Play Country Guitar 9: Advanced Lick Vocabulary

In this section you will play some essential country techniques like using open string licks, double stops, and emulating a lap steel for that authentic country sound.

TIP! More advanced licks usually have one of two things, if not both that make them more difficult. Speed and number of notes, and harmonic structure.

I find that working on licks helps me isolate these things. If there is a particularly fast section to a lick, break it down into smaller parts and work on those. Make sure that your picking is correct and efficient, make sure your fretting hand fingers stay close to the fingerboard. These little details are usually what make or break a lick.

If the sound of the lick is new or different to your ear, try isolating the notes that are making it sound that way. Then just play those notes over the chord that is being played and listen to what is happening in there. Sometimes if you can just get the "sound" of the lick to sit properly in your ear, it makes the mechanics of actually playing it much easier.

Open String Licks in E - Concept 5 is a video guitar lesson presented by Johnny Hiland and is sourced from Ten Gallon Guitar.

Let's talk about a really cool aspect of chicken pickin'. They also use this in blues grass music and other genres. I want you to use it for every genre of music. It's called open string licks. We'll start with open string licks in the key of E. E is a fun chord and is pretty open anyways and one of the first chords you'll learn on a guitar. Let's start by utilizing all six strings. Using these open string licks, I'm going to show you first, is what I call the pick pick pull pattern with the right hand. You are actually going to pick pick pull on the third string. We are going to start with our 3rd finger on the 4th fret (low E string). Our 1st finger on the 2nd fret (A string) and then have an open D under that. Again, pick pick pull. We are going to do the same thing with the same fingerings on the A and the D string with the open G. 3rd finger on the 4th fret (A); 1st finger on the 2nd fret (D string) with an open G. Now, we will slide up a fret. Our 3rd finger will be on the 5th fret (D string), our first finger on the 3rd fret (G string) with an open B. Yes that does sound a little despondent, but it will work. We are going to slide up again one more fret. We will have our 3rd finger on the 6th fret (G string) our first finger on the 4th fret (B string) with an open E. I am explaining this so it sounds like it is played in thirds, but you don't want to play it that way. It should be played together to flow like a waterfall. Now, I will play this at full speed and we will slow it way down. That is the first open string E lick. It's a lot of fun and has a cool vibe to it.

Now, we'll do one that is easy to play and connects to the first one. Everything is on the 7th and 4th fret. With the same pick pick pull pattern. We'll start on the 7th fret, with our 4th finger on the low E, the 1st finger on the 4th fret (A string) with an open D under that. Do the same thing on the A and D string with an open G. Carry that down to the D and G string with and open B. Then on the G and B with an open E. What I'm doing is putting a little rockabilly rhythm behind this so we can keep in time. I'm going to play this in full speed and then play it a couple times really slow. If you want to get a little daring, you can add the first one to the second one. Now, I want to show you one that I came up with. Experimentation is key with open string licks. I've written a few songs, one on my newest album called All Fire Up with Shrapnel Records called Minor Adjustment. A lot of those open string licks I found on my own my experiment. Have fun, open up and rip. If you hit a bad note, no one will really know it except for you. Now, I will show you this one I just came up with. It connects to the first and second one. What I am doing is using the 3rd finger (you can use your 4th finger if you like) but I prefer my 3rd. I'm using my 3rd finger on the 12th fret (low E) and using my 1st finger on the 9th fret (A) with an open D under that. We are going to go 11th and 9th all the way down. It's 11th on the A, 9th with the 1st finger, 9th fret with an open G under that (I know it sound real dissident but it will sound good altogether). We will move down again, 11th fret on the D string, 9th fret on the G with an open B under that. Doing it again, 11th fret (G), 9th fret (B) with an open E under that. As we drone that open E we are going to hammer-on with the 3rd finger to the 12th fret, B and E and hit a low note on the bottom. I prefer to use all three of the open E licks to end a rockabilly song. I'll show you how to do that after we practice this a few times through. Here is the lick at full speed and slowed down. You can hear where you can place the B and E hammer-on in different spots; just use your personal preference for that.

