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Beaumont Rag

beaumont rag guitar tablature
Lesson ID: A0147

Beaumont Rag” is a swingy flatpicking guitar standard that originated as a fiddle tune near Beaumont, Texas. The exact origins are unknown, but many believe it was composed by a fiddler in Smith’s Garage Fiddle Band named Samuel Peacock. It was first recorded by Smith’s Garage Fiddle Band in 1928, and since then, it has become one of the most recorded ragtime tunes by country fiddlers across the world. Today, “Beaumont Rag” is a popular bluegrass standard for flatpicking guitarists.

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play a traditional flatpicking break for “Beaumont Rag”. This arrangement will really help you work on your crosspicking and right hand pick control. When you play it at a slow speed, it’s a great song for beginner guitarists to learn, and when you speed it up, it’ll get pretty technical for the more advanced pickers. Download “Beaumont Rag” guitar tablature below the video.

Lesson Overview

Playthrough with Tablature

Full Breakdown

Video 1 – Learn the A Part

Video 2 – Learn the B Part

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Optional Ending

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Backing Track

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Red River Valley

red river valley chords lyrics guitar lesson
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

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Backing Track

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Bury Me Beneath the Willow

bury me beneath the willow guitar lesson carter style rhythm
Lesson ID: A0132

“Bury Me Beneath the Willow” is an old traditional folk song that was first archived in 1906 by an English professor at the University of Missouri. The song was made popular by The Carter Family and it has been recorded by several different artists over the years. In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach you a nice instrumental arrangement for acoustic guitar that walks the melody line along with some Carter style rhythm.

Basic Instrumental

Intermediate Instrumental

Rhythm Breakdown

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Overview
00:36 min Chord Progression
01:44 min Chord Shapes
04:13 min Alternating Bass Line and Strumming Tips
07:30 min Singing with the Chord Progression

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Listen

Listen to a few different variations of “Bury Me Beneath the Willow” 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.

Standard Tuning

Capo 3rd Fret

Standard Tuning

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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