“Worried Blues” is an old song from the early 1900s written by a country blues musician named Frank Hutchinson. Hutchinson was best known for playing slide guitar with the guitar held in his lap. His song “Worried Blues” has been recorded by several artists over the years, including a popular fingerstyle arrangement by Doc Watson.
In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play a country and bluegrass flatpicking arrangement of “Worried Blues”. This arrangement is in the key of G and we’ll play it with a nice mix of “Carter Style” boom chick strumming and country blues flatpicking licks. First I’ll teach you two complete instrumental breaks that have a nice bluesy country sound. Then we’ll work through the “Worried Blues” chords and lyrics. After you learn the guitar breaks, practice your flatpicking with the “Worried Blues” backing track in G.
Video 1 – Playthrough with Tablature
Video 2 – Full Breakdown
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Tablature Line 1 Breakdown |
| 04:51 min | Tablature Line 2 Breakdown |
| 10:18 min | Tablature Line 3 Breakdown |
| 14:49 min | Practice Along with Me |
Video 1 – Playthrough with Tablature
Video 2 – Full Breakdown
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Tablature Line 1 Breakdown |
| 05:21 min | Tablature Line 2 Breakdown |
| 08:51 min | Tablature Line 3 Breakdown |
| 11:56 min | Practice Along with Me |
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Rhythm Overview |
| 00:56 min | Worried Blues Chord Progression |
| 02:16 min | Chords and Lyrics |
| 04:33 min | Bass Line Walk Example |
| 06:29 min | Chords and Lyrics Continued |
| 09:44 min | Song Ending |
| 10:44 min | Strumming Patterns and Rhythm Tips |
New lesson! This arrangement is kind of a cross between the Frank Hutchinson version of “Worried Blues” and the Doc Watson version. Hope y’all like the bluesy country guitar breaks that I put together for this one. I’ll have the chords & lyrics video posted by the end of the week, but in the meantime, you should be able to get through the entire song with the Chords & Lyrics PDF download below the lesson video.
Thanks for watching! – Devin
Again, thanks Devin it’s another good one!
Amazing, as always. Great stuff Devin. I’ll try to sing along too!
Thanks!
Alex and 
Jocelyn I just posted the Chords & Lyrics video for Worried Blues if you’re interested. Hope y’all have a great week –
Of course I am…thanks!
That’s brilliant. Thanks Devin. Can’t wait for the working week to end and give this a go!
Thanks man, you make it so easy to learn. I still think you have the best lesson site online. Keep it up!
Different strumming patterns, quality teaching and video and you teach me how to use instrumental breaks and building arrangements with chords….well this is what I was looking for, for many years! Thanks Devin!
Awesome lesson man! Your lessons are really helping me out, I’m learning a ton.
Such a great lesson. I’m learning a lot. Excellent explanations. Such a bluesy song and I learn how to spice up the song with little base line walks and different strumming patterns. All what I was looking for, for a long time! Thank you Devin.
My band is doing “Worried Man Blues” at the moment and this fits perfectly. Thanks.
I really enjoy lessons like “Worried Blues” where you play, sing and show instrumentals.
Lots of fun.
Great song to jam with!
enjoying this lesson – nice mixture of flat picking and strumming.