Hi, I’m an old guy who has been in rock/blues bands. I love country and appreciate you taking time to make these techniques more easily understood. You play flawlessly, too. Wonderful, sir. Thanks again.
I’m a guitarist. Always played rock and pop. But I never played country. But after watching this video I have realized there is soooo much for me to learn. Thank you for this wonderful video. I’m literally a beginner again 😅
@@jackieandthesheetmetals I believe SS (no humbucker) Telecasters are an excellent choice for country, especially if the pickups are not high output impedence.
Incredible video as always! I've learned more watching your surf guitar and country guitar videos in the last 20 minutes than I have in the last 2 years with rhythm and technique!
Didn't know Stuart Ryan had his own YT channel!? He's a stonkin' guitar player and I've got a lot of his articles in magazines like Guitar Techniques and the DVDs they put out several years ago.
Play the D cowboy chord up an octave. add the pinky to make it the sus4. hit that and bend that first finger up a tone. Hit that again but play just the major chord. now slide down to the 9th fret and play the same shape, hit that once, then last hit you play the sus4 while bending the first finger on the G string up to finish the lick. Its a total of five chord strikes w/bends and or w/added 4th.
Thanks Stuart, I'm a fairly advanced intermediate and this video really filled in some gaps in my country playing which I started later in my guitar life. Keep it coming. Ron
I've been playing since I was 5 years old. I've worked on everything from rock, blues rock, jazz, R&B, to disco. The hardest thing I've ever worked on is " chicken pickin' ". All of lives we teach ourselves to let every note ring clear and to hit it cleanly. In Chicken Pickin', every 2 or 3 notes is muted. It really takes a while to get a handle on it. Great lesson!
Great stuff Stuart, thanks! I can incorporate these licks into my traditional British folk band, goes quite well, Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention, Pentangle, that sort of thing. Best wishes from England!
Hi Ryan, could you please give me a tip on some practise exercises on how to learn this style of fingerpicking. My fingers seem soft and ineffective for this at the moment and I never really got the hang of travis picking either…always been a plectrum player.
I'm from TN but have always preferred blues, however, there's no doubt that blues and country have crossed tracks many times, even rock/country. I can strum chords and keep up with most country songs and being exposed to country all my life the rhythms in country come pretty naturally but the lead parts are difficult for me.
Good video! I never understood the reason for hybrid picking, seems like the complication of holding the pick is a waste. I'd rather pick with thumb and fingers, but that's just me. I don't play with my nails so that may be influencing me.
A really great lesson, Stuart. You are a great talent in so many aspects of guitar. It would be interesting to see something on adapting the bends for acoustic guitar. As a banjo player, I would just mention, in addition, that the classic banjo forward roll is not TIM, TIM, TI, but is TIM repeated against the bar lines so your thumb is on beat 1 of every 4th bar - Earl's major contribution, and what gives bluegrass its drive. Works the same way for TMI (the backward roll). The other classic banjo licks are not grouped in 3s, but are more like regular guitar fingerpicking. The open string lick also comes in part from banjo, so called 'melodic' banjo as introduced by Bobby Thompson and Bill Keith. I would really recommend anyone serious about banjo rolls to get a beginner bluegrass banjo tutorial, even if you never play the banjo. Earl's book is great, and Pete Wernick has loads of stuff out there, a lot of which is free. Cheers and thanks again.
Amazing video! I love the tone as well. I actually laughed out loud when I saw that this video somehow has a few thumbs down? That says a lot about our current culture where your video is amazing but yet you can’t please everyone. Killer killer video thank you!
Thank you Scott, glad you enjoyed it! Ah, the thumb down culture, just be glad we aren't in the days of ancient Rome or those two thumb downers would have me finished off in the amphitheatre...
@@ScottMillerGuitar Hi Scott, all on Amazon worldwide - The Modern Country Jam Session book is probably most suitable or The Americana Book. All the best! Stuart
Always eager to hear some good ole country music .........from a dude with a british accent. Go on: Show us what some authentic country guitarist taught you.
Great Video. I always thought the chicken picking was with the right hand ( a sort of hybrid) which was why I couldn't do it. Now, thanks to you, I can. Thank-you.
