Rhythm Guitar – Page 19 – Country Guitar Online

Nine Pound Hammer with Tony Rice Style Solo Breaks

April 13, 2025January 23, 2017 by Devin

nine pound hammer guitar lesson bluegrass style of tony rice flatpicking licks

Capo 2nd Fret – Key of A

Lesson ID: A0111

In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach you how to play the traditional bluegrass song “Nine Pound Hammer” with some instrumental solo breaks in the style of Tony Rice. First we’ll go over the chord progression and a strumming pattern that you can play behind your vocals. Then I’ll teach you four different instrumental breaks — the first break will be nice and easy for the beginner pickers, the second break will mix the melody line with strumming, and the last two advanced instrumental breaks will be in the style of Tony Rice.

Overview

Rhythm

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Chord Progression
02:18 min	Chord Progression with Lyrics
03:53 min	Song Structure
04:42 min	Strumming Pattern Options

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Basic Break

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Bass Line Walk-ups Overview
01:25 min	Instrumental Break Chord Progression
02:33 min	Playthrough with Tablature
03:47 min	Extra Detail and Tips

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Melodic Break

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Listen to the Melodic Break
01:21 min	Measures 1 to 5 – Breakdown
04:58 min	Measures 6 to 8 – Breakdown
06:06 min	Practice the First Half
06:35 min	Measures 9 to 13 – Breakdown
09:56 min	Measures 14 to 19 – Breakdown
11:43 min	Practice the Entire Instrumental Break

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Tony Rice Break 1

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Listen to Tony Rice Break 1
00:58 min	Measures 1 to 5 – Breakdown
03:54 min	Measures 6 to 8 – Breakdown
06:01 min	Practice the First Half
06:39 min	Measures 9 to 13 – Breakdown
09:23 min	Measures 14 to 19 – Breakdown
11:40 min	Practice the Entire Instrumental Break

Tony Rice Break 2

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Listen to Tony Rice Break 2
01:02 min	Measures 1 to 5 – Breakdown
02:29 min	Measures 6 to 9 – Breakdown
04:22 min	Practice the First Half
05:01 min	Measures 10 to 12 – Breakdown
06:46 min	Measures 13 to 15 – Breakdown
08:49 min	Measures 16 to 19 – Breakdown
09:09 min	Practice the Entire Instrumental Break

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Jam Track

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Chords & Lyrics Chord Progression TAB Basic Break TAB Melodic Break TAB Tony Rice Break 1 TAB Tony Rice Break 2 TAB Woodtone Strings

Shady Grove in the Style of Doc Watson

April 13, 2025January 10, 2017 by Devin

shady grove doc watson chords guitar lesson with tablature bluegrass flatpicking

Lesson ID: A0110

In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach you how to play the traditional Appalachian folk song “Shady Grove” in the style of Doc Watson. First we’ll go over the chord progression and a strumming pattern that you can play behind your vocals. Then I’ll teach you two variations of the instrumental break — the first instrumental break will mix a nice melody line with strumming and the second instrumental break will sound more like a bluegrass flatpicking guitar solo.

Lesson Overview

Basic Rhythm

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Chord Progression
00:45 min	Strumming Pattern
01:18 min	Alternating Bass Notes
03:42 min	Progression with Vocals
05:18 min	Song Structure

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Melodic Rhythm

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Melodic Rhythm Example
00:47 min	Measures 1 through 4 – Breakdown
03:49 min	Measures 5 through 8 – Breakdown
08:00 min	Practice Along with Me
08:39 min	Instrumental Breaks and Song Structure

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Flatpicking Solo

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Flatpicking Solo Example
00:52 min	Measures 1 through 4 – Breakdown
03:24 min	Measures 5 through 8 – Breakdown
04:52 min	Practice the First Half
05:54 min	Measures 9 through 12 – Breakdown
07:10 min	Measures 13 through 16 – Breakdown
08:53 min	Practice the Second Half
09:41 min	Practice the Full Flatpicking Solo

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Backing Track

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Basic Rhythm TAB Melodic Rhythm TAB Flatpicking Solo TAB Chords & Lyrics Song Lyrics Only Woodtone Strings

Seven Essential Country Strumming Patterns

April 13, 2025December 17, 2016 by Devin

easy beginner country strumming patterns guitar lesson tutorial bluegrass rhythm

Lesson 6 – Country & Bluegrass Rhythm Course

Course Outline Previous Lesson Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0107

In the previous lessons of this course, I taught you several important strumming techniques that’ll make your rhythm guitar playing sound country and bluegrass. We covered the basics in lesson one of this series, and then we worked our way up to some fairly complex country bluegrass rhythm in later lessons.

