Intermediate
Intermediate
• Learn how to "chicken pick" single-note licks, double-stops, and open-string cascades.
• Develop precise whole- and half-step pedal-steel bends.
• Understand righteous country phrasing and how to target chord tones.
For many guitarists who cut their teeth on blues, rock, or jazz, country guitar technique is a bit of a mystery—perhaps even a little intimidating. While country guitar has roots in the aforementioned styles, concepts such as open-string cascades, hybrid-picked double-stops, and pedal-steel bends can befuddle even the most accomplished players.
To help demystify country guitar, this lesson delves into a broad range of styles and techniques that have been popularized by guitarists over the past several decades—everything from bluegrass and Western swing licks to chicken pickin' passages and modern lead approaches. If you're new to country guitar, do yourself a favor and check out some of the more notable practitioners, past and present, including Merle Travis, Doc Watson, Chet Atkins, James Burton, Jerry Reed, Ray Flacke, Brent Mason, and Brad Paisley, to name just a few. Their inspiration, along with the examples in this lesson, will turn you into a genuine country picker!
Country Guitar Scales
Despite the melodic complexity of their solos, country guitarists mostly rely on a few choice scales: major pentatonic, the blues scale, and the composite blues scale. The most prevalent of the three scales, major pentatonic, is a five-note scale (1–2–3–5–6) derived from the major scale (1–2–3–4–5–6–7). The scale's most common fingering is illustrated in Ex. 1, without regard to a specific key (use the root notes in red to help you relocate the scale to your key of choice).
The blues scale (Ex. 2) is a variation of the minor pentatonic scale (1–b3–4–5–b7), in which the b5 is added to create a six-note scale: 1–b3–4–b5–5–b7.
Interestingly, parallel major and minor pentatonic scales—scales that share the same root—employ the same fingering, although the minor pentatonic pattern is located three frets higher. (Relative scales share the same notes, but have different tonics.) Consequently, the blues scale pattern differs from the minor pentatonic pattern by just one note—the b5.
The marriage of these two scales lets country guitarists blend major and minor tonalities over the major and dominant harmonies that permeate country music, particularly the juxtaposition of major (3) and minor (b3) notes, which is a staple of the genre.
Ex. 3 shows a fingering for the nine-note composite blues scale (1–2–b3–3–4–b5–5–6–b7). Guitar players rarely—if ever—incorporate every note of the composite blues scale into a single phrase. Instead, they pick their tones judiciously, depending on the sound and feeling they want to communicate at a given moment.
The Composite Blues Scale
Country Guitar Phrasing
Country phrasing can be summarized in two words: chord tones. While chord-tone soloing is found in all forms of music, perhaps no genre epitomizes the concept more than country. Unlike lead-guitar styles that focus on the overall sounds that certain scales impart or the technical skills required to play them, country lead is, first and foremost, based on targeting chord tones on the downbeats—a direct influence of bluegrass.
The following example in Ex. 4 is an open-position bluegrass lick played over a V7–IV–I (G7–F–C) turnaround progression in the key of C. Note the presence of chord tones on nearly every downbeat (indicated between staves), as well as the bluesy maneuvers at the ends of measures two and three.
Ex. 4
Targeting chord tones isn't the only trick to replicating country phrasing. Another key element is the way hammer-ons and pull-offs are implemented. Ex. 5 is a four-measure phrase that outlines an A major harmony with notes from the A composite blues scale (A–B–C–C#–D–Eb–E–F#–G). Note that, when three notes are voiced consecutively on a string, a single hammer-on or pull-off is used—an approach favored by rock and blues guitarists.
Ex. 5
Ex. 6 is a "countrified" version of the same phrase (note the chicken pickin'). On beat one of the first two measures, the pull-offs connect just the second and third notes, rather than all three. This approach places greater emphasis on the notes on beat two—A and E, respectively—both of which are chord tones, whereas the three-note pull-offs emphasize all three notes equally. The same concept is applied in measure three, where the third-string notes—B, C, and C#—are broken up with a hammer-on from the b3 (C) to the 3 (C#), which is located squarely on the downbeat of beat three. Remember, this phrase is played with hybrid picking, so use your flatpick for the notes with the downstroke symbol and your middle finger (m) for the others.
Ex. 6
Single-Note Lines
Before diving into some of country guitar's more advanced techniques, let's start with a few single-note concepts. Ex. 7 is perhaps the most ubiquitous guitar lick in all of country music, particularly in bluegrass. Referred to as the "G run," or "Flatt run" (named after bluegrass legend Lester Flatt), the lick is commonly used as an ending phrase to signal the end of a solo or chorus. The phrase itself is rooted in the G major pentatonic scale (G–A–B–D–E), with the addition of the b3 (Bb).