That's a fun one and sounds dissident when played slowly, but when you put all three of these together it is really cool sounding. You can end a rockabilly song with this or just have fun. Combine the first and second one or the second and third one or you can play them individually. The key is when using the open string scales is to have fun and keep a nice and bouncy feeling.

Open String Licks in A - Concept 6 is a video guitar lesson presented by Johnny Hiland and is sourced from Ten Gallon Guitar.

Now it's time for open licks in A. This is always the most fun key for country players. Open A licks are just as fun. There are two-three main A licks that I use in an open way. The first one is almost like what we did in E, but just a little different. We are doing a pick pick pull pattern again. Remember, you pick down with pick, down with the pick on the next string and then pull with your fingernail on the third string. We will be doing with in a flowing motion to get a cascading open sound. Let's start with the 2nd finger on the 5th fret, A note on the low E string and the 1st finger on the 4th fret on the A string (which is a C# note). We will do that with a pick pick pull pattern with an open D underneath that, which is really cool for rock music too. Let's start with that and do pick pick pull. Now let's move down to a position you are used to; play the 3rd finger on the 4th fret (A string), our 1st finger on the 2nd string (D string) with an open G. We will do the same thing again, except the 3rd finger on the 4th fret (D string) with the 1st finger on the 2nd fret (G string) with an open B. Let's play up until that point.

Now, we will do the same thing again going to our high E string on the bottom. The 3rd finger will be on the 4th fret (now G string), 1st finger on the 2nd fret (B string) with an open E. Droning on the bottom. Once we actually hit the open E, we will chromatically walk up from the 2nd fret to the 5th fret on the B string while that E is droning. We can walk back down and what I do from there is a steel bend. You can do this in a lot of ways depending on how you want to finish out the scale. What I like to do it add a bend, by barring on the A chord and grabbing the G string with my 3rd finger and bending it down almost a whole tone and all you can hear is the low E note, which is the D note 2nd fret on the bottom while I bend that G up. Then hit the A note, 2nd fret G string, do a pull-off on the 4th fret D string and then end with the A chord. Let's play the whole thing together.

I just played it just the way I taught you, but you can add another lick to the bottom of that if you like and make it your own. Let's play this a couple of times slow and then speed it up. Cleanliness is really important here. That time you didn't see me use the full A chord, I just bend the G string on the 4th fret a bit and then proceeded back to the A chord. It really depends on how you are feeling. I like to use emotion when I play. If I am ripping this in a fast country song I won't have time to grab the full A chord on the bottom. So it depends on how you want to play this lick. The most important thing is to keep is cascading on the open A lick going down and when you finish the chromatic run on the bottom you can take it to whatever way you like. Once we get into some picking with tracks with licks you see this quite a bit.

The other one I love to use in A sounds has a little bit of a B bender to it. I'm not using any B benders on this guitar, in fact, I've got a floating tremolo and I'm surprised I am able to bend at all. This lick is a lot of fun. There is another way to play this, experimentation is key. You can travel these licks and play it anyway you want to go. What I am doing is starting on the 5th and 4th fret of the low E and A string. Play the 2nd finger on the E and 1st finger on the A, 4th fret. And we are doing the pick pick pull pattern again. I like to slide my 3rd finger from the 5th to the 7th fret on the A string and then grabbing with the 1st finger (the D note) on the 5th fret, while playing the G note on the bottom open. It kinda sounds weird since we are hitting the G note with our 1st finger D string. Then we slide the 6th fret into the 7th fret on the D string with the 2nd finger and then the 1st finger is grabbing the G string on the 6th fret and droning the open B on the bottom. Now, we end up with the 2nd finger on the 6th fret on the G string, the 1st finger on the 5th fret of the B string. There are a couple of ways I like to play this end part. I either slide in with a double-stop to where I am just barring with my 1st finger on the 4th fret and then sliding that into the 5th fret, then I reach up with my 4th finger (I like to slide with my 3rd) up to the 9th fret of the high E string and grab the B string with both fingers so we can do a long bend here. Anytime you do bends you have all the power behind it that you can. The bend is done with the 2nd finger on the 8th fret B string and we are going up a whole tone to the A note. If you need to add your 1st finger for string, do that, it won't affect the tone of the note. When put together it sounds great. You can slide this down however you want, let it drone or sweep it back into another lick.

