Rhythm Guitar – Page 20 – Country Guitar Online

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

Gold Rush in the Style of Tony Rice

April 13, 2025December 2, 2016 by Devin

gold rush guitar lesson with tablature bluegrass licks

Lesson ID: A0105

Capo 2nd Fret – Key of A

In this week’s guitar lesson, I’m going to teach y’all how to play the traditional bluegrass song “Gold Rush”. First, I’ll play through the entire song with tablature at three speeds. Then, I’ll break down each of the flatpicking melodies, give you some extra bluegrass flatpicking tips, and teach you all the rhythm guitar parts. After you learn the flatpicking solo break, practice it with the rhythm jam along video where I play three rhythm backing tracks at different speeds. This song will come in handy at your next bluegrass jam!

Lesson Overview

Playthrough with Tablature

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Playthrough with Tablature – Slow Speed
03:02 min	Playthrough with Tablature – Medium Speed
04:49 min	Playthrough with Tablature – Faster Speed

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Flatpicking Breakdown

Flatpicking Breakdown Videos

Watch the three videos below to learn the song kickoff and an entire flatpicking solo break of “Gold Rush”. In the first video, I’ll teach you the Kickoff and give you some extra tips on pick direction. Then I’ll show you how to play the A and B Parts in the following videos below.

Video 1 – Kickoff

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Song Structure
01:28 min	Kickoff
03:43 min	Flatpicking Method – Pick Direction

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Video 2 – A Part

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	A Part Structure
00:44 min	A Part – Line 1
03:01 min	Flatpicking Method – Bluegrass Style Pull-offs
05:35 min	Practice – Kickoff through A Part Line 1
06:41 min	A Part – Line 2
11:55 min	Practice – Kickoff through A Part Lines 1 & 2

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Video 3 – B Part

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	B Part – Line 1
03:52 min	Practice – B Part Line 1
04:40 min	B Part – Line 2
07:29 min	Solo Break Recap
09:07 min	Looping the Break with a Turnaround
10:46 min	Practice – B Part Lines 1 & 2

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Rhythm Lesson

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Song Structure
00:59 min	Strumming Pattern
02:07 min	A Part Chord Progression
04:11 min	B Part Chord Progression
05:49 min	Bluegrass Jams and Playing Your Solo Break

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Jam Track

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	How to Use the Jam Along Tracks
01:52 min	Rhythm Backing Track – Slow Speed
05:04 min	Rhythm Backing Track – Medium Speed
07:11 min	Rhythm Backing Track – Fast Speed

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Gold Rush Guitar Tablature Chord Progressions Woodtone Strings