Fantastic, more of a prog and hard rock guy but always admired Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed and Brad Paisley. This helped tremendously in breaking down some of those techniques and they're incredibly fun to try and master.
marvellous stuff. whilst here I was encouraged to buy your soul rhythm book so plenty of fun to be had whilst I create my own musical mayhem. thank you
You mentioned Albert Lee a few times - I've always loved his playing on Clapton's "Just One Night" live album, recorded in '78 or so, and spent some time learning his tasty solo in "If I Don't Be There By Morning"....
Some great ideas here! I purchased your Keith Urban style backing track some years ago and got huge value out of it. Might you look into slide guitar sometime?
Thanks for watching Dave! I may do some slide at some point, I don't have any guitars set up for slide at the moment but it's easy to put a temporary nut on (if I can find it!!). All the best, Stuart
Great lesson but even better is your old well-worn Tele. We note how the main used sections of your guitar are the top four strings from the 12th fret up to the 21st, and the top fours strings from the 1st fret up to the 7th. How many times have you had that thing serviced? The electrics, pots, pickups, machine heads (tuners), nut etc have all hung in over that time?
His gear description includes the phrase "Heavy Relic" with the Telecaster, so I think it's not nearly as old as it looks. It is a great looking guitar though.
@@StuartRyanMusic As I assumed. In that case I can no longer watch your YT channel as quite obviously you would rather buy soul than earn it. Relicing should be a jailable offense.
@@Neil-Aspinall I get that and I've owned vintage instruments too. At the end of the day I don't mind what they look like, if they play and sound great they work for me. For me the Soul aspect comes from my 35 years of playing and learning, the instrument is just the voice for all that. But hey, you have to be happy and if you hate relics then that's cool with me, I'll never tell anyone what they should or shouldn't like. Enjoy your playing, that's all that matters and sorry to see you go from here!
Do you have any video showing how to step by step learn the open string lick and chicken picking lick? Also do you happen to have any video that teaches how to spice up country songs in D, G, E and A?
My top tip for playing guitar in a country band, is this: don't have liaisons with older, married women from the audience while the next band's on stage, if you want return bookings!
I recently started doing steel style bends also on the D string. Slightly different fingering, and more push needed on the thicker string. You also need to use the little and 3rd finger on the upper 2 strings, rather than the little finger on both. I've always used little+3rd finger on all the upper 2 strings, 'cos I'm often holding that bend (+ the lower of the upper 2 strings), and playing another line over it on just the top string, using the little + 1st finger.
Absolutely wonderful, thanks a ton. When you were doing the triplets with the snap, were you muting the string like when chicken pickin'? Many thanks again. 😎🎙🎸✅
You all probably dont care at all but does someone know of a method to log back into an instagram account? I somehow lost the account password. I love any assistance you can offer me!
@Reign Leonardo I really appreciate your reply. I found the site through google and im in the hacking process atm. Looks like it's gonna take quite some time so I will reply here later with my results.
Really enjoyed this Stuart - thank you. Made a lot of things come into focus and I'm a novice. First time using tab too which which helps a lot as a beginner.
Hi, I’m an old guy who has been in rock/blues bands. I love country and appreciate you taking time to make these techniques more easily understood. You play flawlessly, too. Wonderful, sir. Thanks again.
I’m a guitarist. Always played rock and pop. But I never played country. But after watching this video I have realized there is soooo much for me to learn. Thank you for this wonderful video. I’m literally a beginner again 😅
Man if you own a Tele you’ve got let it go country now and again.
Never liked country music, but country guitar is really cool 👍
@@4stevio are teles good for country?
Danny Gatton, Roy Buchanan? gee whiz! Incredible stuff!.
@@jackieandthesheetmetals I believe SS (no humbucker) Telecasters are an excellent choice for country, especially if the pickups are not high output impedence.
Great playing and great instruction, also I love the look of that tele. Omg it's a work of art.
The irony of having a Brit teaching country guitar. And really well. Cheers man. This is great!
Surprised at a British teaching country guitar 😅 really!! where do you think Abert lee was born 😊
Ray Flacke
@@dermotgillespie5138What percentage of professional Country pickers are not American?
Uh Albert Lee?! He was a legend
All the best guitar teachers on RUclips seem to be brits
Sincere thanks for keeping our music alive.
Incredible video as always! I've learned more watching your surf guitar and country guitar videos in the last 20 minutes than I have in the last 2 years with rhythm and technique!
