z 4 oNTHECD (E> Tracks 15-14 | PLAY) COUNTRY Hot Country! 30 Great Licks Nashville style... Inthis special feature Stuart Ryan brings you a whole ( new lickbag of barn-burning licks straight out of Music City. Add them to your arsenal and beef up your repertoire today! “ABILITY RATIN Info uy /6Tempo 10/1 2bpm CD TRACKS 1-4 country guitaris one of those styles that tums the heads of guitarists no matter which genre they specialise in. Indeed, when I was a teenage metalhead 30 ‘years agoit was the chicken pickin’ of Zakk ‘Wyldeand Steve Morse that drew me toit Over subsequent years [discovered a world of, country specialists from Albert Lee and James Burton to Brad Paisley and Brent Mason, Isahuge world that youneed to enter with an open mind asit means different things to different people -tosomeitsthe driving acoustic guitar of Hank Williams and Johnny Cash, while to others it's the licks of Lather Perkins, Seotty Moore and the soloists that followed in their footsteps. When you get, into the lead playing aspect of country, itean bea challenging styleand takealong time to ‘master. Many ofthe licks here may push your limits technically, but stick with them and the TECHNIQUE FOCUS Listen to which notes are being played, and how. Youll be working on most ofthe favourite country techniques here fom hybrid and chicken picking to.open string cs, peda steel style bends and beyond. Some orallof this wibernew somake sureyoutake theiks vey slowly and always thinkabout which techniquesarebeing used. Also focus onwhatactual notes are being used andin \whatway ast willbe abigghveaway in how you ‘etthat proper country sound and were such licks originate sale choices targeting ofnotes, ‘hrasing,omamentation et. ‘8 Garp June 200, 7 by pcing Your... + Cikenpickng 7 Openpston paying results wil colour the other styles you playin musical and exciting way. Getting the country sound into your own playing is contingent on several aspects. First is the techniques that country guitarists us, ‘To begin with you'll need to master hybrid picking, where the pick s used in combination with the fingers, usually the second and third 66 COUNTRY VOCABULARY IS NOT THAT FAR FROM WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW: $0, MAJOR AND MINOR SCALES, PENTATONICS, MINOLYDIAN MODE 39 (manda) digits. Any time you see notes that are string skipped, its likely that a country player would use hybrid picking, Similarly, any pattern that are played over three strings like banjo rll will use a‘pick, second, third string’ pattern ‘The next big technique s‘chicken picking’ often combined with hybrid picking, Here, the idea sto play muted strings against normal notes whieh results in a‘clucking’ effect. ‘Another crucial element is copious use of ‘open strings, which will do wonders for your accuracy but also get you out of being stuck in“box’ shaped ruts, [always think of open strings as. ‘three dimensional’ way of, playing, as you're not thinking about a position, but rather the available options from any part of the fretboard, no matter where you are, Finally, the good newsis that country vocabulary isnot that far away from what you already know: most players use Major and Minor seales, Major and Minor Pentatonies and the Mixolydian mode it's more the techniques, note choices and phrasing that turn {into country. My favourite hack for instant ‘Nashville? playing over a Major chord simply use the Blues scale a Minor gr below, but starting from the root of the Major chord - try it and see what happens. So, ifplaying overa G ‘Major chord simply play E Blues scale (E-G-A. B-B-D) but starting rom the G. Instant bluegrass licks! ‘We have two pieces for you offering diferent feels, with 15 licks for each. The frst pieces, traditional country based using classic licks and the second piece is more up-to-date, featuring licks in the styles of many modern masters, ‘No matter what style orstyles you currently play, getting afew country-tinged licks into ‘your repertoire is going to add variety, excitement, and a huge chunk of ‘wow