewritten under the title “Wabash Cannonball” in 1904 by William Kindt. In this guitar lesson, we’ll show you the chords and lyrics to “Wabash Cannonball” along with two full-length guitar solos. The first guitar solo incorporates a lot of the song’s melody line notes and the second solo is loaded with bluegrass flatpicking licks.

Lesson Overview

Melodic Solo

Bluegrass Flatpicking Solo

Rhythm Breakdown

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Backing Track

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John Hardy was a Desperate Little Man

john hardy bluegrass guitar solo break
Lesson ID: A0128

In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach y’all how to play two guitar solo breaks for the classic country & bluegrass song “John Hardy”. The first break has a nice blend of Carter style “boom chick” rhythm and Tony Rice influenced licks and the second guitar solo is loaded with some awesome country & bluegrass flatpicking licks that travel the neck. Download the tablature PDF files below the video along with the Guitar Pro files. If you like this lesson, check out our Bluegrass Lick Library.

 

Guitar Solo 1

Guitar Solo 2

Video 1 – Full Breakdown

Video 2 – Condensed Breakdown for the More Advanced Players

Rhythm

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Ending Lick

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Backing Track

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Country & Bluegrass Rhythm Fill Riffs in D

easy country bluegrass fill riffs in d guitar lesson
Lesson 11 – Rhythm Fill Riffs and Lead Guitar Course
Lesson ID: A0127

In this guitar lesson, we’ll take a look at how to play country and bluegrass rhythm fill riffs in the key of D. I’ll teach you six of my favorite fill riffs in the key of D and we’ll practice them with a nice country and bluegrass rhythm progression. We’ll also talk about the guitar scales we’re using here in the key of D to get this country and bluegrass sound. Download the practice progression tablature below the video.

Lesson Overview

Fill Riffs

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Progression Overview
01:21 min Fill Riff 1
03:31 min Fill Riff 2
05:33 min Fill Riff 3
08:38 min Fill Riff 4
10:58 min Fill Riff 5
12:48 min Fill Riff 6
15:27 min Country & Bluegrass Strumming Technique

Guitar Scales

Practice Progression

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