All Guitar Lessons
Search, filter, sort—or hit “Surprise Me” to jump into one of CGO’s 300+ lessons 🎸Some content lives in its own sections, and some is organized a little differently…
Hundreds of mini lick lessons with demo video & tablature
Speed adjustable country & bluegrass jam tracks to play along to (recorded by me here in the Woodshed)
Shortcut to step-by-step flatpicking lessons on songs played at real bluegrass jams
Build improvisation skills with structured paths through lessons, with a few exclusive videos to guide you
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I’ll Fly Away in the Style of Alan Jackson
In this lesson, I’ll teach you how play the traditional gospel song “I’ll Fly Away” in the style of Alan Jackson. First we’ll go over the chord progressions and a few strumming patterns you can play behind your vocals. Then I’ll teach you two...
Whiskey Before Breakfast
In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play the standard bluegrass tune “Whiskey Before Breakfast”. Many believe this song is an old tune from the Appalachians or the British Isles. We’ll teach you a nice bluegrass flatpicking instrumental break and we’ll also go...
Country Rhythm Practice Drills
We’ve got a couple drills here in this lesson video that’ll help you build right hand pick accuracy for playing country and bluegrass rhythm guitar. These country rhythm patterns will make your rhythm guitar sound more melodic and complex. We’ll show you…
Country Strumming over Hank Sr. Style Progressions
In this guitar lesson, I’ll show you three of my favorite country strumming patterns that’ll improve your pick accuracy and make your guitar sound fuller. I’ll break down each of the strumming patterns in detail and then…
Wildwood Flower
“Wildwood Flower” was first published in 1860 and was later recorded by the Carter Family in 1928 on the Victor label. Maybelle Carter leads a rendition of the song on the 1972 album Will the Circle be Unbroken, and frequently performed the song in...
Salt Creek
Lesson ID: A0171 “Salt Creek” is a popular bluegrass flatpicking tune that you’ll hear at bluegrass jams all the time. This song was originally titled “Salt River” and it was renamed by Bill Monroe in the 1960s to honor the actual Salt Creek in...
Common Bluegrass Flatpicking Licks
In this guitar lesson video, I’ll teach you 16 common bluegrass flatpicking guitar licks that will come in handy at your next bluegrass jam. We’ll break down each lick with tablature and I’ll show you how you can use these licks with the majority...
Tennessee Stud Riffs and Strumming
In this guitar lesson, we’re going to work on country & bluegrass flatpicking in the style of Doc Watson. First, I’ll teach you how to play some catchy guitar riffs similar to what you’ll hear in Doc’s arrangement of “Tennessee Stud”…
Hot Bluegrass Flatpicking Licks That Travel the Neck
In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach you four of my favorite bluegrass flatpicking licks that travel the guitar neck. I use these licks all the time in my bluegrass guitar solo breaks and also as rhythm guitar fill riffs. All four licks are in...
Fill Riffs with the 5th Position G Minor Pentatonic Scale
Up to this point, we’ve studied how you can use the 5th position major scale notes to create country and bluegrass riffs. Next, to make your riffs sound even more country, you need to mix in the 5th position G minor pentatonic…
Chet Atkins Hybrid Picking Progression
In this intermediate guitar lesson video, I’ll teach you one of my favorite hybrid picking progressions in the style of Chet Atkins. Instead of using a thumb pick like Chet Atkins did, we’ll use a standard guitar pick in a hybrid picking style (pick...
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…
“Nothing To It” In the Style of Billy Strings
Lesson ID: A0201 In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play a variation of the song “Nothing To It” written by Doc Watson in the style of Billy Strings. This song is loaded with some classic Doc Watson style guitar licks that you...
Easy Country Fill Riffs in the Key of G
Lesson ID: A0214 In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn three easy fill riffs that you can use to spice up your country & bluegrass rhythm guitar. Each fill riff is one measure long and you can use them in almost any chord progression in...
Nobody’s Darlin’ but Mine
Lesson ID: A0195 In this guitar lesson, we’ll work on a guitar solo that follows the melody of “Nobody’s Darlin’ but Mine” written by Jimmie Davis. In this lesson, we’ll focus on the version of this song as it was recorded by Merle Haggard....
Fingerstyle Guitar Inspired by Colter Wall
Lesson ID: A0191 In this guitar lesson, we’ll work on some bluesy country fingerstyle guitar that’s inspired the song “The Devil Wears a Suit and Tie” written by Colter Wall. First you’ll learn the main chord progression that we’ll use to practice this type...
1st Position G Minor Pentatonic Licks
In these guitar lesson videos, you’ll learn some country and bluegrass guitar licks built around the 1st position of the G minor pentatonic scale. Each week, we’ll post new country guitar licks built around various positions of the pentatonic scales and the blues…
Your Very First Guitar Chords
Brand new to guitar and wanting to learn how to play country music? You’re in the right place! In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn the four most common guitar chords used in country music. If you know these four chords, you’ll be able to...