Ex. 7
Ex. 8 is a descending bluegrass lick that's rooted in the G composite blues scale (G–A–Bb–B–C–Db–D–E–F) and can be played over major or dominant harmonies. Like Ex. 4, chord tones are present on most of the downbeats, with a cool chromatic passage (D–Db–C) appearing on beats three and four of the first measure. And don't miss the b3-to-3 (Bb-B) minor-major "rub" that crosses the barline, or the variation on the Flatt run at the end of the phrase.
Ex. 8
Bass-string licks are also an essential element of country lead playing, as they pack considerable punch when played through a Tele with a clean tone. This next phrase in Ex. 9 is relegated to the guitar's bottom three strings and incorporates eight of the nine pitches of the E composite blues scale (E–F#–G–G#–A–Bb–B–C#–D).
Ex. 9
Western swing is an up-tempo, jazz-influenced form of country music that originated in the Western and Southwestern regions of the United States in the '30s and '40s. This swing lick (Ex. 10) is rooted in the extended form of the A composite blues scale and moves incrementally from the 10th to the 5th position. Despite the chromaticism, well-placed chord tones (downbeats!) effectively outline the A7 harmony. Don't forget to swing those eighth-notes!
Ex. 10
Chicken Pickin'
Although the term has become a bit clichéd, chicken pickin' is an essential component of country guitar. Chicken pickin' is a technique that encompasses both a picking approach (i.e., hybrid picking), as well as the sound that results from blending fretted and muted pitches, which is akin to a clucking chicken.
Ex. 11 combines 4th-string mutes with staccato notes on the 2nd string. The minor-sixth shapes are derived from fully fretted versions of an open C chord (G and F, respectively), and articulated with a combination of the pick (4th string) and middle finger (2nd string). The muting can be applied with your picking-hand palm, your fretting-hand fingers, and/or the middle finger of your picking hand (while plucking with the pick).
Ex. 11
This next example (Ex. 12) involves double-stops and muted "ghost notes" to outline the G–C–G (I–IV–I) progression. The double-stops are derived from various major triad, major 6, dominant 7, and dominant 9 voicings, and should be plucked with a combination of your middle and ring fingers. Meanwhile, articulate the ghost notes exclusively with your pick.
Ex. 12
Country Guitar Bends
Ex. 13 combines chicken pickin' and a robust oblique bend to mimic the steel guitar. Mute the final pickup note with the index finger of your fretting hand, whereas the pre-bends should be muted with the palm of your picking hand.
Ex. 13
Open-String Cascades
Dissonance is frowned upon in some music—but not so in country! In fact, one of the key elements of country guitar is the fleeting dissonance created by blending fretted pitches and open strings, particularly when it results in small intervals such as minor seconds, major seconds, and minor thirds. These open-string "cascades" can be performed in both ascending and descending order, each of which is presented here.
In Ex. 14, minor-third shapes are paired with open strings to outline the E major harmony. Pick the three-note groupings with a down-down-up sequence, shifting the shape up two frets on beat four of measure one. Melodically, the notes yield a colorful combination of both major and minor tonalities.
Ex. 14
A variation on the previous example, Ex. 15 combines major- and minor-third shapes and open strings to outline the A major harmony. Pay close attention to the fingerings (indicated below the staff) as you play this one. Once you get it under your fingers, shift the pattern down two frets to convert it to a G major lick.
Ex. 15
Descending cascades require a different approach from the ascending versions. For this, attack all fretted pitches with the flatpick and open strings with the middle finger. Allow the latter to ring out clearly as you move down the neck.
Ex. 16 is a scalar line that outlines the G7 harmony with pitches from the G Mixolydian mode (G–A–B–C–D–E–F), with the one exception being the b3—Bb—that appears on beat three of measure two.
Ex. 16
Double-Stops
A cornerstone of country guitar, double-stops come in many forms, one of which you experienced in Ex. 12. In this section, double-stops are presented in two categories: diatonic and chromatic. Diatonic phrases are composed entirely of pitches from the same key or scale, whereas chromatic phrases contain diatonic and non-diatonic pitches alike.
The diatonic phrase in Ex. 18 is a variation on Ex. 12, except the double-stops are voiced exclusively on strings 3 and 4, the ghost notes are fully fretted (rather than played as mutes), and the harmony is a static G major chord.
