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Bluegrass Guitar Solo over Song by The Grascals

improvise bluegrass guitar solos using scales guitar lesson
Lesson 4 – Bluegrass Guitar Solo Improvising Course
Lesson ID: A0124

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn two full-length guitar solos over a common bluegrass chord progression. The first guitar solo is a basic solo with a nice melody that will push your pick control to the next level. The second guitar solo is slightly more advanced and loaded with some awesome bluegrass licks. Throughout the lesson, we’ll also talk about how guitar scales are used to create each of these solos. After you master the solos, practice them over the instrumental break in the song “Where I Come From” by the Grascals.

Lesson Overview

Bluegrass Scales

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Basic Guitar Solo

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Advanced Guitar Solo

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Practice

Practice with The Grascals

Try to play these two bluegrass solos over the song “Where I Come From” by The Grascals using the embedded player from Spotify. A nice instrumental break starts around 1:17 in this song. 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. Also, check out The Grascals on iTunes. They’ve got a ton of other great songs to choose from.

I’ll Fly Away in the Style of Alan Jackson

ill fly away bluegrass flatpicking solo break guitar lesson tablature
Lesson ID: A0119

In this lesson, I’ll teach you how play the traditional gospel song “I’ll Fly Away” in the style of Alan Jackson. First we’ll go over the chord progressions and a few strumming patterns you can play behind your vocals. Then I’ll teach you two variations of the instrumental break — the first instrumental break will mix a nice melody line with strumming and the second instrumental break will be loaded with some awesome bluegrass flatpicking licks. Chords and lyrics along with tablature can be downloaded below the video!

Overview

Progressions

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Lyrics

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Strumming

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Basic Instrumental

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Bluegrass Solo

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Backing Track

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Wayfaring Stranger in the Style of Johnny Cash

wayfaring stranger guitar lesson johnny cash country bluegrass
Lesson ID: A0115

Learn how to play the traditional American folk song “Wayfaring Stranger” in the style of Johnny Cash. First, we’ll break down all the chords and show you some strumming patterns that will make your rhythm sound country and bluegrass. Then, we’ll teach you the chord progressions along with the lyrics. For those of y’all that aren’t interested in singing this song, we’ll also have a nice acoustic guitar arrangement that incorporates the song’s melody. PDF files are available for download below the video! If you like this lesson, you might also like our Classic Country & Bluegrass Strumming Course.

Overview

Chords & Strumming

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min “Boom Chick” Strumming Pattern
02:06 min Alternating Bass Line over Am Chord
03:01 min Alternating Bass Line over Dm Chord
03:59 min Alternating Bass Line over E7 Chord
05:19 min Alternating Bass Line over F Chord
07:41 min Alternating Bass Line over C Chord
09:34 min Two More Strumming Patterns

 

Chords with Lyrics

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Intro Chord Progression
02:11 min Verse 1 with Lyrics
05:33 min Chorus 1 with Lyrics
07:31 min Instrumental Break Chord Progression
07:57 min Verse 2 with Lyrics
08:53 min Chorus 2 with Lyrics
09:36 min Song Ending

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Song Intro

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Listen to the Intro with Tablature
00:50 min Pickup Measure and Random Tips
02:11 min First Half of the Intro – Breakdown with Tablature
04:44 min Second Half of the Intro – Breakdown with Tablature
06:41 min Make the Intro Fancier with Some Accent Strums

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Instrumentals

Short Instrumental Break (over verse progression):

Johnny Cash played “Wayfaring Stranger” with the short instrumental break that you’ll learn in this video. This short instrumental break is basically the verse progression played in a fancier way to incorporate the song’s melody.

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Overview
00:39 min Listen to the Short Instrumental
01:59 min Measures 1 through 5 – Breakdown with Tablature
03:55 min Measures 6 through 10 – Breakdown with Tablature
06:33 min Measures 16 and 17 – Breakdown with Tablature
07:06 min Practice Along with Me

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Long Instrumental Break (verse + chorus):

In this next video, we’re going to play a longer instrumental arrangement over the song’s verse and chorus. The first half will be the exact same as the Johnny Cash “verse” instrumental taught in the previous video. Then, we’ll break down the second half that’s played over the chorus.

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Structure of the Long Instrumental
01:10 min Listen to the Long Instrumental
02:23 min Play Through the “Short Verse Instrumental”
03:19 min Instrumental over the Chorus – Breakdown with Tablature
10:38 min Practice Along with Me

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Backing Track

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Intermediate Stock Bluegrass Licks

bluegrass guitar licks improvising course lesson 3 easy pentatonic licks blues scale beginner riffs
Lesson 3 – Bluegrass Guitar Solo Improvising Course
Lesson ID: A0114

In this bluegrass guitar lesson, we’ll increase the difficulty a bit! I’ll show you four more bluegrass guitar licks that will take your picking skills to the next level. I’ll also talk more about the guitar scales that we’re using to create these bluegrass licks. After you master the guitar licks, practice the arranged solo and your bluegrass improvising skills with the jam track!

Overview

Lick 1

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min First Measure – Breakdown with Tablature
01:40 min Proper Pick Stroke Direction for Speed
03:16 min Second Measure – Breakdown with Tablature

Lick 2

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Lick 1 Breakdown with Tablature
02:11 min Combine Lick 1 and Lick 2

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Lick 3

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min How Lick 3 is Formed Around the D Chord
01:07 min Lick 3 Breakdown with Tablature
03:21 min Combine Lick 1, Lick 2, and Lick 3

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Lick 4

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Lick 4 Breakdown with Tablature
01:53 min How to Practice the Bluegrass Licks

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Scales Discussion

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Guitar Scales for Bluegrass Licks
01:41 min How to Visualize the Scales When You’re Improvising
02:52 min Bluegrass Guitar Licks Formed Around Open Chords
06:21 min Breaking out of the Pentatonic Scale Box When You’re Soloing
09:49 min Combining the Melody of Bluegrass Songs with Stock Bluegrass Licks

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Jam Track

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Overview
00:29 min Listen to All Four Bluegrass Licks Played in a Row
01:10 min Bluegrass Lick Example with the Jam Track

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