Country Hybrid Picking Guitar Course

Course Outline

Hybrid Picking Techniques in Country Rhythm Guitar

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Lesson 1

Makin’ Your Rhythm Guitar Country with Hybrid Picking

This is the first guitar lesson in a series of videos where we’ll be showing y’all how to make your rhythm guitar sound country with hybrid picking. In this lesson, I’ll teach you a really useful hybrid picking pattern that can be applied to a ton of different country songs. This pattern will help get you comfortable using your pick in combination with the middle and ring fingers of your right hand. As we progress through this course, we’ll increase the hybrid picking difficulty and we’ll take a look at several different patterns that sound great in country, bluegrass, and folk music.

Lesson 2

Country Hybrid Picking with an Alternating Bass Line

In this lesson, we’re going to add more to the country hybrid picking pattern that we studied in the previous lesson of this series. We’ll get comfortable alternating the bass line with our pick which will get you ready to learn some of the more difficult hybrid picking patterns that we’ll be covering later in this course. After you learn the pattern, try practicing it over the chord progressions of your favorite country songs.

Lesson 3

Hybrid Picking Rhythm with Chord Embellishments

Up until this point, I’ve taught y’all a few of my favorite hybrid picking patterns that you can use in country songs as a replacement for strumming. In this lesson, I’ll show you some nice chord embellishments that will make your hybrid picking rhythm sound more interesting. First, we’ll work through a 16 measure long practice progression that’s loaded with chord embellishments. After you master the progression, practice along with me at two different speeds!

Lesson 4

Alternate the Bass Line and Pluck the Melody

In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach y’all one of my favorite hybrid picking patterns that involves plucking a basic melody line with your fingers while the pick alternates between bass notes. This technique will prepare you for playing songs in the style of Chet Atkins and Merle Travis. You can play this pattern over just about any chord and it’s useful for country, folk, bluegrass, and blues guitar. First I’ll teach you the hybrid picking pattern and then I’ll give you tips as we work through the practice progression. Download practice tablature below the video, and after you master the picking pattern, play along with the practice video!

Lesson 5

Railroad Bill

“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 and Guitar Pro files below the lesson video for some extra help. Hope y’all enjoy learning this one!

Lesson 6

Coming Soon!