factor to your playing, Enjoy! Il EP ee eraser ee an riers Co ec Cea eteetoraern orn Cesar ie eeree ea Coan eee pare tree eects30 GREAT { COUNTRY LICKS Dolaced ‘mstar looks and res| PLAY) counTRY onmeco & wasn PEON Co [dct] This Blues scale based lidchints atthe paying of Ess guitarist __againis representative of the ety country sound of Car Perkins, Scotty Moore Scotty Moore We're combining country androckabily influences somake sure and James Burton Note how the ick moves tothe E Major scale atthe endfor eu play with plenty of attitude and get those quarte-tonebendsatthe end. another dassc country ick. ick 2) This rhythm par references Scotty, butalso MerleHaggard Use hybrid [Lick 4]Using unison parts is another key feature of country so this ickstarts picking: start with the pick onthe sith string followed by the second fingerfor with Eplyed onthe frst and second tings. Fromhere we usethe pen fist the thir stringthen pick, second and third fingers forthe ellowing chord. __stringasa drone before moving up to ahammer-on ck which moves fromthe {ick} This E Blues scale Keahints ata more traditional bluegrasssoundand 3rd () to Major 3rd (G4 of, ahallmarkmoverent ofthe country sound, 40 Gata une 220,30 GREAT { COUNTRY LICKS | LEU Co [lick]The secondhafofthisick featuresa great voiding foran A7 chord [idk Another dassic sounding lick that everyone from Albert Leeto Ricky ‘everyone from Jerry Reed to Tommy Emmanuel uses this idea. When we break Skaggs ill use- we've simply changed tothe Blues scale (AC.D-E E.G) ‘Rup inte tree string llit givesabanjo-nfluenced sound soremerberto _ tomirorthelV chor, with some muted notes at the end to get that chicken ‘nyboth hybrid picking and ros picking to get ths onein place. picking sound in place ~make sure you release the pressure onthe fretting [Lic6)Two big oneshere thatyouihearintheplaying of dassiccountry ___hand fingers to get these muted stings sounding nice and dipped, ‘mastesike AlbertLee intervals oféths which require some skippingfrom [Lid 8] Double-stopsarea key feature of getting that country sound under the fourth tothe second sings; then we havea pedalstel influenced bend your fingers, ass some walkplaced tension and release -thislckstarts with Inthe second bar followed by yet more ths. ‘both before moving ontoan A Major inspired ides. es sue 1 ooo SO HO ——s oA oA 7 Jone 200 Gara 1| PLAY) couNTRY oxnveco maces EON INT} Coa {Wick )This example s quite technically demanding and echoesthe playing (Lick 11]Ths James Burton styl ick shows how a vocabulary youd associate ‘ofmoder artists ke Brad Paisley You an etherstingskiphereinthe usual withrockandblues the Blues scale] works perfectly for country iis phased way jumping fom sixth string to fourth string or useitasahybri- picking _ correctly. Make sure the exzcution is smooth and watch outfor those chicken- ‘exercise withthe pick and fit finget doing the work. picked muted notes at the end, [ick 10] Thisisanother rockabilly inspired idea that youl hear James Burton, _ [Lick 2] Playing chords aslcks has along standing radio n country and CartPerkins, Scotty Moore, Cf Gallup, Brian Setzer and many more use. yout hear Johnny Cash’ guitars Luther Perkin doing this This isimplyan ‘Getting thisrights contingent on strong puff technique alongside being £7 chordarpegoatedin orderto give tthe eal falc This isa great way to comfortable wit getting the triplet hythms executed upto tempo. {getthe dassc 1950s 6 country sound in place instant. eo ex10 ext ET he? b ee a “ 12 rarer ape aa x12 42 Gaur une 20,30 GREAT { COUNTRY LICKS | EEUU m3 {Lick 13] Whereas blues players wl tendto stay on the home key Minor Pentatonic or Blues scale for much fa chord progression, country payer often thinks bit orelkeajazzer and will change scales as the chord does here weare sing the 8 Blues sale over the V chord folowed byalickin {ths based around & Major with chromatic passing tones on beat three. x15 aa eel a As withthe previous example here weare following the chord, but Techniques COTRACK13 ‘Row weare on the!V chord (A