G Archives

More Bluegrass Licks and Guitar Scale Theory

April 13, 2025February 3, 2017 by Devin

bluegrass licks for improvising guitar lesson course beginner

Lesson 2 – Bluegrass Guitar Solo Improvising Course

Course Outline Previous Lesson Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0113

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!

Overview

Lick 1

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

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Lick 2

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

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Lick 3

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

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Lick 4

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Lick 4 Breakdown with Tablature
00:52 min	Left Hand Fingering for Easy Lick Transition

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Example

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

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MP3 Jam Tracks

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Scale Charts

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Guitar Tablature Woodtone Strings

Basic Bluegrass Licks and Guitar Scales

April 13, 2025January 28, 2017 by Devin

easy bluegrass licks improvising course lesson 1 scales and licks

Lesson 1 – Bluegrass Guitar Solo Improvising Course

Course Outline Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0112

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!

Important Points:

⇒ 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.

Overview

Rhythm

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

Lick 1

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

Lick 2

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

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Lick 3

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

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Lick 4

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

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Example

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

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MP3 Jam Tracks

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Scale Charts

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Guitar Tablature Woodtone Strings

Seven Essential Country Strumming Patterns

April 13, 2025December 17, 2016 by Devin

easy beginner country strumming patterns guitar lesson tutorial bluegrass rhythm

Lesson 6 – Country & Bluegrass Rhythm Course

Course Outline Previous Lesson Next Lesson

Lesson ID: A0107

In the previous lessons of this course, I taught you several important strumming techniques that’ll make your rhythm guitar playing sound country and bluegrass. We covered the basics in lesson one of this series, and then we worked our way up to some fairly complex country bluegrass rhythm in later lessons.

In this guitar lesson, I’m going to show you seven different strumming patterns that will make your playing sound even more country. I’ll break down each strumming pattern in detail and then we’ll practice our country strumming over the classic country song “Write This Down” by George Strait.

Lesson Overview

Strumming Patterns

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Rhythm Guitar Course Recap
02:32 min	Down Beats and Up Beats – Pick and Strum Direction
03:58 min	Strumming Pattern 1
05:06 min	Strumming Pattern 2
08:05 min	Strumming Pattern 3
09:50 min	Strumming Pattern 4
11:41 min	Strumming Pattern 5
14:23 min	Strumming Pattern 6
16:00 min	Strumming Pattern 7
17:14 min	Creating Your Own Strumming Patterns

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Chord Progressions

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	How to Practice
01:16 min	Intro Chord Progression
02:22 min	Verse Chord Progression Breakdown
04:27 min	Verse Chord Progression Playthrough
05:06 min	Chorus Chord Progression
06:35 min	Instrumental Break
06:48 min	Helpful Tips, Bridge, and Ending

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Listen

Practice playing the seven strumming patterns we learned in this guitar lesson over the song “Write This Down” by George Strait. This song is great for practicing country rhythm technique because it’s played at a relatively slow pace and it has that classic country sound we’re focusing on in this lesson series.

The embedded player below is brought to you by 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 e-mail.

Strumming Pattern Charts Practice Progressions Woodtone Strings

Short Bluegrass Licks and Practice with Backing Track

April 13, 2025December 16, 2016 by Devin

how to improvise easy bluegrass flatpicking guitar licks solo breaks lesson pentatonic scales

Lesson ID: A0108

In this guitar lesson, I’ll teach you some short bluegrass licks that will get you started improvising your own bluegrass guitar solos. We’ll break down the licks with tablature and then I’ll show you how to use these licks to play a basic guitar solo over a common bluegrass chord progression. After you master the licks, practice the arranged solo and your improvising skills with the jam along video! If you like this lesson, check out our Bluegrass Lick Library.

Improvising in the Key of G

Learn the Licks

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Overview
01:56 min	Lick 1 – Breakdown with Tablature
02:30 min	Proper Left Hand Fingering
04:36 min	Lick 2 – Breakdown with Tablature
05:19 min	Lick 3 – Breakdown with Tablature
05:51 min	Lick 4 – Breakdown with Tablature

Basic Guitar Solo

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Rhythm Progression
01:27 min	Playing Bluegrass Licks over Rhythm
02:37 min	Basic Bluegrass Solo – Measures 1 through 8
04:07 min	Basic Bluegrass Solo – Measures 9 through 16
05:32 min	Practice the Solo Arrangement with Me
06:19 min	Wrap Up

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Jam Track

Video Start Time	Lesson Topic
00:00 min	Jam Track – Format
00:43 min	Jam Track – Count In

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Scale Charts

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Bluegrass Licks Tablature Guitar Solo Tablature Woodtone Strings