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Country Strumming & Fills in the Style of Willie Nelson

willie nelson style rhythm guitar technique fill riffs bass walks
Lesson 3 – Country & Bluegrass Rhythm Course
Lesson ID: A0143

In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach you a classic country strumming pattern in the style of “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” by Willie Nelson. First I’ll break down the strumming pattern and give you some strumming tips that will help you get those clean alternating bass line picks. Then I’ll show you a couple of Willie Nelson style chord progressions to use for practice. After that, we’ll start working in some classic country bass line walks and I’ll teach you a couple of Willie Nelson riffs that’ll spice up your country rhythm guitar.

Overview

Playthrough

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Strumming

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Strumming Pattern Breakdown
01:09 min Right Hand Pick Technique
02:46 min Willie Nelson Hammer-On
04:11 min Alternating Bass Line over B7 and A Chords

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Progressions

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Progression 1
00:54 min A Major Accent Chord
02:37 min Progression 2
03:24 min How to Practice with “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”

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Bass Walks

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Bass Line Walk 1
01:17 min Bass Line Walk 2
03:42 min Bass Line Walk 3
04:50 min Bass Line Walk 4

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Fill Riffs

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Willie Nelson Style Fill Riff 1
04:14 min Willie Fill Riff 2 for a Song Ending

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Practice

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Practice with Willie Nelson

Practice your classic country strumming and fills over the song “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” by Willie Nelson using the 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.

Drop D Country Guitar Riffs

drop d country guitar riffs easy licks
Lesson 17 – Rhythm Fill Riffs and Lead Guitar Course
Lesson ID: A0149

In this country guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play six intermediate country guitar riffs in drop D. We’ll also have three easier drop D riffs for the newer country pickers. I’ll play the drop D licks with tablature and give you a full breakdown along with some helpful music theory tips. After you learn the licks, practice along with our jam track and also test them out over “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde” by Travis Tritt.

Lesson Overview

Six Intermediate Riffs

Intermediate Riff 1

Intermediate Riff 2

Intermediate Riff 3

Intermediate Riff 4

Intermediate Riff 5

Intermediate Riff 6

Three Easy Riffs

Easy Riff 1

Easy Riff 2

Easy Riff 3

Using the Riffs

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Jam Track

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Travis Tritt

Practice with Travis Tritt

Once you get these drop D country guitar riffs up to speed, try to play them over the song “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde” by Travis Tritt using the embedded player from Spotify. The chord progression is similar to our jam track progression, but just a bit quicker. 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 Travis Tritt on iTunes. He’s got a ton of other great songs to choose from.

12 Bar Blues with a Country Twang

country 12 bar blues guitar lesson
Lesson 16 – Rhythm Fill Riffs and Lead Guitar Course
Lesson ID: A0148

In this country guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play a variation of the 12 bar blues that has a country & bluegrass twang. In both arrangements below, we’ll use triplets to spice up our country fills and we’ll also replace strumming with crosspicking in certain measures to make our rhythm sound even more country. These country 12 bar blues progressions are in the key of G and you can use the fill riffs that we’re studying in this guitar lesson with a bunch of other country & bluegrass songs. Pay close attention to how we’re structuring each country guitar lick around the rhythm chords.

Lesson Overview

Playthrough with Tablature

Video 1 – First Round Playthrough

Video 2 – Second Round Playthrough

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Full Breakdown

Video 1 – First Round Breakdown

 
 

Video 2 – Second Round Breakdown

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Backing Track

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Merle Haggard Style Classic Country Intro & Fills

merle haggard style intro and fills in e
Lesson 15 – Rhythm Fill Riffs and Lead Guitar Course
Lesson ID: A0141

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play a classic country intro in the style of Merle Haggard along with some nice country fill riffs that’ll spice up your country rhythm guitar. First, we’ll work through the intro with tablature. Then, we’ll talk about the guitar scales you should learn to get this classic Merle Haggard sound in the key of E. After that, we’ll go over two rhythm progressions in the style of Merle Haggard that are loaded with classic country bass line walks and fills.

Overview

Country Intro

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Playthrough with Tablature
01:42 min Full Breakdown of the Intro

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Guitar Scales

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Scale Charts
02:28 min Notes Used to Play the Intro

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Progression 1

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Progression 1 Overview
00:21 min Playthrough with Tablature
01:23 min Classic Country Strumming Pattern
03:57 min Line 1 Breakdown with Country Fill
06:31 min Line 2 Breakdown with Another Country Fill
09:19 min Line 3 Breakdown with More Country Fills
10:54 min Line 4 Breakdown
12:00 min Practice Along with Me

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Progression 2

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Progression 2 Overview
00:32 min Playthrough with Tablature
01:27 min Line 1 Breakdown with Country Fill
02:14 min Line 2 Breakdown with Another Country Fill
04:54 min Line 3 Breakdown with More Country Fills
06:50 min Line 4 Breakdown
08:00 min Practice Along with Me

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Practice

Practice with Merle Haggard

Practice your classic country strumming and fills over the song “Fightin’ Side of Me” by Merle Haggard 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.