30 Modern Country Guitar Licks You MUST Know

Country music has always been a very guitar-centric genre with truckloads of challenging techniques to keep we guitarists inspired and majorly busy in the shed. Today, many consider modern country music, with its heavier rock-influenced sound, to be the last bastion of guitar heroes as it’s one of the very few popular genres that consistently features blazing guitar solos.

In this collection of 30 Modern Country Licks from Corey Congilio, you’ll get a grip on the techniques, sonic qualities, and creative approaches that guitarists like Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Joe Don Rooney, Dan Huff and many others have made so popular.

"It's a no brainer with Corey Congilio's stuff! This guy is at the top of his game as a player and especially as an educator. You are going to learn the application of the approach to each lick, so it's SO much more then 30 licks! Corey is great in the way that he always explains the chord progression and the scales you are working out of and the 'why' it works instead of just the lick. I love this kind of 'here's why' teaching. This allows you to put it in your own repertoire, so you can use it later in your own playing. Again, like all of Corey's stuff, this is a no brainer purchase." - Manny Fufish, TrueFire Student

"Country music is very near and dear to me. I'm a blues player at heart, but when I heard players like Albert Lee, Danny Gatton, Vince Gill, and Brent Mason, I knew there was so much to learn from country guitar players. Even though country music is progressing quickly, today's modern country guitarist must still embrace the techniques pioneered by those who've come before us. At the same time, the new crop of players and licks that we'll focus on in this course are to me, just as important as the greats I just mentioned. The guitar players in Nashville making music today are by far some of the greatest musicians on the planet. My goal here is to shed light on them and honor the tradition that permeates Nashville."

Corey demonstrates all of the licks over modern country groove backing tracks and then breaks them down note-by-note emphasizing the techniques and creative approaches that you’ll need to play them correctly.

Corey will show you modern approaches for bending, chicken pickin' and pedal steel ideas. You'll learn how to craft searing lines for ballads, play sixths with a modern attitude, and incorporate triplets and Hendrix-style double-stops in your fills and improvisations. You'll work on flavoring your modern country solos with bluegrass-inspired lines, heavy rock phrases, and even a little shredding. And of course, you'll tackle several tasty modern lines and approaches inspired by modern country masters. Corey will also show you how to dial in just the right amount of distortion and overdrive to modernize your country sonic palette.

All of the licks are tabbed and notated for your practice, reference and study purposes. You’ll also get Guitar Pro files so that you can play, loop and/or slow down the tab and notation as you work through the lessons. Plus, Corey generously includes all of the rhythm tracks for you to work with on your own.

Grab your guitar and let’s cook up some modern country sounds with Corey Congilio!

---

Corey Congilio's Preferred Gear

Below is a list of Corey Congilio's preferred gear including guitars, amps, pedals, accessories, and more. What you see in Corey's lessons may or may not be this actual gear, but if you are trying to capture Corey's sound and tone, the gear listed below is recommended by Corey and it's a great place to start!

Guitars

• PRS DGT Guitar
• Gibson Murphy Lab Les Paul Guitar
• Epiphone Casino Guitar
• Novo Mirs J Guitar

Amps

• Two Rock TS1 Amp
• Universal Audio OX

Pedals

• J. Rockett Tim Pierce Signature Overdrive Pedal
• DOD Carcosa Analog Fuzz Pedal
• Dunlop DVP4 Volume (X) Mini Pedal
• Universal Audio UAFX Golden Reverberator Pedal
• Universal Audio UAFX Starlight Echo Station Delay Pedal
• Universal Audio UAFX Astra Modulation Machine Pedal
• Korg Pitchblack Custom Pedal Tuner

Accessories & More

• Dunlop Nylon Max-Grip Standard Guitar Picks
• D'Addario 10s Guitar Strings
• D'Addario Cables
• Strymon Zuma 9-output Guitar Pedal Power Supply
• Universal Audio Apollo Twin X Audio Interface
• Sennheiser Wireless Lavalier