Licks and Tricks – Page 8 – Country Guitar Online

Ten Different Ways to Play the Bluegrass “G Run”

April 13, 2025May 25, 2019 by Devin

standard-bluegrass-g-run-guitar-lesson-a0170

Lesson ID: A0170

The classic “G run” is the most important part of bluegrass guitar. Learning different variations of the G run will improve your soloing and backup rhythm guitar. In this guitar lesson, we’ll work through ten different examples of how to play the standard bluegrass G run on guitar. All of the bluegrass G run examples in this lesson come with tablature. The first G run we’ll cover is the most common G run that guitar players use at bluegrass jams. We’ll also look at different signature G runs used by the great bluegrass pickers over the years — Del McCoury, Tony Rice, Norman Blake, and Doc Watson. Later in this bluegrass guitar lesson, we’ll get some practice using G runs with the chord progression to “Will the Circle be Unbroken” .

Lesson Overview

G Run Examples

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	The Most Common Bluegrass “G Run”
03:49 min	Using the G Run in Bluegrass Rhythm Guitar
07:56 min	A Shorter Variation of the G Run
10:08 min	One More Example of the Shorter G Run
11:31 min	Combining the Standard and the Shorter G Runs
12:58 min	Del McCoury Style G Run #1
15:00 min	Del McCoury Style G Run #2
16:09 min	Tony Rice Style G Run
17:45 min	Norman Blake Style G Run
18:35 min	Doc Watson Style G Run #1
19:48 min	Doc Watson Style G Run #2
20:15 min	Doc Watson Style G Run #3
21:11 min	Using G Runs with “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”

Lesson Tablature Woodtone Strings

Build-a-Break Flatpicking Guitar Licks for Cripple Creek

April 13, 2025January 13, 2019 by Devin

build a break cripple creek bluegrass flatpicking guitar licks

Lesson 9 – Bluegrass Guitar Solo Improvising Course

Course Outline Previous Lesson Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0163

This is part two of a mini lesson series on playing lead guitar in a country and bluegrass style. In part one, you learned how to play two guitar breaks for “Cripple Creek” using the song’s traditional melody. In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn eight extremely useful flatpicking guitar licks and I’ll show you three easy ways to use these flatpicking licks to spice up your country and bluegrass guitar solos. The concepts in this lead guitar lesson will help you improvise a hard-driving bluegrass guitar break over “Cripple Creek” and these concepts can also be applied to a ton of other country and bluegrass songs.

Overview

Using the Licks

Flatpicking Licks

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Bluegrass Lick 1
03:08 min	Practice Lick 1 with “Cripple Creek”
06:19 min	Bluegrass Lick 2
09:11 min	Practice Lick 2 with “Cripple Creek”
10:53 min	Bluegrass Lick 3
13:12 min	Practice Lick 3 with “Cripple Creek”
14:35 min	Bluegrass Lick 4
16:57 min	Practice Lick 4 with “Cripple Creek”
17:48 min	Bluegrass Lick 5
20:11 min	Practice Lick 5 with “Cripple Creek”
20:53 min	Bluegrass Lick 6
24:23 min	Bluegrass Lick 7
28:37 min	Bluegrass Lick 8
30:57 min	Extra Tips for Using Bluegrass Licks

Backing Track

Member Content

Lesson Tablature Lick Library Woodtone Strings

Country Guitar Lick Library

April 13, 2025November 29, 2018 by Devin

Our Bluegrass Lick Library has been really popular, so I’m putting together a Country Guitar Lick Library that will cover a bunch of country artist signature licks. I’ll be adding several more country guitar licks to this library in the coming weeks in between recording the full-length guitar lessons.

I just posted the first six guitar licks in the style of Brad Paisley, and below you can watch a sample of Brad Paisley Guitar Lick 1. You can find the Country Guitar Lick Library at the top menu under “Lessons” and I’ll also add a link below this video. Later, I’ll post country guitar licks in the style of Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, and more. If you have an artist you’d like me to cover, you can send me your request in the Country Guitar Lick Library community forum thread.

Guitar Lick Library Woodtone Strings

Using Country & Bluegrass Licks to Build a Solo

April 13, 2025October 19, 2018 by Devin

how-to-improvise-with-bluegrass-guitar-licks-a0160

Lesson 7 – Bluegrass Guitar Solo Improvising Course

Course Outline Previous Lesson Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0160

In the previous guitar lesson in this course, I showed you five of the most common ways to build a guitar solo and we talked about several techniques that will help you improvise better guitar solos. We also discussed the first type of solo in detail — the melodic guitar solo.

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn about the second type of guitar solo where we’ll play stock country & bluegrass licks over the top of a standard chord progression. First, I’ll teach you four stock country and bluegrass guitar licks. We’ll talk about how to use these licks to play a hard-driving guitar solo in a country and bluegrass style. Then, I’ll show you some more of my favorite lead guitar improvising techniques. As you’re studying the concepts in this lesson, be sure to also check out the Bluegrass Lick Library and Guitar Scale Charts that we have available at Country Guitar Online. After you complete this lesson, practice your country & bluegrass improvising over the backing track to “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” in the key of G. Lesson tablature is available for download below the video.

Overview

Playthrough with Tablature

Guitar Solo & Improvising Tips

Backing Track

Member Content

Practice Solo Tablature Guitar Lick Library Woodtone Strings