Didn't know Stuart Ryan had his own YT channel!? He's a stonkin' guitar player and I've got a lot of his articles in magazines like Guitar Techniques and the DVDs they put out several years ago.
love the lesson genius I am take it little by little
Very good perfect teaching.thanks
Play the D cowboy chord up an octave. add the pinky to make it the sus4. hit that and bend that first finger up a tone. Hit that again but play just the major chord. now slide down to the 9th fret and play the same shape, hit that once, then last hit you play the sus4 while bending the first finger on the G string up to finish the lick. Its a total of five chord strikes w/bends and or w/added 4th.
This is so valuable! I have been at this style for decades, but this adds a lot to my creative options. Thank you!
Thank you for these great ideas! It’s like going to school again @ 73 years old! 🎸
Thanks for watching, glad it helped!
Thanks Stuart, I'm a fairly advanced intermediate and this video really filled in some gaps in my country playing which I started later in my guitar life. Keep it coming. Ron
Great stuff!!!
Where do I subscribe?
Yah ol gotta own a telecaster 🎸, 👍😂😅thank you for sharing 🎸👍
Great tips and ready to expand to other levels. Thank you!
Thank you Bruno, glad it helped! All the best, Stuart
Thank you!
Thanks for watching!
I've been playing since I was 5 years old. I've worked on everything from rock, blues rock, jazz, R&B, to disco. The hardest thing I've ever worked on is " chicken pickin' ". All of lives we teach ourselves to let every note ring clear and to hit it cleanly. In Chicken Pickin', every 2 or 3 notes is muted. It really takes a while to get a handle on it. Great lesson!
man alive !! your awesome !!
Country stuff explained in beautiful RP English. The wonders of the internet. And very well explained as well.
Excellent. Very clearly presented and extremely useful techniques.
Exxcellent, really. Thanks a LOT!!!
I like your guitar.
Yeehaa! All good stuff mate. I love playing country guitar :)
Great video, I especially loved the open string section, very well explained.
Great stuff Stuart, thanks!
I can incorporate these licks into my traditional British folk band, goes quite well, Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention, Pentangle, that sort of thing.
Best wishes from England!
Hi Ryan, could you please give me a tip on some practise exercises on how to learn this style of fingerpicking. My fingers seem soft and ineffective for this at the moment and I never really got the hang of travis picking either…always been a plectrum player.
This great stuff 🙂
Great lesson. Thanks, Stuart!
Ok! I'm subbed. This is a gold mine. I'm shopping your book. Please keep up this channel forever!
Thank you! More on the way!
Such great guitar tips and techniques. I’m going to be implementing this stuff into my practice.
Best of best
is that an aftermarket neck. those jumbo frets are huge.
No, it's the original but it was specced with Jumbo frets
I'm from TN but have always preferred blues, however, there's no doubt that blues and country have crossed tracks many times, even rock/country. I can strum chords and keep up with most country songs and being exposed to country all my life the rhythms in country come pretty naturally but the lead parts are difficult for me.
Nice! But I cannot find the tabs on the linked site.
Good video! I never understood the reason for hybrid picking, seems like the complication of holding the pick is a waste. I'd rather pick with thumb and fingers, but that's just me. I don't play with my nails so that may be influencing me.
Slow it down. You’re not really showing people how you’re doing it
Beautiful old Tele. What year? You have a great method of spelling your techniques out.
Great stuff!
Excellent lesson, thanks!
My pleasure!
those frets are huge!
Nice tips; and great playing, as always!
Thanks for watching Luis!
A really great lesson, Stuart. You are a great talent in so many aspects of guitar. It would be interesting to see something on adapting the bends for acoustic guitar. As a banjo player, I would just mention, in addition, that the classic banjo forward roll is not TIM, TIM, TI, but is TIM repeated against the bar lines so your thumb is on beat 1 of every 4th bar - Earl's major contribution, and what gives bluegrass its drive. Works the same way for TMI (the backward roll). The other classic banjo licks are not grouped in 3s, but are more like regular guitar fingerpicking. The open string lick also comes in part from banjo, so called 'melodic' banjo as introduced by Bobby Thompson and Bill Keith. I would really recommend anyone serious about banjo rolls to get a beginner bluegrass banjo tutorial, even if you never play the banjo. Earl's book is great, and Pete Wernick has loads of stuff out there, a lot of which is free. Cheers and thanks again.
