Song Lessons – Page 21 – Country Guitar Online

Country Strumming in the Style of Randy Travis

April 13, 2025November 16, 2016 by Devin

classic country bluegrass strumming series lesson 2

Lesson 2 – Country & Bluegrass Rhythm Course

Course Outline Previous Lesson Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0103

In the previous lesson of this course, I taught y’all one of the most important strumming patterns in country and bluegrass music. We also discussed how to use alternating bass notes with several different chords and we practiced strumming with a common country and bluegrass chord progression.

In this lesson, we’re going to practice this country strumming pattern using the song “Forever And Ever, Amen” by Randy Travis. This song is a great practice tool because it’s played at a relatively slow pace and the lyrics aren’t too difficult to learn. We’ll go over all of the song’s chord progressions and I’ll give you some important strumming tips as we work through the lesson.

Lesson Overview

Chords & Strumming

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Overview
01:38 min	Alternating Bass Line over the D Major Chord
02:48 min	Alternating Bass Line over the G Major Chord
03:31 min	Alternating Bass Line over the E Major Chord
04:34 min	Alternating Bass Line over the A Major Chord
05:10 min	Alternating Bass Line over the B Minor Chord
06:07 min	Counting the Strumming Pattern

Chord Progressions

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Intro Chord Progression
01:58 min	Verse 1 Chord Progression Without Singing
03:44 min	Verse 1 Chord Progression With Singing
05:27 min	Chorus 1 Chord Progression Without Singing
07:05 min	Chorus 1 Chord Progression With Singing
08:07 min	Instrumental Break
08:47 min	Verse 2 and Chorus 2 Recap
09:23 min	Ending Chord Progression

Intermediate Breakdown

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Intro Chord Progression
00:51 min	Verse 1 Chord Progression With Singing
02:28 min	Chorus 1 Chord Progression With Singing
03:23 min	Instrumental Break
04:04 min	Verse 2 and Chorus 2 Recap
04:41 min	Ending Chord Progression

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Listen

Listen to “Forever And Ever, Amen” by Randy Travis below using the embedded player from Spotify. I’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.

Honey, You Don’t Know My Mind

April 13, 2025October 4, 2016 by Devin

Lesson 8 – Rhythm Fill Riffs and Lead Guitar Course

Course Outline Previous Lesson Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0096

Last lesson, we used the hybrid country and bluegrass scale to improvise with fill riffs over the song “Cripple Creek”. We went over the chord progression, some beginner nice fill riffs, and some more advanced fill riffs for the intermediate players.

In this guitar lesson, we’re going to practice the 5th position key of G hybrid scale over the song “Honey, You Don’t Know My Mind”. First, we’ll break down the song’s chord progression and strumming. Then, I’ll teach you three different variations of the song’s instrumental break — we’ll have a version for the beginner pickers, a more complicated intermediate version, and an advanced version for the experienced pickers. This is another great song to play at your next jam!

Lesson Overview

Rhythm Breakdown

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Instrumental Break Chord Progression
01:59 min	Verse Chord Progression
04:42 min	Strumming Overview
06:00 min	Alternating Bass Line
09:08 min	Strumming – Pick DU Pick DU
10:28 min	Strumming – Pick DU Pick UDU
12:19 min	Strumming – Pick D Pick D Pick Pick Pick U UDU

Intro & Instrumental Break Chord Progression

Verse Chord Progression

Strumming Pattern Ideas

Pattern 1

Pick D Pick D — we’re calling this one the “boom chick” pattern

Pattern 2

Pick DU Pick DU — hear this one in action at 08:45 in the video above

Pattern 3

Pick DU Pick UDU — crank it up a notch with this one at 10:28

Pattern 4

Pick D Pick D Pick Pick Pick U UDU — hear a sample at 12:19

Instrumental Breaks

Scroll down on this tab to watch three different instrumental break guitar lesson videos — beginner, intermediate, and advanced. The beginner break is a combo of the “boom chick” strumming pattern and a nice melodic bass line. The intermediate version adds a little more complexity to the beginner break. The advanced version is tricky but I’d recommend trying to learn it if you’re a beginner to intermediate player because it’ll push your pickin’ to the next level!

Video 1 – Beginner Instrumental Break

Video Start Time	Beginner Break Topic
00:00 min	Overview
02:01 min	Measures 1 and 2
04:37 min	Measures 3 and 4
07:00 min	Measures 5 and 6
09:22 min	Measures 7 and 8
11:00 min	Measure 9
11:56 min	All the way through for practice

Video 2 – Intermediate Instrumental Break

Video Start Time	Intermediate Break Topic
00:00 min	Measures 1 and 2
03:12 min	Measures 3 and 4
04:45 min	Measures 5 and 6
07:01 min	Measures 7 and 8
08:24 min	Measure 9
08:59 min	All the way through for practice

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Video 3 – Advanced Instrumental Break

Video Start Time	Intermediate Break Topic
00:54 min	Measure 1
05:05 min	Measure 2
07:12 min	Measure 3
08:52 min	Measure 4
11:11 min	Measure 5
12:46 min	Measure 6
15:02 min	Measure 7
15:23 min	Measure 8
17:28 min	Measure 9
18:02 min	Recap
20:05 min	All the way through for practice

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Short Fill Riffs

In this video, I’ll show y’all 16 awesome country/bluegrass sounding fill riffs. These’ll be short fills that you can play over C and G chords. They sound great with “Honey, You Don’t Know My Mind” or you can use them with any other song in the key of G. I’ve added some scale charts to the next tab for reference. Each fill riff in this video is built around the 5th position key of G hybrid country/bluegrass scale. Visualize the scale as you learn each fill so you can start piecing together where these notes are coming from.

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Fill Riff Overview
01:58 min	Four Beginner C Chord “2e&a” Fill Riffs
04:15 min	Four Intermediate C Chord “2e&a” Fill Riffs
07:17 min	Four Beginner G Chord “2e&a” Fill Riffs
10:07 min	Four Intermediate G Chord “2e&a” Fill Riffs

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Scale Charts

G Major Scale

G Blues Scale

G Hybrid Country & Bluegrass Scale

Chords & Lyrics Beginner Break TAB Intermediate Break TAB Advanced Break TAB Short Fills TAB Woodtone Strings

Country Bluegrass Riffs over “Cripple Creek”

April 13, 2025September 26, 2016 by Devin

improvise bluegrass licks over cripple creek

Lesson 7 – Rhythm Fill Riffs and Lead Guitar Course

Course Outline Previous Lesson Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0095

Last lesson, we looked at the 5th position hybrid scale in the key of G. I talked about how this is the most important scale for making your guitar sound country and bluegrass. We also used this hybrid scale to add some bass line fill riffs over a simple progression.

In this lesson, we’re going to use this hybrid scale to improvise with fill riffs over the bluegrass song “Cripple Creek”. First, I’ll give you a quick recap of the hybrid scale. Then, I’ll teach you the “Cripple Creek” chord progression, some beginner fill riffs, and some more advanced fill riffs for the intermediate players. Everything we’re covering in this lesson will come in very handy at your next bluegrass jam!

Hybrid Scale

Chord Progression

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Chord Progression
04:21 min	Detailed Rhythm Breakdown
04:44 min	Kickoff “G” Potatoes
07:00 min	“A Part” Breakdown
09:38 min	“B Part” Breakdown