When we play this lick instead of using the actual double-stops, sometimes I like to play the notes individually. Instead of the full double-stop, the open part on the 6th and 5th fret, I'll just play the A triad. Using my 2nd finger on the G string, 6th fret and instead of hitting them as double-stops on the bottom, sometimes I'll just play the full A triad and then slide up with the 3rd finger and capture that bend. The reason I'm showing you both ways is because it depends on how fast the song is played as to which you can use. Let's play with fast and then slowed down a few times. When played fast, I went to miss the bend on the first time through, so I hammered it off with the b7 note. It allows you to have more time to reach and grab for the bend. As we play this slow, you can see how we incorporate the b7 note before we do the major 3rd bend.

Let's break down this last section one more time. When I play the actual A triad, I reach down and put the hammer-on now and grab the 7th of the scale, which is actually working on climbing from the 5th of the scale, the E note, up to a G and then bouncing that off the root note. Then we reach for the bend, I'm using my 3rd finger, but you can use the 4th if you prefer. I use my 3rd because I like to use my 1st and 2nd finger to grab the bend.

There are lots of options, but those are two of my favorite open string licks in A. Let's look at one more that most people don't normally learn. It's from a popular country song called Orange Blossom Special. This is a fun tiny lick that you cannot miss. We are playing an A sus ii, using two fingers, the 2nd finger on the A note, the D string 7th fret, and the 1st finger has the Major iii note, which is a C# note, 6th fret G string. This is not a pick pick pull pattern. We are going to use the A note with the pick and then the finger is grabbing the B string open, the pick is grabbing the G string on the 6th fret and then we are going to drop the 3rd finger to the 7th fret. Next our ring finger will grab the E. Then we reverse it. Let's play that together very slow and then speed it up. The reason I want to show you this is because you can move that bottom A note down which would lead you into that focal scale I showed you earlier.

Open String Licks in G - Concept 7 is a video guitar lesson presented by Johnny Hiland and is sourced from Ten Gallon Guitar.

G is a really fun key to get into because we have the G scale which is one of the open scales is really open to play right here in the G cowboy chord. The first G scale, plays from a barred position but playing all that open now. On the E string we are playing the 3rd and 2nd fret, releasing to an open, 3rd fret on the B, 1st fret open, 2nd fret of the G string (which is an A note) to an open G and we're on the 4th fret D, 2nd fret D, open, 3rd fret (which is a C), on the A 2nd fret A, open. Bluegrass pickers really like to use this to come up with cool licks. When you think melody when coming up with a solo, this is a fun scale to use.

The second on in G starts in on the 8th fret B string, go to the 7th fret on the B, follow with an open E and reach up on the G string with the 3rd finger on the 7th fret (which is the D note) play the C note (which is the 5th fret G) followed by an open B, the A note now (which is D string 7th fret) and then we have an open G. What I recommend is to learn that half first. It's important to play that real slow and get it down first. You want to keep it real open sounding so it just cascades and flows. Try that really slow.

What's so great about this is once I started practicing the first half, and repeated it over and over again (I know I was driving my wife crazy over that) but you will slowly build up your speed. Be sure to keep the scale clean.

Once you have that half of the scale, we will move on the second half. It's the same second half as the other G scale. IV and II on the D string, and I pulled that off to an open D. Then III and II on the A, 3rd fret to the 2nd fret, followed by an open A and then a G. That's the full G scale. Work on the slow and then speed it up. When we get into the D scales, I'll show how you can connect the G and the D together.

