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Railroad Bill

railroad bill finger style guitar lesson
Lesson 5 – Hybrid Picking Rhythm Course
Lesson ID: A0140

“Railroad Bill” is an old traditional song based on a legend about a man in south Alabama during the post-Civil War era known as Railroad Bill. Sources suggest that Railroad Bill was a “Robin Hood” type of character that would steal from food trains and sell items to poor families at below market prices. As legend has it, Railroad Bill’s ghost is still roaming the L&N Railroad tracks to this day.

This song has a great melody that we’ll play using Chet Atkins and Merle Travis style picking. This is a challenging tune, but if you relax your right hand and take it slow, everything will fall into place with a bit of practice. We’ll focus on hybrid picking in this lesson, but feel free to play these arrangements with a thumb pick or finger plucking if you find that more comfortable. Download the tablature below the lesson video. Hope y’all enjoy learning this one!

Lesson Overview

Playthrough with Tablature

Arrangement 1

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Arrangement 1 Preview
00:42 min Line 1 Breakdown
04:10 min Extra Hybrid Picking Detail
07:36 min Line 2 Breakdown
13:05 min Line 3 Breakdown
15:53 min Practice with Me

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Arrangement 2

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Arrangement 2 Preview
00:54 min Line 1 Breakdown
05:28 min Line 2 Breakdown
10:21 min Line 3 Breakdown
13:33 min Practice with Me

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Listen

Here are some nice YouTube videos of other folks playing “Railroad Bill”…

Kentucky Waltz Country & Bluegrass Strumming

kentucky waltz guitar lesson bill monroe
Lesson 10 – Country & Bluegrass Rhythm Course
Lesson ID: A0136

In this guitar lesson, we’ll take a look at another strumming pattern used all the time in classic country and bluegrass music. This strumming pattern is in 3/4 time (waltz time) and we’ll count it out by saying “one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three”. Beat one will be the down beat and that’s where we’ll pick the bass note string. Then, we’ll down strum on beats two and three. After you learn the strumming pattern, we’ll practice over a couple of chord progressions borrowed from the old classic “Kentucky Waltz” by Bill Monroe. I’ll also show you a few fills you can use to transition between chords.

Overview

Strumming Pattern

Progressions

Chord Fills

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Listen

Practice picking your country strumming over the song “Kentucky Waltz” by Bill Monroe. Play “Kentucky Waltz” below using the embedded player from Spotify. We’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 or e-mail.

Backing Track

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Red River Valley

red river valley chords lyrics guitar lesson
Lesson ID: A0135

Red River Valley” is a traditional folk song and cowboy music standard that was written sometime during the 1800s. The exact song origins are unknown, but many believe it was composed at the time of the 1870 Wolseley Expedition to Manitoba’s northern Red River Valley. This song has been recorded by several artists over the years, including Woody Guthrie, Gene Autry, Roy Acuff, Jimmie Rodgers, and many others.

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn two instrumentals for “Red River Valley”. We’ll play the first with “Carter Style” boom chick country strumming. The second break will be loaded with bluegrass crosspicking riffs. For the fast learners, I’ll play through the each instrumental at a slow pace along with the tablature. Then I’ll break down each measure in detail and give you some pointers for working on your country rhythm and crosspicking technique. Download the tablature below the video!

Carter Style Arrangement

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Lesson Overview
01:02 min Playthrough with Tablature
01:40 min Full Breakdown with Tablature

Crosspicking Arrangement

Chords & Lyrics

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Backing Track

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Bury Me Beneath the Willow

bury me beneath the willow guitar lesson carter style rhythm
Lesson ID: A0132

“Bury Me Beneath the Willow” is an old traditional folk song that was first archived in 1906 by an English professor at the University of Missouri. The song was made popular by The Carter Family and it has been recorded by several different artists over the years. In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach you a nice instrumental arrangement for acoustic guitar that walks the melody line along with some Carter style rhythm.

Basic Instrumental

Intermediate Instrumental

Rhythm Breakdown

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Overview
00:36 min Chord Progression
01:44 min Chord Shapes
04:13 min Alternating Bass Line and Strumming Tips
07:30 min Singing with the Chord Progression

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Listen

Listen to a few different variations of “Bury Me Beneath the Willow” using the embedded player from Spotify. We’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.

Standard Tuning

Capo 3rd Fret

Standard Tuning