In this guitar lesson, I’m going to show you seven different strumming patterns that will make your playing sound even more country. I’ll break down each strumming pattern in detail and then we’ll practice our country strumming over the classic country song “Write This Down” by George Strait.

Lesson Overview

Strumming Patterns

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Rhythm Guitar Course Recap
02:32 min	Down Beats and Up Beats – Pick and Strum Direction
03:58 min	Strumming Pattern 1
05:06 min	Strumming Pattern 2
08:05 min	Strumming Pattern 3
09:50 min	Strumming Pattern 4
11:41 min	Strumming Pattern 5
14:23 min	Strumming Pattern 6
16:00 min	Strumming Pattern 7
17:14 min	Creating Your Own Strumming Patterns

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Chord Progressions

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	How to Practice
01:16 min	Intro Chord Progression
02:22 min	Verse Chord Progression Breakdown
04:27 min	Verse Chord Progression Playthrough
05:06 min	Chorus Chord Progression
06:35 min	Instrumental Break
06:48 min	Helpful Tips, Bridge, and Ending

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Listen

Practice playing the seven strumming patterns we learned in this guitar lesson over the song “Write This Down” by George Strait. This song is great for practicing country rhythm technique because it’s played at a relatively slow pace and it has that classic country sound we’re focusing on in this lesson series.

The embedded player below is brought to you by 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 e-mail.

Strumming Pattern Charts Practice Progressions Woodtone Strings

Accent Picks and Strums in Country Bluegrass Rhythm

April 13, 2025December 9, 2016 by Devin

Lesson 5 – Country & Bluegrass Rhythm Course

Course Outline Previous Lesson Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0106

In the previous lessons of this course, I showed you several techniques that will make your rhythm guitar sound more country and bluegrass. You learned how to play the most important strumming pattern in country and bluegrass music, and we practiced our strumming over some nice country bluegrass chord progressions and songs.

In this lesson, we’re going to make our strumming a bit more complex by adding country sounding accent picks and strums. I’ll break down the entire strumming pattern and show you how to play it over a few common open chords. Then we’ll apply the strumming pattern to a country bluegrass chord progression and practice strumming with a modern bluegrass song.

Lesson Overview

Strumming

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Strumming Overview
01:01 min	Strumming Pattern with Accent Picks and Strums
02:35 min	Down Beats and Up Beats – Pick and Strum Direction
03:34 min	G Chord – Bass Line Picks
05:26 min	The Best Way to Play an F Chord
07:24 min	F Chord – Bass Line Picks
09:46 min	C Chord – Bass Line Picks

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Progression

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Progression Overview
00:56 min	Strumming Dynamics
01:41 min	Strumming over a Two Measure Chord Group
03:29 min	Bass Line Picks over a Two Measure Chord Group
05:02 min	Listen to the Entire Progression
05:40 min	G Chord Bass Line Hammer-on

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Chord Embellishment

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Listen to the Chord Embellishment
00:52 min	Chord Embellishment Breakdown with Tablature
03:02 min	Pick Direction
04:44 min	Play the Chord Embellishment with the Progression
05:46 min	Practice Tips

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Song Practice

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	A Good Song to Use for Practice
02:00 min	Lesson Recap

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Listen

Practice playing the strumming pattern and chord progression we learned in this guitar lesson over the song “Thorn Tree Shade” by Volume Five. Although the strumming pattern we learned in this guitar lesson isn’t the same exact strumming pattern you hear in “Thorn Tree Shade”, it blends very nicely with this song and I think it will be a fun way to practice this style of strumming over an actual piece of music.

Chord Embellishment Tablature Practice Progressions Woodtone Strings