The last one in G is essentially the same as the last one we did in A. That can work over almost any key. If you learned this in A you can do it in G, just carry it down two frets. We start on the low E string and the A string with the 2nd and 1st fingers on the 3rd and 2nd fret. Now, we go back to the pick pick pull pattern. The I III and V together sound so nice in perfect harmony. Now, we slide with the 3rd finger of the 5th fret of the A string, our 1st finger on the D string 3rd fret. Slide with the 2nd finger on the 5th fret D string, 1st finger on the 4th string G with an open string underneath that. We are going to play a full triad in G. Slide to the 4th fret G, play the actual full triad with the 1st finger barring on the B and E string of the 3rd fret in the G position and we are going to reach out with (you can use the 4th finger to be proper) my 3rd finger and grab with a hammer-on with the 3rd finger to the 6th fret B and right under that hit the G note with the 1st finger on the 3rd fret. From that, we reach up with our 3rd finger to the 7th fret high E string and use the 1st and 2nd finger to create the bend. I've bent with my 2nd finger (with a little help from the 1st) from the 6th fret we've bent that B string up a whole tone. Then you can release that and continue on from there.

There is really cool open G licks – hope you enjoyed those!

Double Stops Exercises - Concept 10 is a video guitar lesson presented by Johnny Hiland and is sourced from Ten Gallon Guitar.

Now let's get into a part of the learning experience which I have a blast with, double stops. Double stops are simply two notes played simultaneously. They are everywhere and you'll have a great time learning them. It will help with chicken pickin' and help you find different chord shapes.

Let's get started with how double stops work. I'll show you a couple of scales used to learn double stops and go from there. We are going to play the neck horizontally. We'll start with a simply A scale. We'll start on the 14th fret (A bar). There will be a little formula behind this scale that I want you to remember. The formula comes in to the positioning of your fingers, so I call the bar position 1. Then we play 13th and 12th fret on the G and B strong, slide that down to 11th and 10th now, bar on 9th, bar on the 7th and then play 6th and 5th, 4th and 3rd , then bar on the 2nd. This is in association with the G and B string only. The formula to remember is 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 1. If you can remember that you'll never fail in the double stop scale patterns. Whether you are on stage or giving a lesson or show someone how these work, this is a great formula to remember the double stops scale.

When practicing in the horizontal way of using the entire fret board is to get you into ghost notes. Ghost notes are basically a ghost note – or a dead note. You hear it but you don't hear the tonal value of the note. We are going to have fun with the right hand for a moment in the chicken pickin' round. To practice using the double stop scale we're going to use single picking, double picking, and triple picking. The first thing is single picking. When I was playing the double stop scale, I was playing the actual double stop with both of my fingernails and that's where you're really see the ring finger come into play. Now, we are going to ghost note the D string on the bottom. We're going to play a single note, ghost note, and then use it within this double stop scale. Now, we're going to use a double picking technique with the ghost note. We're going to go down-up-pull. Now, let's do this as a triplet. We are going to go down-up-down with the pick on the ghost note and hit the double stop. I teach this now in the midst of double stops because your right hand is the percussive part which comes in to make these double stops work. For example, if I'm playing a fast country train beat thing, I might switch it up or play the whole thing with triplets (watch the video for examples). You can have a lot of fun with the double stops when utilizing the right hand technique to create the chicken pickin' tone and sound. It's essential to use the fake fingernails! I love using the fake fingernails. I've had these on for 12 years and I love going through the grocery store line and the women behind the counter tells me I have nice nails.

Let's get back to it. The double stop scales can also be used going down in a vertical fashion. Always remember what key you are playing in. For example, we just played the A scale horizontally, now we are going to do it vertically. Now we are going to use our Major scale format. The double stop scale to that would be started on 5th and 6th (5th on low E and 6th on the A string), 7th and 5th, IX and VII. Let's move down to the A and D string and play 5th and 4th slide up to 7th and 6th then 9th and 7th Sliding down to the D and G string, we're going to play 6th and 4th, 7th and 6th, 9th and 7th. Use the 6th and 5th, bar on 7th and bar on 9th, 7th and 5th on the B and E, 9th and 7th, and 10th and 9th to finish. That will get you started in knowing how to use double stops. You don't necessarily use the right hand technique when using the vertical style, unless you come back down – we'll talk about that in a bit.

Double Stops Licks: 1 - Concept 11 is a video guitar lesson presented by Johnny Hiland and is sourced from Ten Gallon Guitar.

