3.5 out of 5 Archives

Hot Bluegrass Guitar Licks & Improvising Tips

April 13, 2025August 11, 2018 by Devin

bluegrass-lead-guitar-lesson-wreck-of-old-97

Lesson 5 – Bluegrass Guitar Solo Improvising Course

Course Outline Previous Lesson Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0157

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn several barn-burning bluegrass guitar licks that’ll turn some heads at your next bluegrass jam. We’ll also talk some more about how to use bluegrass licks, how bluegrass licks are structured around common bluegrass chord progressions, and how you can combine bluegrass licks to create catchy bluegrass guitar solos. By the end of this guitar lesson, you should be able to play a nice bluegrass guitar solo break over the bluegrass standard “Wreck of the Old ’97”.

Licks & Tricks

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Lesson Overview
01:07 min	Bluegrass Lead Guitar Improvising Tips
08:41 min	Bluegrass Lick 1 over G Chord
10:21 min	Bluegrass Lick 2 over C Chord
11:36 min	Bluegrass Lick 3 over G Chord
12:41 min	Helpful Tip for Improving Your Pull-offs

Playthrough with Tablature

Guitar Scales

Member Content

Backing Track

Member Content

Guitar Tablature Woodtone Strings

Home Sweet Home Crosspicking Lesson

April 13, 2025May 18, 2018 by Devin

home-sweet-home-bluegrass-crosspicking-guitar-lesson

Lesson ID: A0152

In this country and bluegrass crosspicking guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play a crosspicking version of the traditional tune “Home Sweet Home” in the key of C. This song was originally adapted from American actor and dramatist John Howard Payne‘s 1823 opera Clari. Over the years, the song’s catchy melody has made it a favorite among several artists such as Doc Watson, Merle Watson, Tony Rice, and Earl Scruggs. Today, “Home Sweet Home” is known as one of the best bluegrass songs to play in a crosspicking style.

Overview

Playthrough with Tablature

Full Breakdown

Guitar Tablature Woodtone Strings

Drop D Country Guitar Riffs

April 13, 2025March 29, 2018 by Devin

Lesson 17 – Rhythm Fill Riffs and Lead Guitar Course

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Lesson ID: A0149

In this country guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play six intermediate country guitar riffs in drop D. We’ll also have three easier drop D riffs for the newer country pickers. I’ll play the drop D licks with tablature and give you a full breakdown along with some helpful music theory tips. After you learn the licks, practice along with our jam track and also test them out over “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde” by Travis Tritt.

Lesson Overview

Six Intermediate Riffs

Intermediate Riff 1

Intermediate Riff 2

Intermediate Riff 3

Intermediate Riff 4

Intermediate Riff 5

Intermediate Riff 6

Three Easy Riffs

Easy Riff 1

Easy Riff 2

Easy Riff 3

Using the Riffs

Member Content

Jam Track

Member Content

Travis Tritt

Practice with Travis Tritt

Once you get these drop D country guitar riffs up to speed, try to play them over the song “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde” by Travis Tritt using the embedded player from Spotify. The chord progression is similar to our jam track progression, but just a bit quicker. 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. Also, check out Travis Tritt on iTunes. He’s got a ton of other great songs to choose from.

Intermediate Riffs TAB Easy Riffs TAB Woodtone Strings

12 Bar Blues with a Country Twang

November 22, 2025March 13, 2018 by Devin

Lesson 16 – Rhythm Fill Riffs and Lead Guitar Course

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Lesson ID: A0148

In this country guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play a variation of the 12 bar blues that has a country & bluegrass twang. In both arrangements below, we’ll use triplets to spice up our country fills and we’ll also replace strumming with crosspicking in certain measures to make our rhythm sound even more country. These country 12 bar blues progressions are in the key of G and you can use the fill riffs that we’re studying in this guitar lesson with a bunch of other country & bluegrass songs. Pay close attention to how we’re structuring each country guitar lick around the rhythm chords.

Lesson Overview