Nice
Certain types of Mexican music is basically Mexican country music so I’m definitely using this
You forgot to mention that you need a Telecaster with ash tray and brass saddles as well. 😁
Is your Tele stock? Looks like the frets are jumbo and your tone is superb.
What mods have you done (if any)?
What can you tell me about it?
Click on the video about Country Guitar Techniques, greeted with an English Accent...
Amazing video! I love the tone as well. I actually laughed out loud when I saw that this video somehow has a few thumbs down? That says a lot about our current culture where your video is amazing but yet you can’t please everyone. Killer killer video thank you!
Thank you Scott, glad you enjoyed it! Ah, the thumb down culture, just be glad we aren't in the days of ancient Rome or those two thumb downers would have me finished off in the amphitheatre...
@@stuartryan3584 lol! Is your book sold everywhere?
@@ScottMillerGuitar Hi Scott, all on Amazon worldwide - The Modern Country Jam Session book is probably most suitable or The Americana Book. All the best! Stuart
Always eager to hear some good ole country music .........from a dude with a british accent.
Go on: Show us what some authentic country guitarist taught you.
Great Video. I always thought the chicken picking was with the right hand ( a sort of hybrid) which was why I couldn't do it.
Now, thanks to you, I can.
Thank-you.
You play country so well you should have a Kentucky accent! Damn! 😊 (Thanks!)
Brilliant…. Subscribed :)
Fantastic, more of a prog and hard rock guy but always admired Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed and Brad Paisley. This helped tremendously in breaking down some of those techniques and they're incredibly fun to try and master.
Less tongue and more fingers, if you want to make a good guitar playing video.
This all looks too hard, I’m going back to rock 😂
Great video
Thanks for watching Tyler! All the best, Stuart
marvellous stuff. whilst here I was encouraged to buy your soul rhythm book so plenty of fun to be had whilst I create my own musical mayhem. thank you
You mentioned Albert Lee a few times - I've always loved his playing on Clapton's "Just One Night" live album, recorded in '78 or so, and spent some time learning his tasty solo in "If I Don't Be There By Morning"....
Albert is such a great player! Thanks for watching!
Some great ideas here! I purchased your Keith Urban style backing track some years ago and got huge value out of it. Might you look into slide guitar sometime?
Thanks for watching Dave! I may do some slide at some point, I don't have any guitars set up for slide at the moment but it's easy to put a temporary nut on (if I can find it!!). All the best, Stuart
Great lesson but even better is your old well-worn Tele. We note how the main used sections of your guitar are the top four strings from the 12th fret up to the 21st, and the top fours strings from the 1st fret up to the 7th. How many times have you had that thing serviced? The electrics, pots, pickups, machine heads (tuners), nut etc have all hung in over that time?
His gear description includes the phrase "Heavy Relic" with the Telecaster, so I think it's not nearly as old as it looks. It is a great looking guitar though.
Very Good- I forget some of these----- Thank You Train Wreck II
just recently getting into county and bluegrass stuff. do you have any must know albums ?
I could see you wearing a big Stetson living in Nashville...thx Stuart!
Ha ha! Nashville is FULL of monster players, it's the last place any professional guitar player should want to move to really!
Stu, is that a real weather beaten hard gigged worn Tele or a relic job?
Hi Neil, it's a Heavy Relic if I remember correctly, I think they did a good job on it, not always the case with CS relics!
@@StuartRyanMusic As I assumed. In that case I can no longer watch your YT channel as quite obviously you would rather buy soul than earn it. Relicing should be a jailable offense.
@@Neil-Aspinall I get that and I've owned vintage instruments too. At the end of the day I don't mind what they look like, if they play and sound great they work for me. For me the Soul aspect comes from my 35 years of playing and learning, the instrument is just the voice for all that. But hey, you have to be happy and if you hate relics then that's cool with me, I'll never tell anyone what they should or shouldn't like. Enjoy your playing, that's all that matters and sorry to see you go from here!