Now that we've learned the double stop exercises, we will cover some licks. Double stops are everywhere. It doesn't matter what key you play in, you can find a double stop that works. One of my favorite licks uses my fingernails for a lot of this on the right hand and ghost notes (watch the video for a sample). This scale is very fun … its not really a scale but it sound scale like in its own way since it flows low to high. Before we go through this whole thing, there are guys in Nashville that use just parts of this, like my guitar hero Ray Flacke, where he'll use just the first two positions. So the double stops that we started in A (which if 5 and 4), we are going to walk into that. So, we'll be on 4 and 3 walking into 5 and 4. Then I hit a ghost note, on the 5th fret (low E string). Now, I'm going to change finger positions so my 1st finger is on the A string (3rd fret), and the 2nd finger is on the D string (4th fret) and then we'll slide that up a half tone, and I've ghost notes the 4th fret with my 1st finger (basically I've just deaden the note). Try that back and forth. It's got a really cool, fun sound to it. If you crank up your amp, and more of your pick up it can sound really spanky. You can use the first two parts of that scale to create your own lick with it. I have started many a solo with that lick there by itself.

Let's now carry on the whole thing. Let's start by playing the first half of the lick we just learned. We've ended with the 1st finger 4th fret (A string), 2nd finger is on the 5th fret (D string), now we will slide down with a bar from the 6th to the 7th fret on the A and D string. I'm ghost noting before that and after that. We are going to slide down again. Our 2nd finger will be on the 6th fret (D string), 1st finger on the 5th fret (G string). So 6th fret and 5th fret and sliding into the 7th and 6th. When you get into this section you are going to find you'll want to ghost note on the A string which is ok to do. We are going to do the same finger position, but slide it down to the G and B string. We'll be sliding down from the 5th to the 4th fret into the 6th and 5th. Now, I ghost noted again on the D string this time, which is up above the double stop we are working with. Try playing up to that point. Then we'll hit another ghost note and we'll end up with a bar on the 4, sliding into a bar on the 5 (n the B and E). We can end that actual scale there, like I taught, but you can connect that to any other lick that you want to finish it off. You could go back down to A in another registry if you wanted to. Can you continue that since double stops can be continued? Yes, I carried that with my knowledge of how A works on the actual G and E string. Yes, there are double stops there (you can use string skipping in double stops) but what is cool is that I hit a ghost note again on the G string. Then I slide from the 8th to the 9th fret on the G and E string, hit a ghost note again on the G, slide up again. Slide from the 9th and 11th fret on the B and E string up to the 10th and 12th fret. Then hit a ghost note again on the B and slide with a bar from the 13th and 14th fret on the G so I can get back to carry the A horizontal bar scale back down if I wanted to. So, you can then connect all that together. Now, that we've accomplished all of that, let's play it a couple times very slow and then speed it up. Its very hard to get the percussive sound when played slow. Sometimes, I recommend you practice something like this at the highest speed you can, even if it doesn't quite sound good. It is brain to hand coordination or connection that you want to maintain. I always to try find licks that connect to each other so you don't have to jump all around the fret board and you can play without looking at the frets. Everything on the fret board can be connected. In the double stops realm I like to do that. I like to teach that every A connects to itself. You can connect every A without lifting my fingers off the fret board. I like to think that way when playing the double stops.

Next, let's go to a double stop lick which goes from a higher register to a lower register. When I'm thinking double stops, I'm thinking about scale patterns and A note to A note to A note. What I'm mostly thinking is how these actual scales connect. When we discuss the actual vertical A scale, these scales can work on every string set on a horizontal way as well as vertically. So when we play this scale (in the video 9:17) that can be played on the B and E string only the A is on the 10th and 9th fret and we are starting with a different fingering. Then again, the formula I gave you before still applies. Or you can carry it down to a lower register. Every string set, B and E, B and G, G and D, they all have a set of A scales within themselves. You have to know where all of those are as well. I used to sit for hours and just practice the horizontal A scale over the E and A string. Then play it over the A and D string. Then in the D and G string, the A is on the 7th and 6th fret. Then the G and B and the B and E. The reason I am showing you all these scales is to help you realize these double stop scales are everywhere. It does not matter what key you play in or how you approach them, but it is important that you know where these different A sections are so you can connect one to the other.