Chord Embellishments – Page 6 – Country Guitar Online

George Jones Rhythm with Country Fills

April 13, 2025November 13, 2017 by Devin

george jones style country rhythm guitar lesson fill riffs choices chords tablature

Lesson 9 – Country & Bluegrass Rhythm Course

Course Outline Previous Lesson Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0134

Let’s spice up our country rhythm guitar even more! In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach you a classic country rhythm guitar pattern and we’ll practice using a progression in the style of “Choices” by George Jones. I’ll also show you some old school melodic country fills in the Key of D. We’ll break down the entire practice progression with tablature and I’ll give you some helpful country rhythm tips throughout the guitar lesson. After you master the progression, practice along with George Jones! Download tablature below the video.

Overview

Playthrough with Tablature

Full Breakdown

Practice

Practice picking your country rhythm over the song “Choices” by George Jones. Play “Choices” below using the embedded player from Spotify. We’d highly recommend using Spotify for online radio. If you don’t have a Spotify account, click here to sign up free with your Facebook account or with an e-mail address.

Practice Tablature Woodtone Strings

Railroad Bill

April 13, 2025September 25, 2017 by Devin

Lesson 5 – Hybrid Picking Rhythm Course

Course Outline Previous Lesson Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0140

“Railroad Bill” is an old traditional song based on a legend about a man in south Alabama during the post-Civil War era known as Railroad Bill. Sources suggest that Railroad Bill was a “Robin Hood” type of character that would steal from food trains and sell items to poor families at below market prices. As legend has it, Railroad Bill’s ghost is still roaming the L&N Railroad tracks to this day.

This song has a great melody that we’ll play using Chet Atkins and Merle Travis style picking. This is a challenging tune, but if you relax your right hand and take it slow, everything will fall into place with a bit of practice. We’ll focus on hybrid picking in this lesson, but feel free to play these arrangements with a thumb pick or finger plucking if you find that more comfortable. Download the tablature below the lesson video. Hope y’all enjoy learning this one!

Lesson Overview

Playthrough with Tablature

Arrangement 1

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Arrangement 1 Preview
00:42 min	Line 1 Breakdown
04:10 min	Extra Hybrid Picking Detail
07:36 min	Line 2 Breakdown
13:05 min	Line 3 Breakdown
15:53 min	Practice with Me

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Arrangement 2

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Arrangement 2 Preview
00:54 min	Line 1 Breakdown
05:28 min	Line 2 Breakdown
10:21 min	Line 3 Breakdown
13:33 min	Practice with Me

Member Content

Listen

Here are some nice YouTube videos of other folks playing “Railroad Bill”…

Chords & Lyrics Arrangement 1 Tablature Arrangement 2 Tablature Woodtone Strings

Kentucky Waltz Country & Bluegrass Strumming

April 13, 2025August 25, 2017 by Devin

kentucky waltz guitar lesson bill monroe

Lesson 10 – Country & Bluegrass Rhythm Course

Course Outline Previous Lesson Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0136

In this guitar lesson, we’ll take a look at another strumming pattern used all the time in classic country and bluegrass music. This strumming pattern is in 3/4 time (waltz time) and we’ll count it out by saying “one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three”. Beat one will be the down beat and that’s where we’ll pick the bass note string. Then, we’ll down strum on beats two and three. After you learn the strumming pattern, we’ll practice over a couple of chord progressions borrowed from the old classic “Kentucky Waltz” by Bill Monroe. I’ll also show you a few fills you can use to transition between chords.

Overview

Strumming Pattern

Progressions

Chord Fills

Member Content

Listen

Practice picking your country strumming over the song “Kentucky Waltz” by Bill Monroe. Play “Kentucky Waltz” below using the embedded player from Spotify. We’d highly recommend using Spotify for online radio. If you don’t have a Spotify account, click here to sign up free with your Facebook or e-mail.

Backing Track

Member Content

Guitar Tablature Woodtone Strings

Red River Valley

April 13, 2025August 16, 2017 by Devin

Lesson ID: A0135

“Red River Valley” is a traditional folk song and cowboy music standard that was written sometime during the 1800s. The exact song origins are unknown, but many believe it was composed at the time of the 1870 Wolseley Expedition to Manitoba’s northern Red River Valley. This song has been recorded by several artists over the years, including Woody Guthrie, Gene Autry, Roy Acuff, Jimmie Rodgers, and many others.

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn two instrumentals for “Red River Valley”. We’ll play the first with “Carter Style” boom chick country strumming. The second break will be loaded with bluegrass crosspicking riffs. For the fast learners, I’ll play through the each instrumental at a slow pace along with the tablature. Then I’ll break down each measure in detail and give you some pointers for working on your country rhythm and crosspicking technique. Download the tablature below the video!

Carter Style Arrangement

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Lesson Overview
01:02 min	Playthrough with Tablature
01:40 min	Full Breakdown with Tablature

Crosspicking Arrangement

Chords & Lyrics

Member Content

Backing Track

Member Content

Chords & Lyrics Carter-Style Tablature Crosspicking Tablature Woodtone Strings