Ex. 18
Ex. 19 alternates chromatic (half-step) double-stop slides with iterations of the open A string. The slides target pitches of a 4th-position A7 voicing before moving on to a common A major triad shape at the end of measure one. The double-stops are plucked with the middle and ring fingers, while the open A string is handled exclusively by the pick.
Ex. 19
Pedal-Steel Bends
Like double-stops, pedal-steel bends come in many forms, but the purpose of the bends is singular—to mimic the pedal-steel guitar. In this section, pedal-steel bends are presented in three contexts: a single-note phrase, a double-stop phrase, and a triple-stop phrase.
Ex. 20 is a single-note phrase that outlines a V–IV–I (A–G–D) turnaround progression in the key of D. Push each bend upward exactly a whole-step (precision is crucial) and hold them while articulating the stationary pitches on the top two strings. For the half-step bend in measure four, nudge the 5th string upward a half-step while holding down the D note at the 7th fret on the 3rd string.
Ex. 20
Ex. 21 outlines the C7 harmony (C–E–G–Bb) with double-stops consisting exclusively of chord tones. The initial double-stops contain the notes C and E (root and 3), followed by G-Bb (5-b7), E-G (3-5), and C-E (root-3), respectively. Use your fourth finger to fret the top notes and your second finger (reinforced with your first finger) for the bottom notes.
Ex. 21
This final pedal-steel phrase (Ex. 22) is a chord-based passage that, like Ex. 20, outlines an A–G–D turnaround progression. Measures one and two feature a common triad shape that is manipulated with a 3rd-string whole-step bend, briefly implying major 6 chords (A6 and G6, respectively). Be sure to keep the notes on the top two strings stationary as you bend the 3rd string with your index finger. In measure three, a variation on a common D barre-chord shape implies the I chord. Let all three notes ring together, and bend the 3rd string down towards the floor so as not to interfere with fretted pitches.
Ex. 22
Country Rhythm Guitar
Because country rhythm guitar is a topic worthy of an entire book, this lesson will limit its focus to a few concepts that have been a staple of the genre for decades, particularly in its more traditional styles.
Ex. 23 is the classic "boom-chicka" strumming pattern in which alternating bass notes (the "boom") are played on beats one and three of each measure, followed on beats two and four by eighth-note chord strums (the "chicka"). Here, the I and V chords (C and G) are voiced in open position, while the IV chord (F) is a common 6th-string barre-chord shape.
Ex. 23
For fingerstylists, no technique is more indispensable than "Travis picking." Named after country legend Merle Travis, this fingerpicking concept involves plucking steady, alternating (generally, root–5 or root–3) quarter-notes on the bass strings with the thumb (or pick), while the remaining fingers pluck chord tones on the treble strings.
Ex. 24 contains a series of one-measure exercises to get you acclimated to Travis picking. After starting solely with bass notes, the patterns become progressively more complex. Once you're comfortable with the exercises, move on to Ex. 25, which features a variation on the patterns from Ex. 24, including melodic movement on the treble strings.
Ex. 24
Ex. 25
Ex. 26 is a rhythm-guitar concept similar to the riff featured in Merle Haggard's 1969 hit "Workin' Man Blues." The song has since become a country standard and is the vehicle for many Nashville jam sessions. The riff itself is a variation of the one Scotty Moore played in Elvis Presley's rockabilly classic, "Mystery Train."
The pattern is presented here in two-bar segments, illustrating how it can be altered to accommodate the I7, IV7, and V7 chords (A7, D7, and E7) of a 12-bar blues in A. The double-stop pattern on strings 3 and 4 is consistent throughout, while the roots vary between open strings (A7 and E7) and a thumb-fretted 6th-string note (D7).
Ex. 26
This article was last updated on June 3rd, 2021.
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George Benson’s Dreams Do Come True: When George Benson Meets Robert Farnonwas recorded in 1989. The collaboration came about after Quincy Jones told the guitarist that Farnon was “the greatest arranger in all the world.”
On that recommendation,Benson tapped Farnon for a 1989 recording project encompassing the jazz standards “My Romance” and “At Last” next to mid-century pop chestnut “My Prayer,” the Beatles’ “Yesterday,” and Leon Russell’s “A Song for You,” among others.
Across the album, Benson’s voice is the main attraction, enveloped by Farnon’s luxuriant big-band and string arrangements that give each track a warm, velveteen sheen. His guitar playing is, of course, in top form, and often sounds as timeless as the tunes they undertake: On “Autumn Leaves,” you could pluck the stem of the guitar solo and seat it neatly into an organ-combo reading of the tune, harkening back to the guitarist’s earlier days. But as great as any George Benson solo is bound to be, on Dreams Do Come True, each is relatively short and supportive. At this phase of his career, as on 1989’s Tenderlyand 1990’s Count Basie Orchestra-backed Big Boss Band, Benson was going through a jazz-singer period. If there’s something that sets the ballad-centric Dreams Do Come Trueapart, it’s that those other records take a slightly more varied approach to material and arranging.
