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Black Mountain Rag

April 13, 2025July 25, 2019 by Devin

Lesson ID: A0173

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play the traditional fiddle tune “Black Mountain Rag” in the style of Doc Watson. This is one of the most common songs that you’ll hear at bluegrass jams. In this lesson, we’re going to learn the old way of playing this song which includes four different parts — the A Part, B Part, C Part, and D Part. Sometimes you’ll hear people playing this song without the C Part that you’ll learn in this lesson. Also, we’ll learn this song in the key of C without a capo but a lot of times people will capo 2nd fret to play this melody in the key of D. After you learn the guitar arrangement and optional ending lick, practice your bluegrass flatpicking with our “Black Mountain Rag” backing track in the key of C.

Overview

Flatpicking Arrangement

Video 1 – Playthrough with Tablature

Video 2 – Full Breakdown

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	A Part – Measures 1 through 5
07:05 min	A Part – Measures 6 through 9
10:10 min	A Part – Practice with Me
11:08 min	B Part – Measures 10 through 13
17:16 min	B Part – Measures 14 through 17 (Available to CGO Members)
20:36 min	B Part – Practice with Me (Available to CGO Members)
21:51 min	C Part – Measures 18 through 21 (Available to CGO Members)
24:47 min	C Part – Measures 22 through 25 (Available to CGO Members)
25:34 min	D Part – Measures 26 through 29 (Available to CGO Members)
29:35 min	D Part – Measures 30 through 33 (Available to CGO Members)
33:07 min	D Part – Measures 34 through 37 (Available to CGO Members)
37:45 min	D Part – Measures 38 through 41 (Available to CGO Members)
41:27 min	D Part – Practice with Me (Available to CGO Members)
43:11 min	Practice the Entire Arrangement with Me (Available to CGO Members)

Optional Ending

Video 1 – Playthrough with Tablature

Member Content

Video 2 – Full Breakdown

Member Content

Backing Track

Member Content

Flatpicking Arrangement TAB Optional Ending TAB Woodtone Strings

Beaumont Rag

April 13, 2025March 14, 2018 by Devin

Lesson ID: A0147

“Beaumont Rag” is a swingy flatpicking guitar standard that originated as a fiddle tune near Beaumont, Texas. The exact origins are unknown, but many believe it was composed by a fiddler in Smith’s Garage Fiddle Band named Samuel Peacock. It was first recorded by Smith’s Garage Fiddle Band in 1928, and since then, it has become one of the most recorded ragtime tunes by country fiddlers across the world. Today, “Beaumont Rag” is a popular bluegrass standard for flatpicking guitarists.

In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play a traditional flatpicking break for “Beaumont Rag”. This arrangement will really help you work on your crosspicking and right hand pick control. When you play it at a slow speed, it’s a great song for beginner guitarists to learn, and when you speed it up, it’ll get pretty technical for the more advanced pickers. Download “Beaumont Rag” guitar tablature below the video.

Lesson Overview

Playthrough with Tablature

Full Breakdown

Video 1 – Learn the A Part

Video 2 – Learn the B Part

Member Content

Optional Ending

Member Content

Backing Track

Member Content

Beaumont Rag Guitar TAB Optional Ending TAB Woodtone Strings

East Tennessee Blues

April 13, 2025December 30, 2017 by Devin

Lesson ID: A0144

“East Tennessee Blues” is a traditional country rag that was first recorded in 1926 by Charlie Bowman with the Hill Billies. It was around prior to Bowman’s recording and has been also known as Hey Mr. Muskrat, Honeysuckle, Honeysuckle Rag, Huckleberry Blues, and Poca River Blues. This song’s bluesy melody has made it a favorite among several artists such as Doc Watson, Bill Monroe, Jack Lawrence, Michael Daves, Sierra Hull, and more. In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach you how to play a flatpicking guitar arrangement for “East Tennessee Blues” that fits nicely over the rhythm chord progression. Practice it slowly at first and increase your speed in increments to develop the best flatpicking technique.

Lesson Overview

Playthrough with Tablature

Full Breakdown

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Overview and Listen to the Arrangement
01:31 min	Measures 1 through 5
05:12 min	Measures 6 through 9
09:53 min	Measures 10 through 13
11:34 min	Measures 14 through 17
12:54 min	Measures 18 through 21
16:48 min	Measures 22 through 25
18:20 min	Measures 26 through 29
21:30 min	Measures 30 through 33

Chord Progression

Member Content

Backing Track

Member Content

East Tennessee Blues Guitar TAB Woodtone Strings

Big Sciota

April 13, 2025October 1, 2017 by Devin

Lesson ID: A0137

In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach you how to play “Big Sciota“, a traditional song credited to Burl Hammons. This song is named after a 231-mile stretch of river in Ohio that was very important to many Native American cultures. It is believed that Ritchie Stearns was the first to attach words to the tune, and much later, “Big Sciota” was made more popular by Old Crow Medicine Show.