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.
Difficulty: 2.0 out of 5
More Bluegrass Licks and Guitar Scale Theory
In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach you four more bluegrass licks that are great for improvising in the key of G. We’ll also talk about the guitar scale theory behind each of the bluegrass licks. After you master the guitar licks, practice the arranged solo and your bluegrass improvising skills with the jam track!
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Lick 1 Breakdown with Tablature |
| 00:50 min | Guitar Scales for Bluegrass Licks |
| 01:52 min | Getting That Country & Bluegrass Sound |
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Lick 2 Breakdown with Tablature |
| 01:26 min | Building Licks Around Open Chords Using Key of G Scales |
| 02:23 min | More Chord and Scale Theory Tips for Bluegrass Licks |
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Lick 3 Breakdown with Tablature |
| 01:36 min | Easier Way to Play Lick 3 |
| 02:33 min | How Lick 3 is Formed Around the D Chord |
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Lick 4 Breakdown with Tablature |
| 00:52 min | Left Hand Fingering for Easy Lick Transition |
Jam Track Example:
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Listen to All Four Bluegrass Licks Played in a Row |
| 00:43 min | Bluegrass Lick Example with the Jam Track |
| 01:21 min | Lesson Wrap Up |
Basic Bluegrass Licks and Guitar Scales
In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach you some basic bluegrass licks in the key of G that will get you started improvising bluegrass lead guitar. We’ll also talk about the guitar scales that you need to learn for improvising bluegrass solos. After you master the guitar licks, practice the arranged solo and your bluegrass improvising skills with the jam along video!
⇒ All four of these licks are in the key of G.
⇒ In bluegrass, it’s common to form licks around the chord progression.
⇒ Lick 1 is a key of G lick formed around the G major chord.
⇒ Lick 2 is a key of G lick formed around the C major chord.
⇒ Lick 3 is a key of G lick formed around the D major chord.
⇒ Lick 4 is a key of G lick formed around the G major chord.
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Chord Progression |
| 00:39 min | How to Play the Licks over the Progression |
| 01:07 min | Bluegrass Licks Formed Around Chords |
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Lick 1 Breakdown with Tablature |
| 01:29 min | Guitar Scales You Need to Learn for Bluegrass Improvising |
| 03:44 min | How the Scales are Used to Create Lick 1 |
| 04:53 min | Improvising with Scales |
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Lick 2 Breakdown with Tablature |
| 01:16 min | How Lick 2 is Formed Around the C7 Chord |
| 02:07 min | How the Scales are Used to Create Lick 2 |
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Lick 3 Breakdown with Tablature |
| 01:00 min | Following the Rhythm Guitar’s Chord Progression |
| 01:37 min | How the Scales are Used to Create Lick 3 |
| 03:18 min | Scales You Should Learn First for Bluegrass Improvising |
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Lick 4 Breakdown with Tablature |
| 00:38 min | The Most Important Lick in Bluegrass |
| 02:24 min | How the Scales are Used to Create Lick 4 |
| 03:19 min | Using the Scales to Get that Bluegrass Sound |
Jam Track Example:
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Practice Licks 1 through 4 |
| 00:34 min | Jam Track – Format |
| 00:55 min | Jam Track – Count In |
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.
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Overview |
| 01:38 min | Alternating Bass Line over the D Major Chord |
| 02:48 min | Alternating Bass Line over the G Major Chord |
| 03:31 min | Alternating Bass Line over the E Major Chord |
| 04:34 min | Alternating Bass Line over the A Major Chord |
| 05:10 min | Alternating Bass Line over the B Minor Chord |
| 06:07 min | Counting the Strumming Pattern |
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Intro Chord Progression |
| 01:58 min | Verse 1 Chord Progression Without Singing |
| 03:44 min | Verse 1 Chord Progression With Singing |
| 05:27 min | Chorus 1 Chord Progression Without Singing |
| 07:05 min | Chorus 1 Chord Progression With Singing |
| 08:07 min | Instrumental Break |
| 08:47 min | Verse 2 and Chorus 2 Recap |
| 09:23 min | Ending Chord Progression |
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Intro Chord Progression |
| 00:51 min | Verse 1 Chord Progression With Singing |
| 02:28 min | Chorus 1 Chord Progression With Singing |
| 03:23 min | Instrumental Break |
| 04:04 min | Verse 2 and Chorus 2 Recap |
| 04:41 min | Ending Chord Progression |
Listen to “Forever And Ever, Amen” by Randy Travis below using the embedded player from 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 with an e-mail address.
After you’re done here