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 |
If you like this lesson, check out our Bluegrass Lick Library.
New lesson! Hope y’all like it. I’ll have the jam track posted next week and might throw in a bonus rhythm guitar video for East Tennessee Blues. Happy New Year! – Devin
Nice lesson Devin!! Love the sound of this one.
Devin, One of my favorite lessons! Nice arrangement and you break it down well as usual. I’d love more country-bluesier numbers like this. wishing you well in the new year 2018!
This will be a perfect song for my monthly jam with friends. Thanks again for all your fantastic lessons. I’ve learned more on your site than I have in the past 25 years. Can’t thank you enough for your efforts. Cheers and Happy New Year 2018 as well!
That’s a really great lesson Devin. Really sounds great. Thank you for all your lessons; I find them excellent.
New backing track! Got the jam track put together for East Tennessee Blues this morning. Might throw together a rhythm lesson video for this song tomorrow and then on next week’s lesson. Thanks everybody for the lesson requests!
Nice lesson Devin. I like the melody a lot. Pick direction (as usual) seems to be my biggest challenge.
Really nice sound Devin. I am still learning so much from your videos. For years I have tried to find solid teaching in this style and your lessons are the best I have found by far. Looking fforward to watching many more. Cheers ~
Wow! East Tennessee Blues. Great lesson! Took me awhile but worth the effort! Thanks!
Thanks Bill! Yep, this is a fun bluesy tune..one of my favorites too. Glad you enjoyed it!
What’s an appropriate thickness for a pick when you’re flatpicking? I’m using a 0.88MM Dunlop Tortex but maybe it’s too thin/flexible?
I started out using the Dunlop Tortex picks. Nothing wrong with them for the price, but in my opinion, they can sometimes sound a bit thin for bluegrass flatpicking. The BlueChip TP60 that I use these days is about 1.5mm. It’s a thick one, but the right hand speed bevel makes it feel a lot thinner than it is. Sounds great for strumming and flatpicking lead stuff. I read on one of Bryan Sutton’s Facebook posts that he was liking the TP48 — same shape as the TP60 but just a little thinner. The TP48 is 1.22mm. The extra thickness… Read more »
Right on. Thanks for the info!
Another great lesson thanks man.
This Lesson, (East Tennessee Blues) seems to be the easiest of the 4.5 Difficulty. Great lesson, enjoyed much! Thank you!
I’m normal! Those last few measures took some time. Thanks Devin
Wait, I could play this through, right along with you? With the exception of the string bends, I did it! Amazing! Unbelievable! I may be getting better, or if not better, stronger!
To anyone learning this, I highly recommend Two Bluegrass Flatpicking Solos in C. There are similarities that make it easy to learn if you are already familiar with East Tennessee Blues and vice versa.