Lesson 6 – Rhythm Fill Riff Course
Lesson ID: A0094

Now let’s make your fills sound even more country! In the previous lessons of this series, we’ve seen how the 5th position key of G major and blues scales overlap. The next step is to combine these scales into a “hybrid” country/bluegrass scale. See the Charts tab below for a diagram of this hybrid scale.

In video #1 of this post, I’ll break down the scales and give you some extra pointers on how you can start to combine the major and blues scales. In video #2, we’ll go over several nice bass note chord transition fills that use this hybrid country scale.

Hybrid Scale

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Lesson Overview
00:52 min Hybrid Scale Breakdown
07:51 min Creating Chord Transition Fills

Adding Fills Between Your Chords with Hybrid Country Bluegrass Scales - Beginner Guitar Lesson

Fill Riffs

Video Start Time Lesson Topic
00:00 min Video Overview
01:35 min Progression Round #1 – All the Way Through with Tablature
02:04 min Progression Round #1 – Detailed Breakdown
08:33 min Progression Round #2 – Detailed Breakdown
12:12 min Progression Round #2 – All the Way Through with Tablature
12:36 min Progression Round #3 – Detailed Breakdown
16:44 min Progression Round #3 – All the Way Through with Tablature
17:12 min Progression Round #4 – All the Way Through with Tablature
18:01 min Progression Round #4 – Detailed Breakdown

Helpful Tip: Use table above > Jump to “All the Way Through with Tablature” sections > Blow up video to full screen > Click the minus button (lower center of video player) to slow down the video.

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Charts

G Major Scale

major scale key of g 5th position

G Blues Scale

5th position blues scale key of g

G Hybrid Country & Bluegrass Scale

hybrid country bluegrass guitar scale

Homework

Your Homework

1) Click on the Charts tab above. Play up the 5th position key of G major scale and use the hybrid scale diagram to see how the blues scale overlaps with the major scale. Most of the blues scale notes are already included in the major scale, but there are seven blues scale notes that aren’t included in the major scale. Memorize where these seven extra blues scale notes are located.
2) Practice improvising fill riffs with this new hybrid scale. Apply the hybrid scale fill riffs to a chord progression just like we’ve done in the previous lessons (1e&a/2e&1 will be rhythm, 3e&a/4e&a will be the fill riff).
3) In the Fills Riffs video of this post, we go over four rounds of a “Man of Constant Sorrow” progression and some nice bass note chord transition fills. If you don’t want to watch the entire 22 minute video, use the video start time table to jump to each section where I play each round with tablature. Play through the riffs and study how the hybrid country scale is used to create these fills.