In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play “Little Sadie” in the style of Doc Watson. First, we’ll work through the “Little Sadie” chord progression using traditional country & bluegrass strumming. Then, we’ll make the progression sound a little fancier with a Doc Watson style bass line walk and a fill riff. After we talk about the rhythm guitar, we’ll work through a couple rounds of the progression with vocals. Finally, we’ll cover three different guitar solo breaks for “Little Sadie” in the style of Doc Watson. The first guitar solo is the easiest and the last two are a little more difficult. Overall this must-know country & bluegrass song that will sound great at your next jam. Guitar tablature is available below the lesson videos.
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Little Sadie Chord Progression |
| 01:54 min | Chord Progression with Tablature |
| 03:14 min | Doc Watson Style Bass Line Walk and Fill Riff |
| 05:44 min | Chord Progression with Vocals |
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Video Overview |
| 00:22 min | Strumming Pattern 1 |
| 00:50 min | Strumming Pattern 2 |
| 01:23 min | Strumming Pattern 3 |
| 03:07 min | Strumming Pattern 4 |
| 03:48 min | Strumming Pattern 5 |
| 04:41 min | Practice Progression – Measures 1 through 4 |
| 08:19 min | Practice Progression – Measures 5 through 8 |
| 10:15 min | Practice Progression – Measures 9 through 10 |
| 11:43 min | Practice the Progression with Me |
New lesson! I’m still wrapping up the backing track, but the main lesson is ready to go. Hope y’all have a great weekend!
Interesting one thanks Devin! Have a good weekend!
Awesome lesson man!
Lovin Little Sadie. Great song, hardest part is playing and singing this at the pace Doc Watson does it. He gets the words out so clear but so quick as well.
Got to the the best for my money RIP Doc.
Thanks for another great lesson
This is one of my favorites! Nice lesson as always. Thanks Devin!
The advanced rhythm is fun too play like these three progressives solo are fun too…have a nice weekend!
Love it – looking forward to giving it a go!
I have the free trial and I cant even see the full video just the clips why is that?
Hey Adam – That just means you’re not logged in to the member area. I just reset your account and I’ll send a temporary password to your email. If you’re still having trouble with it you can send me a message through the chat at the bottom right of the screen or through the contact form. Thanks! – Devin
Little Sadie is such a great song and this is an awesome lesson, Devin. You present such a variety regarding rhythm part, solos and vocals. I love these types of lessons. And your explanations are very informative. I’m learning a lot.
Love this tune by Doc Watson.
First heard it by Billy Strings.
Thanks Dev.
London over and out.
This is one of the coolest songs I’ve run across. Love the minor key. I’ve played casually for fifty years +…Kind of new-ish at bluegrass licks like three years in earnest. Harder than it looks and sounds. There are several versions of the solo in varying degrees of difficulty. Of course I like the trickiest ones. (Spell that Tony Rice) Some top pickers claim to practice 6-8 hours every day. Yeah right! And they started when they were three.
this is great – thanks