The sound of the steel-string guitar is synonymous with the sound of rootsy styles like country, bluegrass, and Americana. Whether you’re looking to learn the basics of boom-chuck strumming, some hot flatpicking licks, or how to play Western swing, you’ll find it here.
Colorado-based guitarist and traditional music specialist Morgan Harris breaks down her arrangement of this folk classic.
Set to a bouncy minor-key groove, “Foxes” features some fine picking and is very fun to play, with a melodic solo that could stand on its own as an instrumental.
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“Waiting for a Train” first became a hit in 1929. Here, we’re keeping it simple and playing in C—an easy key for open-position cowboy chords.
No matter how you slice it, this melody is challenging on guitar. Yet it’s a catchy song, and if you attend a jam or two, you are sure to encounter it.
Give this sweet tune a try, and you’ll quickly understand why so many guitarists love it.
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The transcription here is based on the version Flemons recorded for his 2018 album ‘Black Cowboys,’ which highlights the African American experience in country music.
It’s a simple song with just four basic chords, but the most challenging aspect for some beginners may be the spirited tempo.
"Soldier's Joy" is almost always played fast. In this lesson I present two versions that offer options for navigating this tricky melody.
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Dive deep into the melody and harmony to get maximum musical mileage out of a few compositional ideas.
This arrangement takes some cues from the Dead, but uses dropped-D tuning for more low end punch and adds a bunch of flatpicking fun.
This lovely piece is played in a nonstandard tuning, with the sixth and fifth strings tuned down to C and G, and a capo at the second fret.
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This interpretation honors the original melody of this 100-year-old tune while rendering it with a flatpicking approach that nods toward more contemporary figures.
Modern guitarists often use cross-picking as a flashy showpiece, but the early flatpickers did it on slower selections to create charming and captivating solos.
The song is heard often at jams, concerts, and on albums, most recently on Jamie Stillway and Eric Skye’s duo guitar release ‘Over the Waterfall.’
Make your I-IV-V boom-chuck accompaniments in D sound more interesting by adding some variety to your bass lines.
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Here we continue exploring boom-chuck, with an emphasis on moving bass lines
In this guitar lesson we will break down the classic boom-chuck pattern heard throughout American roots music and begin to use it on songs.
Learn to play the Jon Stickley Trio's unique interpretation of the bluegrass tune “Blackberry Blossom” on guitar.
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In this guitar lesson, learn how to use bluegrass flatpicking to add riffs and fills on top of your playing to create the exciting sound of multiple instruments.
Happy Traum demonstrates how to arrange accompaniment and guitar solos for old folk, blues, and gospel songs.
“Casey Jones” is one of the great traditional American folk songs. Here's how to play a basic campfire strumming version on guitar.
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On “Little Satchel,” the most traditional number on Sarah Jarosz’s brilliant new album, World on the Ground (see link to review below), Jarosz sings and plays clawhammer banjo while her producer, John Leventhal, lends spare but effective guitar parts. Leventhal’s instrument—a late 1930s Gibson J-35 that he has owned for…
This is not only a good introduction to fiddle tunes, but to flatpicking in general as it covers the hallmarks of the style.
In this guitar lesson you'll learn a handful of techniques for making solo guitar arrangements of ballads and trail songs: active bass runs, cross-picking, and hybrid picking.
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"Are You Lonesome Tonight" was a big hit for Elvis. For this easy guitar arrangement in the key of G major, we’re going to concentrate on just the main body of the song.
