
Steal inspiration, vocabulary, and picking techniques from legendary acoustic players.
Intermediate
Beginner
- Improve your alternate picking.
- Discover how to use the ācountryā scale.
- Create a deeper understanding of chord shapes across the neck.
There have been many bluegrass guitar icons, from the pioneering Doc Watson, Clarence White, and Tony Rice, to such modern masters as Bryan Sutton and David Grier. Today, younger players like Molly Tuttle and Carl Miner keep the genre alive.
Traditionally, bluegrass is played on acoustic instruments. Some people will tell you that putting the words āelectricā and ābluegrassā in the same sentence creates an oxymoron, like ābaroque jazz.ā Although those purists have a valid point, electric bluegrass and newgrass are accepted genres that take influence from the early pickers and apply it to more modern instrumentation. And thatās exactly what weāll do right now.
This lesson will focus on the fundamental techniques and note choices youāll need to unlock the essence of flatpick guitar. Once you digest the basics, youāll be ready to steal endless amounts of vocabulary from the masters of the style. The first thing to discuss is alternate-picking technique. Traditional flatpickers exist in a purely acoustic world, and being heard over loud banjos, Dobros, and fiddles is extremely important. The best way to achieve this is with a strong picking hand thatās capable of projecting each note to the audience.
Ex. 1 is a simple ascending and descending G major pentatonic scale (GāAāBāDāE). This is played with strict alternate picking: Begin with a downstroke, then follow it with an upstroke, then play a downstroke, and so on.
The problem with alternate picking will always be when you cross strings. (Note: Entire books have been devoted to this subjectāweāre just scratching the surface here.) The two aspects weāll examine right now are āinsideā and āoutsideā picking.
Outside picking is what happens when you pick a string, and then while targeting the next one, you jump over it and swing back to pick it. The flatpick attacks the outside edges of the two strings.
In Ex. 2, play the A string with a downstroke, then the D string with an upstroke. This is outside motion. Each subsequent string crossing motion uses this outside picking technique.
Most players find the outside mechanics easier than the more restrictive inside motion. As you may be able to work out, inside picking technique is where your pick is stuck between two strings.
The following lick (Ex. 3) uses only this inside motion. Play it slowly and then compare how fast and accurately you can play it relative to Ex. 2.
You wonāt have the luxury of structuring all your phrases to eliminate one motion or the other, so itās best to accept this reality and develop the skills needed to get by with both approaches. The best of the best didnāt make excuses, they just played down-up-down-up over and over for decades.
Ex. 4 features one note per string. This fast string-crossing motion requires a good level of proficiency with both inside and outside approaches to build up any sort of speed.
The secret to alternate picking isnāt to always alternate pickstrokes between notes, but to keep the motion of the hand going. In short, the hand will move in the alternating fashion whether or not you strike a string. If you have a stream of eighth-notes, theyāll be alternate picked, but if there are some quarter-notes thrown in, the hand wonāt freeze and wait for the next note. Youāll play the note with a downstroke, move up and not play anything, then drop back onto the strings and play the next note with a downstroke (Ex. 5).
This way all your downbeats are played with downstrokes and upbeats are upstrokes. Youāll see people refer to this as āstrict alternate picking.ā With that out of the way, itās worth looking at the note choices of a typical bluegrass player.
A quick analysis of some bluegrass tunes will reveal this isnāt harmonically complex music. Nearly all of the chords youāre going to be dealing with are major and minor triads, so note choice isnāt going to break the brain.
One approach would be to play a line based on the major scale of the key youāre in. For example, if youāre playing a song in G, the G major scale (GāAāBāCāDāEāF#) makes a good starting point.
A more stylistically appropriate approach would be to use the ācountry scale,ā which is a major pentatonic scale with an added b3. In G that would be GāAāBbāBāDāE. Ex. 6 shows this scale played beginning in the open position and moving up on the 3rd string.
Letās put all this into practice. Ex. 7 shows a line built around a G chord using this strict alternate-picking motion applied to string crossing mechanics in both directions. This sticks closely to the country scale, but thereās also an added C in the third measure to allow the 3 to land on the downbeat of measure four.
This next line (Ex. 8) uses the same idea, but now beginning up at the 5th fret area and moving down over the course of the lick.
Itās worth looking at each string crossing to categorize it as inside or outside. This will help further your understanding of the importance of these two picking techniques.
Hereās another idea around G (Ex. 9), but to create some smoother motion, this time we add notes from G Mixolydian (GāAāBāCāDāEāF), as well as a bluesy Db (b5) as a chromatic passing tone. The trick here is nailing all the position shifts as youāre going from the 3rd fret up to the 10th fret.
Our final example (Ex. 10) takes what weāve learned about approaching a major chord and applies it to two different chords. First, we have two measures of G, then C, and back to G.
When playing over the C, your note choice changes to the country scale, but now built from C (CāDāEbāEāGāA). Switching between these chords poses a technical challenge, along with a visual one. Take your time with a lick like this, and make sure youāre able to see the underlying chord at all times.
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The series features three distinct modelsāThe Bell,The Dread, and The Parlorāeach built to deliver rich, resonant acoustic sound with effortless amplification.
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Kirk Hammett has partnered with Gibson Publishing to release The Collection: Kirk Hammett, a premium hardcover coffee-table photo book where Kirk tells the stories behind his rare and collectible instruments.