@@StuartRyanMusic paint job messed up but medoubts that affects the tone. Dope vid, BTW
Fantastic video really help me in my search … well done great stuff love it ❤️
Learn More, Play More ▶ Get my NEW Book "Country Guitar Jam Session" ▶ geni.us/yOAx
Lesson Tab Download ▶ www.patreon.com/stuartryanmusic
The Tab for this lesson is NOT in Extras, Only the Blues one is.
@@coochiebluz1 Thanks for watching, all the tabs have now moved, the link is in the description but I've changed the one above too
Great practical examples for more advanced players who want to add more country to their playing.
I want to point out that a Telecaster is more than a country guitar. It's beyond styles. 🙏
Do you have any video showing how to step by step learn the open string lick and chicken picking lick? Also do you happen to have any video that teaches how to spice up country songs in D, G, E and A?
Who cares! It's not real music!
My top tip for playing guitar in a country band, is this: don't have liaisons with older, married women from the audience while the next band's on stage, if you want return bookings!
Tips to become a considerable country player in a nutshell❤️
Awesome video!!!
Wow, I'm a lifetime musician, and that was fantastic! You have Demystified a boatload of stuff for me!
Thank you, glad it helped!
Very thorough lesson on the essential country guitar techniques. Nice work.
Thank you.
Thanks Frank!
Dude. You’re an absolute Hoss
great breakdown of basic country playing...
Thanks Steve! All the best, Stuart
How do I see the guitar tab to this lesson?
I recently started doing steel style bends also on the D string. Slightly different fingering, and more push needed on the thicker string. You also need to use the little and 3rd finger on the upper 2 strings, rather than the little finger on both. I've always used little+3rd finger on all the upper 2 strings, 'cos I'm often holding that bend (+ the lower of the upper 2 strings), and playing another line over it on just the top string, using the little + 1st finger.
Thank you for your very useful country guitar playing lessons, I'm looking forward to learning more through your videos.😊
Absolutely wonderful, thanks a ton.
When you were doing the triplets with the snap, were you muting the string like when chicken pickin'?
Many thanks again. 😎🎙🎸✅
Hi Julian, I think I must have been there - most of it is subconscious these days so sorry if I missed it out! All the best, Stuart
Jeez, what the hell did you do to that guitar, leave it out in the yard?!
this is a new concept its called Relicing an instrument...Fender just began doin this process
Well done mate......
Is it OK to bend the strings down instead of up when doing bends?
Generally, yes, it’ll sound just fine. Often, it’s easier to do that for some patterns. It’s a good thing to experiment with.
Great lesson
Thanks for sharing your skills 👍
Gotta get a tele first
British guy teaching country huh?
one of the best country players all time is Britsh!!!
Plug it in lots of practice
So in the pedal steel lick, your bending with the index finger, and the other two fingers, on the lower strings, are in place just fretting the notes?
Hi Neville, that's correct - those fingers are just giving support to the bend. All the best, Stuart
@@StuartRyanMusic thanks for the clarification
8. Slap-back delay and room reverb hides my mistakes. Thanks for this. Good lesson.
You all probably dont care at all but does someone know of a method to log back into an instagram account?
I somehow lost the account password. I love any assistance you can offer me!
@Waylon Josiah instablaster ;)
@Reign Leonardo I really appreciate your reply. I found the site through google and im in the hacking process atm.
Looks like it's gonna take quite some time so I will reply here later with my results.
@Reign Leonardo it did the trick and I finally got access to my account again. I'm so happy!
Thank you so much you saved my account !
@Waylon Josiah No problem xD
Chicken pickin’ reminds me of funk music. Maybe there are other similarities too.
You need a nail thumb -I bite my nails. Won’t work for me. Tried thumb picks -they all suck. Solution: don’t play country guitar.
hi! what frets are in that guitar? thanks!
Ace stuff. I am looking at ways to improve my rockabilly playing. These are just the job. Thanks
Some lessons on the blues
maybe in another lesson but this lesson is some tele spankin country ! 🙂
Really enjoyed this Stuart - thank you. Made a lot of things come into focus and I'm a novice. First time using tab too which which helps a lot as a beginner.
Thanks for watching Tim, glad it helped! Best wishes, Stuart
Great lessons 😎
After watching this, I am realizing I sort of already play this style... And I'm in an indie rock band.
master class ! Great
Well whe. you guitar a string it makes a noise. You just do that for three minutes or so and bam! Happy to answer that for you. :)