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Old Joe Clark

old-joe-clark-guitar-lesson-bluegrass-licks-in-key-of-a

Lesson ID: A0221

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to play one a flatpicking guitar arrangement for the traditional fiddle tune “Old Joe Clark“. This mountain ballad was popular among soldiers from eastern Kentucky during World War I and afterwards. Its lyrics refer to a real person named Joseph Clark, a Kentucky mountaineer who was born in 1839 and murdered in 1885.

After you learn the flatpicking break, practice along with the “Old Joe Clark” backing track that accompanies this guitar lesson. Also, be sure to navigate to the “Bonus Bluegrass Licks” tab below to learn a few common bluegrass licks that work well with this song when you’re improvising. “Old Joe Clark” guitar tablature is available for download below the lesson video.

Lesson Overview
Playthrough with TAB
Backing Track

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Bonus Bluegrass Licks

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Red Haired Boy

red-haired-boy-guitar-lesson-with-tablature
Lesson ID: A0220

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play a nice bluegrass flatpicking arrangement for “Red Haired Boy”. This song is one of the most common fiddle tunes played at bluegrass jams. NOTE: We’re going to play “Red Haired Boy” using key of G chords and scales, but we’ll capo the 2nd fret so technically this is in the key of A.

After you learn the flatpicking break, practice along with the “Red Haired Boy” backing track that comes with this guitar lesson. “Red Haired Boy” guitar tablature is available for download below the lesson video.

Lesson Overview
Playthrough with TAB

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Full Breakdown

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Backing Track

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Easy Flatpicking Arrangement – “Arkansas Traveler”

arkansas-traveler-guitar-lesson-with-tab

Lesson ID: A0219

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play one of the most common bluegrass standards called “Arkansas Traveler” in the key of D. We’d highly recommend learning this song if you ever go to bluegrass jams, and even if you’re not into playing fiddle tunes on guitar, it’s a really good song to use for working on your pick control and accuracy.

After you learn the flatpicking arrangement, practice along with the “Arkansas Traveler” backing track that comes with this guitar lesson. The lesson tablature is available for download below the lesson video.

Lesson Overview
Playthrough with TAB

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Full Breakdown

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Backing Track

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Chicken Pickin’ Lick 3 in A

chicken-pickin-lick-3-in-key-of-A
Lesson ID: A0218

Here is Chicken Pickin’ Guitar Lick 3 in the key of A. This is a fun country guitar lick that travels up the neck in a really creative way. We’re going to combine Lick 3 with Chicken Pickin’ Licks 1 and 2 to create a complete guitar solo that’s 12 measures long in total. After you learn all of the licks, practice them over the full-length backing track that’s available with this lesson post.

I prefer using Woodtone Triangle Picks (black) in .71mm for chicken pickin’ because shape, size, and flex of these picks feels perfect.

Backing Track