When it was finished, the Benson/Farnon collaboration was shelved, and it stayed that way for 35 years. Now released, it provides a deeper revelation into this brief phase of Benson’s career. In 1993, he followed up Big Boss Man with an updated take on the smooth, slick pop that brought him blockbuster fame in the previous two decades and delivered Love Remembers.
Love is Blue (feat. The Robert Farnon Orchestra)
This kind of stylistic jumping around, of musical discovery, is a thread through Benson’s legendary career. From his days as a young child busking in Pittsburgh, where his favorite song to play was “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” he evolved through backing Brother Jack McDuff and leading his own organ combo, into his soulful and funky CTI Records phase, where he proved himself one of the most agile and adroit players in the jazz-guitar game. He eventually did the most improbable—and in anyone else’s hands thus far, impossible—feat and launched into pop superstardom with 1976’s Breezin’ and stayed there for years to come, racking up No. 1 hits and a host of Grammy awards.
At this moment, deep into his career at 81 years old, Benson continues to dive into new settings. While anyone observing from the sidelines might conclude that Benson has already excelled in more varied musical situations than any other instrumentalist, he somehow continues to discover new sides to his musicality. In 2018, he joined the Gorillaz on their technicolor indie-pop single “Humility,” and in 2020 he tracked his guitar onBootsy Collins’ “The Power of the One.” Benson assures me that not only are there more recordings in the archive that he’s waiting to reveal, but there are more wide-ranging collaborations to come.
On Dreams Do Come True, Benson covers classic jazz repertoire, plus he revisits the Beatles—whose work he covered on 1970’s The Other Side of Abbey Road—and Leon Russell, whose “This Masquerade” brought Benson a 1976 Grammy award for Record of the Year.
PG: The range of songs that you’ve played throughout your career, from your jazz records to 1970’s The Other Side ofAbbey Road or 1972’s White Rabbit album to 2019’s Chuck Berry and Fats Domino tribute, Walking to New Orleans, is so broad. Of course, now I’m thinking about the songs on Dreams Do Come True. How do you know when a song is a good fit?
George Benson: Well, you can’t get rid of it. It stays with you all the time. They keep popping up in your memory.
All the stuff that Sinatra did, and Nat King Cole did, and Dean Martin, that’s the stuff I grew up on. I grew up in a multinational neighborhood. There were only 30 African Americans in my school, and they had 1,400 students, but it was a vocational school.
I remember all that stuff like yesterday because it’s essential to who I am today. I learned a lot from that. You would think that would be a super negative thing. Some things about it were negative—you know, the very fact that there were 1,400 students and only 30 African Americans. But what I learned in school was how to deal with people from all different parts of the world.
After my father made my first electric guitar. I made my second one….
You made your second guitar?
Benson: Yeah, I designed it. My school built it for me. I gave them the designs, sent it down to the shop, they cut it out, I sent it to the electric department, and then I had to put on the strings myself. I brought my amplifier to school and plugged it in. Nobody believed it would work, first of all. When I plugged it in, my whole class, they couldn’t believe that it actually worked. So, that became my thing, man. “Little Georgie Benson—you should hear that guitar he made.”“I can let my mind go free and play how I feel.”
George Benson's Gear
The Benson-designed Ibanez GB10 was first introduced in 1977.
Photo by Matt Furman
Strings & Picks
- Ibanez George Benson Signature pick
- Thomastik-Infeld George Benson Jazz Strings
Accessories
- Radial JDI Passive Direct Box
So, your environment informed the type of music you were listening to and playing from a young age.
Benson: No doubt about it, man. Because remember, rock ’n’ roll was not big. When the guitar started playing with the rock bands, if you didn’t have a guitar in your band, you weren’t really a rock band. But that was later, though. It started with those young groups and all that hip doo-wop music.
I was known in Pittsburgh as Little Georgie Benson, singer. Occasionally, I would have the ukulele or guitar when the guitar started to get popular.
What’s your playing routine like these days? Do you play the guitar every day, and what do you play?
Benson: Not like I used to. Out of seven days, I probably play it four or five days.
I used to play virtually every day. It was just a natural thing for me to pick up. I had guitars strategically placed all over my house. As soon as I see one, my brain said, “Pick that up.” So, I would pick it up and start playing with new ideas. I don’t like going over the same thing over and over again because it makes you boring. I would always try to find something fresh to play. That’s not easy to do, but it is possible.
