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Song Lessons

Sunny Side of the Mountain Flatpicking Guitar Solo

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Lesson ID: A0177

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play a country and bluegrass flatpicking guitar solo that you can practice over a chord progression from the old classic song “Sunny Side of the Mountain” by Harry C. McAuliffe and Bobby Gregory. “Sunny Side of the Mountain” was first recorded by Hank Snow and it has been recorded by several other country and bluegrass artists over the years. “Sunny Side of the Mountain” is also a really popular song to play at bluegrass jams.

The guitar solo that we’re learning today is challenging but it is doable for newer pickers if you slow it down a bit. Overall, this solo has a really nice melody and it is loaded with some hot bluegrass licks that will help improve your flatpicking accuracy and speed.

Overview

Playthrough with Tablature

Full Breakdown

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Measures 1 through 5
08:49 min Measures 6 through 9
14:08 min Measures 10 through 13
18:01 min Practice the First Half of the Solo
19:22 min Measures 14 through 17
24:44 min Measures 18 through 21
30:20 min Measures 22 through 25
34:38 min Practice the Second Half of the Solo

Practice Along

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Backing Track

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Red Dirt Country Strumming in the Style of Tyler Childers

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Lesson ID: A0176

In this guitar lesson, we’ll work on some red dirt country strumming in this style of Tyler Childers. First you’ll learn a country strumming pattern that is modeled after the strumming pattern Tyler Childers uses in his song “Whitehouse Road”. Then we’ll practice this strumming pattern over a couple chord progressions in drop D tuning with our capo on the second fret. After we practice the strumming pattern a bit, we’ll add some chord embellishments to our strumming to give it a nice red dirt country sound. Later in the lesson we’ll also work through an intro riff in the style of Tyler Childers. Overall this is a great lesson for learning some useful drop D chord embellishments that will spice up your country rhythm guitar. Please support Tyler Childers on iTunes and check out more of his songs on his YouTube Channel.

Overview

Strumming & Chords

Chord Embellishments

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Intro Riff

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Playthrough

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Johnny Cash Style Rhythm and Fills

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Lesson ID: A0174

In this guitar lesson, we’ll work on some Johnny Cash style rhythm guitar. First we’ll go over a nice country strumming pattern and get some practice strumming over a country chord progression. Then we’ll add some Johnny Cash style bass line walks to the chord progression to help transition from one chord to the next. You’ll learn eight Johnny Cash style bass line walks with tablature on the screen. After that, you’ll learn two guitar scales that you can use to create your own country bass line walks and then we’ll get some practice using these scales to play longer Johnny Cash style fill riffs. Overall this is a great guitar lesson that will give you that traditional country sound on your acoustic guitar.

Overview

Strumming Pattern

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Strumming Pattern Breakdown
01:44 min Chord Embellishment over E Chord
03:20 min Alternating Bass Line over A Chord
03:59 min Alternating Bass Line over B7 Chord
04:48 min Practice Your Strumming with a Country Chord Progression

Bass Line Walks

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Bass Line Walk 1
00:40 min How to Use the Bass Line Walks in a Progression
02:10 min Bass Line Walk 2 and Extra Tips
03:27 min Bass Line Walk 3 and Extra Tips
05:20 min Bass Line Walk 4 and Extra Tips
07:16 min Bass Line Walks 5 through 8
07:27 min Progression Example with Bass Line Walks

Guitar Scales

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Guitar Scale 1 – How to Read Scale Charts and How to Play Scale 1
03:19 min Guitar Scale 2 – How to Play Scale 2 and Extra Tips
05:02 min How to Use These Two Guitar Scales in Country Music
09:45 min One More Example of How to Use These Two Guitar Scales

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Fill Riffs

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Fill Riff 1
01:06 min How to Use the Fill Riffs in a Progression
04:38 min Fill Riff 2
06:17 min Fill Riff 3
08:21 min Fill Riff 4
10:04 min Fill Riff 5
13:38 min Fill Riff 6
15:04 min Fill Riff 7
17:50 min Fill Riff 8

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Hank Williams Style Strumming and Lead

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Lesson 18 – Rhythm Fill Riffs and Lead Guitar Course
Lesson ID: A0155

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn three country strumming patterns that work great for classic country. Then we’ll practice the country strumming patterns over a couple of chord progressions in the style of the old classic song “Your Cheatin’ Heart” by Hank Williams. After we work through the rhythm guitar parts, we’ll switch gears and I’ll teach you a simple classic country guitar solo that you can play along with “Your Cheatin’ Heart”. Overall this is a great lesson for classic country strumming and lead guitar.

Lesson Overview

Strumming & Chords

Guitar Solo

Video 1 – Playthrough with Tablature

Video 2 – Full Breakdown

Jam Track

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Listen

Practice with Hank Williams

Practice this lesson’s strumming patterns and solo over the song “Your Cheatin’ Heart” by Hank Williams 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.