Classic Country and Bluegrass Strumming Patterns Course Outline

Course Outline

Classic Country and Bluegrass Strumming

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Course Overview

What makes a strumming pattern sound country & bluegrass?

In this guitar course, I’ll teach you several of my favorite strumming patterns that have a nice country and bluegrass twang. We’ll start with the most basic strumming pattern in lesson one, and then work our way up to more advanced strumming concepts as we progress through the lesson series. At the end of this course, you’ll have a ton of awesome strumming patterns that you can use with your favorite classic country and bluegrass songs.

Lesson 1

Intro to Classic Country and Bluegrass Strumming

This is the first lesson in a series of videos where I’ll be teaching y’all a ton of my favorite classic country and bluegrass strumming patterns. In this lesson, we’re going to start with the basics and learn one of the most important strumming patterns used in country and bluegrass music. We’ll break down the pattern in detail and then I’ll show you how to use it with several common open chords. After that, I’ll give you some info on the chord numbering system, and finally, we’ll practice the strumming pattern using a really common country and bluegrass chord progression in four different keys.

Lesson 2

Country Strumming in the Style of Randy Travis

In the previous lesson of this course, I taught y’all one of the most important strumming patterns in country and bluegrass music. We also discussed how to use alternating bass notes with several different chords and we practiced strumming with a common country and bluegrass chord progression.

In this lesson, we’re going to practice this country strumming pattern using the song “Forever And Ever, Amen” by Randy Travis. This song is a great practice tool because it’s played at a relatively slow pace and the lyrics aren’t too difficult to learn. We’ll go over all of the song’s chord progressions and I’ll give you some important strumming tips as we work through the lesson.

Lesson 3

Country Strumming & Fills in the Style of Willie Nelson

In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach you a classic country strumming pattern in the style of “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” by Willie Nelson. First I’ll break down the strumming pattern and give you some strumming tips that will help you get those clean alternating bass line picks. Then I’ll show you a couple of Willie Nelson style chord progressions to use for practice. After that, we’ll start working in some classic country bass line walks and I’ll teach you a couple of Willie Nelson riffs that’ll spice up your country rhythm guitar.

Lesson 4

Foggy Mountain Rock

In the previous lessons of this course, I taught y’all one of the most important strumming patterns in country and bluegrass music and we practiced it over a really common chord progression. We also applied the strumming pattern to the chord progressions in “Forever And Ever, Amen” by Randy Travis.

In this lesson, we’re going to expand upon the strumming pattern we’ve been studying this series and make it a bit more complex using the bluegrass song “Foggy Mountain Rock”. We’ll cover all the song’s chord progressions, extra strumming techniques, a few common bluegrass licks, and some awesome bass line walk-ups that’ll spice up your chord transitions.

Lesson 5

Accent Picks and Strums in Country Bluegrass Rhythm

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 6

Seven Essential Country Strumming Patterns

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 7

Country Strumming over Hank Sr. Style Progressions

In this guitar lesson, I’ll show you three of my favorite country strumming patterns that’ll improve your pick accuracy and make your guitar sound fuller. I’ll break down each of the strumming patterns in detail and then show you how to apply the strumming patterns to some country chord progressions. After you watch the lesson videos, practice your country strumming over the song “Hey Good Lookin’” by Hank Williams.

Lesson 8

Country Strumming & Fills in the Style of Merle Haggard

In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach you a classic country strumming pattern and we’ll practice strumming over a chord progression in the style of “Today I Started Loving You Again” by Merle Haggard. I’ll also show you four fills that’ll make your rhythm guitar sound even more country. After you master the strumming and fills, practice them over the jam track. Tablature is available to Gold Pick members below the lesson video.

Lesson 9

George Jones Style Rhythm with Country Fills

Let’s spice up our country rhythm guitar even more! In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach you a classic country rhythm guitar pattern and we’ll practice using a progression in the style of “Choices” by George Jones. I’ll also show you some old school melodic country fills in the Key of D. We’ll break down the entire practice progression with tablature and I’ll give you some helpful country rhythm tips throughout the guitar lesson. After you master the progression, practice along with George Jones! Download tablature below the video.

Lesson 10

Kentucky Waltz Country & Bluegrass Strumming

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.

Lesson 11

You Are My Sunshine in the Style of Gene Autry

In this guitar lesson, we’ll practice some classic country strumming patterns over a country & bluegrass version of “You Are My Sunshine”. This arrangement incorporates a simple melody line with your standard Carter style “boom chick” country strumming. We’ll also work on a few country guitar fill riffs in the style of Gene Autry. Overall this is a great guitar lesson for developing accurate picking and strumming.

Lesson 12

Jimmie Rodgers Style Rhythm and Fills

In this guitar lesson, we’re going to work on some Jimmie Rodgers style rhythm guitar techniques. First, we’ll go over a nice classic country strumming pattern that has a hint of Texas swing. After we break down the strumming pattern, we’ll practice our “boom chuck” country strumming over a Jimmie Rodgers style chord progression. You’ll also learn a few Jimmie Rodgers style country guitar riffs. The first riff sounds great as a song intro, the second riff mimics Jimmie Rodgers’ signature yodeling, and the third is a nice guitar riff that you can play as a song ending. At the end of this lesson, you should be able to practice your country strumming and fills along with the iconic song “Waiting for a Train” by Jimmie Rodgers.