I’m looking for harmony. I’m trying to connect things together. How do I take this sound or this set of chord changes and play it differently? I don’t want to play it so everybody knows where I’m going before I even get there, you know?
“I wasn’t trying to sound loud. I was trying to sound good.”
How did you develop your guitar tone, and what is important about a guitar tone?
Benson: Years ago, the guitar was an accompaniment or background instrument, usually accompanying somebody or even accompanying yourself. But it was not the lead instrument necessarily. If they gave you a solo, you got a chance to make some noise.
As it got serious later on, I started looking for a great sound. I thought it was in the size of the guitar. So, I went out and bought this tremendously expensive guitar, big instrument. And I found that, yeah, that had a big sound, but that was not it. I couldn’t make it do what I wanted it to do. I found that it comes from my phrasing, the way I phrase things and the way I set up my guitar, and how I work with the amplifier. I wasn’t trying to sound loud. I was trying to sound good.
George Benson at Carnegie Hall in New York City on September 23,1981. The previous year, he received Grammy awards for “Give Me the Night,” “Off Broadway,” and “Moody’s Mood.”
Photo by Ebet Roberts
When I think about your playing, I’m automatically thinking about your lead playing so much of the time. But I think that your rhythm playing is just as iconic. What do you think is the most important thing about rhythm guitar parts, comping, and grooving?
Benson: That word comp, I finally found out what it really represents. I worked with a man called Jack McDuff, who took me out of Pittsburgh when I was 19 years old. He used to get mad at me all the time. “Why are you doing this? Why are you doing that? I can’t hear what you’re playing because you play so low”—because I used to be scared. I didn’t want people to hear what I was playing because then they would realize I didn’t know what I was doing, you know? I would play very mousy. He said, “Man, I don’t know if you play good or bad because I can’t hear you. Man, play out. People don’t know what you’re playing. They’ll accept whatever it is you do; they’ll think you meant to do it. Either it’s good or bad.”
So I started playing out and I found there’s a great truth in what he said. When you play out, you sound like you know what you’re doing. People say, “Oh wow, this cat is a monster.” It either feels good and sounds good or it doesn’t. So, I learned how to make those beeps and bops and things sound good and feel good.
The word comp comes from complementing. Whoever’s coming in to solo is out front. I gotta make them sound good. And that’s why people call me today. I had a record with a group called the Gorillaz. That’s the reason why they called me is because they realized that I knew what to do when I come to complement somebody. I did not have a lead role in that song. But I loved playing it once I found the space for me. I said, “Man, I don’t wanna just play it on an album. I wanna mean something.”
I did something with Bootsy Collins, who is a monster. I said, “Why is he calling me? I’m not a monster, man.” But he heard something in me he wanted on his record, and I couldn’t figure out what it was. I said, “No, I don’t think I can do it, man. I don’t think I can do you any good.” He said, “Try something, man. Try anything.” So I did. I didn’t think I could do that, but it came out good. Now I’m getting calls from George Clinton.
You worked on something with George Clinton?
Benson: Not yet, but that’s what I’m working on now, because he called me and said, “Man, do something with me.”
That’s not going to be easy. You know, I gotta find something that fits his personality, and where I can enhance it, not just throw something together, because that wouldn’t be right for the public. We want something musical, something that lasts for a long time.
“I can let my mind go free and play how I feel.”
In the liner notes for Dreams Do Come True, you say that there’s always more to be discovered. You just mentioned the Gorillaz, then Bootsy Collins and George Clinton. You have such a wide, open exploration of music. How has discovery and exploration guided your career?
Benson: Well, this is the thing that we didn’t have available a few years ago. Now, we can play anything. You couldn’t cross over from one music to another without causing some damage to your career, causing an uproar in the industry.
When Wes Montgomery did “Going Out of My Head” and Jimmy Smith did “Walk on the Wild Side,” it caused waves in the music industry, because radio was not set up for that. You were either country or jazz or pop or blues or whatever it was. You weren’t crossing over because there was no way to get that played. Now there is.
Because I’ve had something to do with most of those things I just mentioned, my mind goes back to when I was thinking, “What if I played it like this? No, people won’t like that. What if I played it like this? Now, they won’t like that either.” Now, I can let my mind go free and play how I feel, and they will find some way to get it played on the air.
YouTube It
George Benson digs into the Dave Brubeck-penned standard “Take Five” at the height of the ’80s, showing his unique ability to turn any tune into a deeply grooving blaze-fest.
