In this guitar lesson, we’ll work on our flatpicking technique using a variation of the melody from the song “Wheel Hoss” written by Bill Monroe. The flatpicking arrangement in this lesson is inspired by how David Grier plays “Wheel Hoss” on guitar and we’ll study how to use this flatpicking arrangement as a practice drill to work on your pick accuracy and speed across all six strings of your guitar.
In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn some important crosspicking patterns and alternate chord voicings that will spice up your rhythm and lead guitar. First we’ll work on the crosspicking patterns and we’ll practice them using key of G open chords (G, C, and D). Then we’ll take a look at how you can play the G, C, and D chords at different locations up the guitar neck using alternate chord voicings. We’ll practice crosspicking over these new chord voicings and you’ll also learn some nice chord embellishments and licks that will make your crosspicking sound great.
In the second half of this lesson, we’ll work on some George Shuffler style crosspicking. George Shuffler was basically the pioneer of the crosspicking style in bluegrass music and he used a signature Down Down Up crosspicking pattern in most of his playing. We’ll work through an entire crosspicking progression in the style of George Shuffler to give you some different crosspicking ideas that you can use in your own country bluegrass rhythm and lead guitar. After you watch the lesson videos, practice your country bluegrass crosspicking with the two full-length backing tracks that are available with this lesson.
In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play an easy country and bluegrass guitar lick that sounds great over the C major chord when you’re soloing in the key of G. Then we’ll practice using the lick in a guitar solo over a 12 bar chord progression. As we’re working through the guitar solo, you’ll learn how to use bluegrass licks effectively to play powerful solos that follow a song’s chord progression. Later in the lesson, we’ll also talk about the guitar scales for playing country and bluegrass guitar solos and we’ll go over some easy improvising techniques. After you watch the lesson, practice your guitar solo improvising using the three bluegrass backing tracks in the key of G that you’ll find on this guitar lesson post.
In this guitar lesson, we’ll work on some Johnny Cash style rhythm guitar. First we’ll go over a nice country strumming pattern and get some practice strumming over a country chord progression. Then we’ll add some Johnny Cash style bass line walks to the chord progression to help transition from one chord to the next. You’ll learn eight Johnny Cash style bass line walks with tablature on the screen. After that, you’ll learn two guitar scales that you can use to create your own country bass line walks and then we’ll get some practice using these scales to play longer Johnny Cash style fill riffs. Overall this is a great guitar lesson that will give you that traditional country sound on your acoustic guitar.
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Strumming Pattern Breakdown |
| 01:44 min | Chord Embellishment over E Chord |
| 03:20 min | Alternating Bass Line over A Chord |
| 03:59 min | Alternating Bass Line over B7 Chord |
| 04:48 min | Practice Your Strumming with a Country Chord Progression |
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Bass Line Walk 1 |
| 00:40 min | How to Use the Bass Line Walks in a Progression |
| 02:10 min | Bass Line Walk 2 and Extra Tips |
| 03:27 min | Bass Line Walk 3 and Extra Tips |
| 05:20 min | Bass Line Walk 4 and Extra Tips |
| 07:16 min | Bass Line Walks 5 through 8 |
| 07:27 min | Progression Example with Bass Line Walks |
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Guitar Scale 1 – How to Read Scale Charts and How to Play Scale 1 |
| 03:19 min | Guitar Scale 2 – How to Play Scale 2 and Extra Tips |
| 05:02 min | How to Use These Two Guitar Scales in Country Music |
| 09:45 min | One More Example of How to Use These Two Guitar Scales |
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Fill Riff 1 |
| 01:06 min | How to Use the Fill Riffs in a Progression |
| 04:38 min | Fill Riff 2 |
| 06:17 min | Fill Riff 3 |
| 08:21 min | Fill Riff 4 |
| 10:04 min | Fill Riff 5 |
| 13:38 min | Fill Riff 6 |
| 15:04 min | Fill Riff 7 |
| 17:50 min | Fill Riff 8 |