āI am thrilled to announce the launch of The Collection: Kirk Hammett. Iāve worked diligently on this curated collection of vintage and modern guitars for the book. I feel the book captures the rich history and artistry behind each of these unique and rare instruments. Every picture tells a story and thanks to Ross Halfin and his exceptional photography, every picture in this book is worth a million words! This book could not be possible without the help of Gibson, so Iād like to thank them for making my passion for Greeny, and guitars a reality. I hope all of you enjoy this journey as much as I did.ā
āItās exciting the time has come to release The Collection: Kirk Hammett by Gibson,ā adds Cesar Gueikian, President and CEO of Gibson. āWe have been working on this project with Kirk for years now, and I had the opportunity to work closely with Kirk on the composition of the collection for the book. It was a thrill to put this together and it took a village to get it done! I hope everyone appreciates the work that went into this book and enjoys every story behind the guitars.ā
The Collection: Kirk Hammett, Custom Edition is limited to just 300 numbered copies signed by KIRK HAMMETT and comes in a huge 19 x 14.5ā (490 x 370mm) presentation box featuring custom artwork and an outstanding case candy package. In addition to the large-format 17 x 12ā (432 x 310mm) hardcover version of the book with a stunning lenticular cover, the boxset includes a frameable 16 x 11.6ā (407 x 295mm) art print of a Ross Halfin portrait of KIRK HAMMETT signed by both Halfin and the Metallica guitarist. Other case candy includes an Axe Heaven miniature replica of Hammettās 1979 Gibson Flying V with case and stand, an exclusive pick tin complete with six DunlopĀ® Kirk Hammett signature Jazz III guitar picks, and a Gibson Publishing Certificate of Authenticity.
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The collection includes Cobalt strings with a Paradigm Core, Tim Henson Signature Classical Strings, and the Tim Henson Signature FretWrap by Gruv Gear.
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Crafted for dynamic, percussive tonality, these strings pair fluorocarbon trebles with silver-plated copper basses to deliver exceptional response and clarity.
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An essential string-dampening tool, the Tim Henson Signature FretWrap is designed for cleaner playing by eliminating unwanted overtones and sympathetic vibrations.
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The Ernie Ball Tim Henson Accessory Bundle Kit
For players who want the complete Tim Henson experience, the Ernie Ball Tim HensonSignature Bundle Kit includes:
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The Tim Henson Signature String & Accessory Collection is available starting today, March 19, 2025, at authorized Ernie Ball dealers worldwide.
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Ernie Ball: Tim Henson Signature Electric Guitar Strings - YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.Teamwork makes the dream work for the Charleston, South Carolina, twosome, who trade off multi-instrumental duties throughout their sets.
Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst have been making music as Shovels & Rope since 2008. The husband-and-wife duo from South Carolina specialize in rootsy, bluesy rock, Americana, and alt-country, but they donāt confine themselves to traditional two-piece arrangements. They switch off on vocal, guitar, percussion, and synth duty throughout their shows, orchestrating a full-band ruckus with all available limbs.
Their seventh full-length, Something Is Working Up Above My Head, released in September last year, and while touring in support of it, they stopped at Nashvilleās Brooklyn Bowl in late February. PGās John Bohlinger caught up with Trent before the gig to see what tools he and Hearst use to maintain their musical juggling act.
Brought to you by DāAddario.Black Bird
Trentās not a guitar snob: Generally speaking, he plays whatever he can get his hands on. While playing Eddie Vedderās Ohana Fest, someone loaned him this Gretsch Black Falcon, and he fell in love with it. He likes its size compared to the broader White Falcon. Itās also the bandās only electric, so if it goes down, itās back to acoustic. Hearst takes turns on it, too.
Trent loads the heaviest strings he can onto it, which is a set of .013s. It lives in standard tuning.
Ol' Faithful
As Trent explains, he and Hearst have done some DIY decorating on this beautiful Gibson J-45āitās adorned with sweat droplets, stains, and fingernail dust. It runs direct to the venueās front-of-house system with an LR Baggs pickup. This one is strung with Martin heavy or medium gauge strings; lighter ones are too prone to snapping under Trentās heavy picking hand (which holds a Dunlop Max-Grip .88 mm pick). And it rolls around in an Enki tour case.
On Call
These second-stringersāa Loar archtop and an LR Baggs-equipped Recording Kingāare on hand in case of broken strings or other malfunctions.
Need for Tweed
Trent doesnāt trust amps with too many knobs, so this tweed Fender Blues Junior does the trick. It can get fairly loud, so thereās a Universal Audio OX Amp Top Box on hand to tame it for some stages.
Shovels & Rope's Pedalboard
Because Trent and Hearst trade off bass, guitar, keys, and percussion duties, all four of their limbs are active through the set. Whoever is on guitars works this board, with an MXR Blue Box, Electro-Harmonix Nano Big Muff, EarthQuaker Devices Hummingbird, and Boss OC-5, plus a pair of Walrus Canvas Tuners for the electric and acoustic. Utility boxes on the board include a Walrus Canvas Passive Re-Amp, Radial J48, Livewire ABY1, and a Mesa Stowaway input buffer.
A Roland PK-5 MIDI controller, operated by foot, sits on the lower edge of the board. It controls the board for āThing 2,ā one of two MicroKORG synths onstage.
Thing 1 and Thing 2
Thereās no one backstage helping Hearst and Trent cook up all their racket; they handle every sound themselves, manually. During the first few sets of a tour, youāre liable to see some headaches, like forgetting to switch synth patches during a song, but eventually they hit a rhythm.
Affectionately given Seuss-ian nicknames, this pair of microKORGs handles bass notes through the set, among other things, via the foot-controlled PK5. āThing 1ā is set up at the drum station, and runs through a board with an EHX Nano Big Muff, EHX Bass9, EHX Nano Holy Grail, and a Radial Pro DI. A Walrus Aetos keeps them all powered up.
The board for āThing 2,ā beside the guitar amps, includes an EHX Mel9 and Bass9 powered by a Truetone 1 SPOT Pro, plus a Radial ProD2.