starting withthe A Millan followed by another pedal steelinftuenced bending id [id 151 The nal ido phy over our dassic track expands onthe thres- string banjo rll dea that we encountered in Lck5,butincudes some ascending melodic movernenton the fs string - you might find the fingering "bitty fr this oneas youll changing fingering mid chord. RP eu 80 (0a) (1a 2H Letting ~~ eel iow 200 Gates 6| PLAY) counTRY Be ontHEeD (E> tracks1s-4 EET [ick 16 This modern sounding piece features ore contemporary country ‘approaches Firstup is Brad Palsey inspired open-postion lick While you can ply this’pick only tsa good idea to have ago using hybrid picking hereto begin wth use the’ pick and second finger approach starting withthe second finger plucking the secon string followed by te pick [ick 17] Studio ace Brent Mason has brought a wide musical vocabulary into ‘is country playing and ths ik shows hisjazz and bebop influence thick |sbased around G9 arpeggio with some passing tonesto get that inside- ea rat cle o70 CCCI ‘outside bebop fet. Itshouldt workina country scenario buttrealy does! [id 18] Another Brent Mason inspired ides, this time using siding double- stops to emphasise the G7 tonality. Again, while these can be played with just thepickits much easier fyou usehybrid picking, [id 19] The Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed influences loom large This phrase {sbased around a combination of G Minor Pentatonic(6-8-C-O-F with open strings to give some mare movement and tension To hear thisopen sting ‘meets fretted note concept taken to extremes just steno Brad Pacey. +e a7 4 Garg ne 220,30 GREAT { COUNTRY LICKS ] fod ees criedPLAY } COUNTRY Dress 46 Garg ne 900,30 GREAT { COUNTRY LICKS | EET ‘CDTRACK 14 [ick 20] Moving parallelideas up the neckis another popular country ‘everyone from Albert Leet Vince Gil wlluse.Remember theseideas an concept. Here were moving the samelickup and down andending witha be played with the pick which involves some jumping over strings, or hybrid tracks1s-4 EET [ick 24] Backto amore ractional county licker, simply based around G ‘Majorriad followed by 8G Major scale dea. [lick 25] Here that reat shorteut for using Blues scale (E-G-A-8-8-0) over thes chordto get that dassic country or bluegrass sound - checkout players like Bryan Sutton formore ofthis, [ick26] Here'sa bonkers sounding Brad Paisley tye ikea that starts to get youthat outside sound, ll you are doing is playing G Minor Petatonic scale or x25 7 ors x27 48 Gaadges ane 200, con in the dasic"bax‘shape and introducing each open string, some of which wil ‘adda bitof tension. Try thisdea in other keys and postions sometimesit ‘works well other times not but you always havetoplayitwith conviction. [ide 271 Tis ick isthe typeof seale-based un acrssallsistrngs that shows thebluegrassinfluence on country. Mastering the open postion is essential forany aspiring country player as much ofthe twang’ ofthe style comes from playing down at the nut and incorporating those open stings.30 GREAT { COUNTRY LICKS | PIECE 2 MODERN COUNTRY LICKS Coa {ick 28} This ones an oldie but goodie and you hear everyone'fromJery IV chord Tis could even continue onto the chord (6) fyou take the shape Reedto Brent Mason and Vince Giluselt The pincipleisverysimple'aD _uptothe T2thfret. ‘Major viadin second inversion (A-D-#) has the note onthe fourth string _—[Lic 30] Final, lick hat shows how country players will eally work othe (the th replacedwitha,7th in thiscaseC)onthesamestring. This great___key theyre playing in~ lth open stings are fai game in Gsothis ickreally lide ideo canbe used asa ick or asa ehythm ie. ‘milks the open thie string andthe unison concept of playing Gs onthe fourth [ick 29] Symmetry often plays large partin country and this exampleshows _stringatthe Sth ret, too. This canbe played with just the pick or with the how the previous ickisjusttaken down wo frets soitcan beplayed overthe hybrid pickand second finger approach. Happy twanging! or cr Love this magazine? You'll love musicradar.com Juno 200 atari 68