Bluegrass Licks Guitar Lesson

Chapter 1: (1:24) Introduction An important component of mastering lead guitar in any genre is building a large vocabulary of memorized licks. Building a large vocabulary takes time, patience, and commitment. There are a variety of sources available that licks can be learned from.

Learning licks by ear from your favorite records is the best method. This method is an effective learning tool for several reasons. This process develops your ear training and audiation skills. Also, going through this process ensures that you will remember the lick once you have learned it. This is because you are using multiple brain functions in the process of transcribing the lick. When more areas of the brain are involved in completing a task, it is much easier to remember what you have learned from the task.

Printed publications are another excellent source to steal licks from. Magazines such as Guitar World Magazine and Guitar Player are just two of such sources. Also, many books such as Bebop Licks for Guitar are excellent places to steal from. Don’t feel bad about copying a lick directly from another player. Everybody does it. Hendrix stole countless licks from guitarists such as Albert King. Now, guitarists across the globe steal licks from both of these legends. However, it is highly recommended that you experiment with altering licks to create some of your own original material.

Websites are also a fine source to steal licks from. Sites such as You Tube and our very own Jamplay enable users to see and hear licks as they are performed.

In this lesson, Steve will demonstrate a classic Bluegrass licks and show you how to transpose it to different keys. Chapter 2: (2:50) Lick in G Major Before you pick up the guitar to learn the lick, listen to Steve perform it a few times to get the sound of it engrained in your ears. You might have noticed that a note outside of the G Major Scale was added to the lick. When a note is added to a melodic line that is not a part of the key signature, it is referred to as an accidental. Chromaticism is another common term that refers to adding notes outside of the key signature. The chromatic note in this lick is Bb-the minor third of the scale. Adding the minor third to the major scale is a very popular technique in jazz, blues, blugrass, and rock. When played in the context of a major scale, the minor third creates a blues-y sonority. Consequently, this note is referred to as a “blue note.”

Now, let’s take a look at the rhythm. This lick spans two measures. The first measure is comprised of a quarter note followed by six eighth notes. If you remember the pneumonic devices Steve discussed in the last lesson, the rhythm consists of a “stop pony” followed by a “Mississippi.” The tempo at which Steve performs this lick is quite fast. This is the tempo at which the lick is typically performed. When you first learn the lick, set your metronome to a slow tempo. Rhythmic clarity is always the most important aspect to focus on when practicing or performing.

Breaking the lick up into smaller, more manageable segments will make it much easier to learn. Begin by practicing the hammer-ons on the A string. Pick the open string, then hammer onto the 1st fret. Then, hammer onto the 2nd fret with the second finger.

Next, add the quarter note on G before the hammer-on segment. Pause the video and practice this portion of the lick until it is comfortable. Chapter 3: (3:21) Second Half of the Lick Steve breaks down the second half of the lick in this scene. Begin by picking the open D string. Then, hammer onto the 2nd fret with the second finger. Then, pull off back to the open string. Finally, the lick ends with a plucked open G string. Chances are, the second part of the lick will give you more troubles then the first half. Be patient, and devote some extra practice time to this section. Also, Steve gives you an opportunity to play this segment along with him. This is great practice to ensure that you are playing slurs clearly and in time. Once again, pause the video and practice this segment until you are comfortable with it. Chapter 4: (4:11) Whole Lick Now it’s time to put the entire lick together. Notice how each open string is only plucked once. The rest of the notes sound as a result of hammer-ons and pull-offs. Once you are able to play the entire lick perfectly in time, begin to speed up the tempo. The tempo ceiling at which this lick is played is quarter note=230. Bluegrass tunes rarely exceed this speed limit.

Note: Click the “Supplemental Content” tab for tablature to this lick. Remember the rhythm Steve taught you in the first scene!

This lick works great over a G chord or a G7 chord. In the following scenes, Steve will show you how to transpose this lick to a few other keys. Chapter 5: (4:13) Lick in C Major When transposing any lick, do not pay attention to the individual note names that comprise the lick. Rather, use the scale degrees corresponding to the note names to transfer the lick to another key. For example, the lick in this lesson moves through the following scale degrees: 1, 2, b3, 3, 5, 6, 5, 1. Now, let’s transpose this lick to the key of C. To do this, we must first determine which notes these scale degrees correspond to in the C scale.

By reading the Circle of Fifths, we know that the key of C has no sharps or flats in its key signature. Here is a list of the scale degrees in the lick and the notes that each degree corresponds to in the C Major scale:

1-C
2-D
b3-Eb
3-E
5-G
6-A

Finally, find the location of these notes on the neck on first position. When played in C, the lick uses the exact same fingering moved up a string. The only exception is the final note. The last C is played on the 1st fret of the B string. Memorize the lick in this key and practice it until you become comfortable. Chapter 6: (6:54) Lick in D Major Steve demonstrates how to transpose the lick to D major in this scene. Simply repeat the same process used with the key of C. Determine the notes in the D major scale that correspond with each scale degree. Here is a quick breakdown:

1-D
2-E
b3-F
3-F#
5-A
6-B

Remember that the key of D has two sharps in its key signature: F# and C#.

When played in D, this lick works great over both D and D7 chords. The fingering for this lick will change quite a bit.

Note: Click the “Supplemental Content” tab for tablature to this lick.

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