Licks and Tricks – Page 15 – Country Guitar Online

Short Bluegrass Licks and Practice with Backing Track

April 13, 2025December 16, 2016 by Devin

how to improvise easy bluegrass flatpicking guitar licks solo breaks lesson pentatonic scales

Lesson ID: A0108

In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach you some short bluegrass licks that will get you started improvising your own bluegrass guitar solos. We’ll break down the licks with tablature and then I’ll show you how to use these licks to play a basic guitar solo over a common bluegrass chord progression. After you master the licks, practice the arranged solo and your improvising skills with the jam along video! If you like this lesson, check out our Bluegrass Lick Library.

Improvising in the Key of G

Learn the Licks

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Overview
01:56 min	Lick 1 – Breakdown with Tablature
02:30 min	Proper Left Hand Fingering
04:36 min	Lick 2 – Breakdown with Tablature
05:19 min	Lick 3 – Breakdown with Tablature
05:51 min	Lick 4 – Breakdown with Tablature

Basic Guitar Solo

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Rhythm Progression
01:27 min	Playing Bluegrass Licks over Rhythm
02:37 min	Basic Bluegrass Solo – Measures 1 through 8
04:07 min	Basic Bluegrass Solo – Measures 9 through 16
05:32 min	Practice the Solo Arrangement with Me
06:19 min	Wrap Up

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Jam Track

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Jam Track – Format
00:43 min	Jam Track – Count In

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Scale Charts

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Bluegrass Licks Tablature Guitar Solo Tablature Woodtone Strings

Foggy Mountain Rock

April 13, 2025November 23, 2016 by Devin

Lesson 4 – Country & Bluegrass Rhythm Course

Course Outline Previous Lesson Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0104

In the previous lessons of this course, I taught y’all one of the most important strumming patterns in country and bluegrass music and we practiced it over a really common chord progression. We also applied the strumming pattern to the chord progressions in “Forever And Ever, Amen” by Randy Travis.

In this lesson, we’re going to expand upon the strumming pattern we’ve been studying this series and make it a bit more complex using the bluegrass song “Foggy Mountain Rock”. We’ll cover all the song’s chord progressions, extra strumming techniques, a few common bluegrass licks, and some awesome bass line walk-ups that’ll spice up your chord transitions. If you like the guitar licks and bass line walks, you might also like our Rhythm Fill Riffs and Lead Guitar Course.

Lesson Overview

Chord Progressions

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Song Structure
01:11 min	A Part Chord Progression
02:57 min	Alternating Bass Line Notes
04:26 min	B Part Chord Progression
05:40 min	Practice Along with Me

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Strumming Tips

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Adding Accent Strums
02:08 min	When to Use Accent Strums
05:51 min	Practice Over the A Part
06:50 min	Live Chat

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Bluegrass Licks

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Overview
00:18 min	Intro Lick
01:16 min	Turnaround Lick 1
04:24 min	G Licks and Bluegrass Rhythm
05:16 min	Turnaround Lick 2
06:35 min	Syncopated Rhythm
08:03 min	Ending Lick

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Walk-Ups

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Easy Walk-up to C Chord
02:40 min	Easy Walk-up to D Chord
04:22 min	Intermediate Walk-ups
05:09 min	Intermediate Walk-up to C Chord
07:18 min	Getting Your Speed Up
08:34 min	Intermediate Walk-up to D Chord
10:48 min	Intermediate Walk-up to G Chord
12:55 min	Practice Drill over A Part Progression

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Listen

Listen to “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” performed by a few different bluegrass artists below using the embedded player from Spotify. I’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.

Chord Progressions Bluegrass Guitar Licks TAB Transition Walk-Ups TAB Woodtone Strings

Hot Bluegrass Flatpicking Licks That Travel the Neck

April 13, 2025October 31, 2016 by Devin

Lesson ID: A0100

In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach you four of my favorite bluegrass flatpicking licks that travel the guitar neck. I use these licks all the time in my bluegrass guitar solo breaks and also as rhythm guitar fill riffs. All four licks are in the key of G and they’re built with a combination of the blues scales and the major pentatonic scales. Our tablature download includes comments that’ll tell you the scale positions each lick travels through up and down the neck. As you’re learning these licks, try to visualize the scales in each position. If you like this lesson, you might also like our Bluegrass Lick Library.

Lick 1

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Lesson Overview
01:34 min	Important Guitar Scale Positions
04:16 min	Lick 1 Breakdown – Measures 1 & 2
06:58 min	Lick 1 Breakdown – Measures 3 & 4
10:30 min	Practice Along with Me

How to Practice

Flatpicking Method

Lick 2

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Lick 3

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Lick 4

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Guitar Licks TAB Woodtone Strings

Bluegrass Guitar Lick for a Song Intro or Solo Break

April 13, 2025October 27, 2016 by Devin

Lesson ID: A0099

In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach y’all a nice bluegrass guitar lick you can use during the intro of a bluegrass song or a solo break. Check out this YouTube video (guitar lick starts at 15 seconds) to watch Rhonda Vincent’s guitar player play a bluegrass intro lick similar to the one we’re covering in this lesson. Also watch this YouTube video on the “Lick Sample” tab of this lesson post below.

This lick sounds fast and tricky, but I’d encourage all levels to learn this one because it’s not too bad if you slow it down to a reasonable pace. Relax your right hand grip and focus on gettin’ those clean pick strokes.

Guitar Lesson

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Lesson Overview
01:20 min	Measures 1 & 2
04:12 min	Measures 3 & 4
07:43 min	Measures 5 & 6
10:29 min	Measures 7 & 8
12:51 min	Measure 9
14:07 min	Practice Along with Me

Lick Sample

See how this style of lick can be used in a bluegrass song (lick starts around 15 seconds).

Guitar Licks TAB Woodtone Strings