Chord Embellishments Archives

Country Strumming & Fills Style of Merle Haggard

April 13, 2025July 24, 2017 by Devin

Lesson 8 – Country & Bluegrass Rhythm Course

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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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Progression Tablature Bonus Fills Tablature Woodtone Strings

Wabash Cannonball

April 13, 2025June 30, 2017 by Devin

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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Chords & Lyrics Melodic Solo TAB Bluegrass Solo TAB Melodic Intro TAB Woodtone Strings

Country & Bluegrass Rhythm Fill Riffs in D

April 13, 2025June 6, 2017 by Devin

easy country bluegrass fill riffs in d guitar lesson

Lesson 11 – Rhythm Fill Riffs and Lead Guitar Course

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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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Guitar Scale Charts Practice Tablature Woodtone Strings

Country Strumming over Hank Sr. Style Progressions

April 13, 2025May 27, 2017 by Devin

Lesson 7 – Country & Bluegrass Rhythm Course

Course Outline Previous Lesson Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0126

In this guitar lesson, I’ll show you three of my favorite country strumming patterns that’ll improve your pick accuracy and make your guitar sound fuller. I’ll break down each of the strumming patterns in detail and then show you how to apply the strumming patterns to some country chord progressions. After you watch the lesson videos, practice your country strumming over the song “Hey Good Lookin’” by Hank Williams.

Overview

Strumming Breakdown

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Strumming Pattern 1 Breakdown
02:59 min	Strumming Pattern 2 Breakdown
05:15 min	Strumming Pattern 3 Breakdown
08:50 min	Straight vs. Syncopated Rhythm

Pattern 1

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Pattern 2

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Pattern 3

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Progressions

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Practice

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Strumming Pattern 1 Strumming Pattern 2 Strumming Pattern 3 Woodtone Strings