CalvinHeadrick
Verified buyer
05/16/26
Beginning Bluegrass
Love it! Perfect for learning some basic skills to play bluegrass. Really like the instructor. He keeps it very simple and doesn’t over complicate what this course is about.
1-2-3 Bluegrass Guitar
A theory-free, intuitive approach to bluegrass for intermediate players
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About this course
1-2-3 Bluegrass is a course designed to introduce you to the exciting world of bluegrass guitar through a series of easy to understand lessons explaining the use of chord patterns, picking techniques, the capo, the metronome and some classic bluegrass tunes that you can play at your local jam session. We'll also be able to pick together thanks to modern technology and the provided rhythm tracks.
If you're new to the bluegrass style of guitar, you'll be pleasantly surprised to know that you don't need to know a lot of chords or have a degree in music theory or even know how to read music for that matter -- it's really quite simple. All you need to know is a few bluegrass techniques, all of which are covered in this interactive video course, and you'll be off and running.
One of the very cool things you'll discover right away about bluegrass guitar is that you can use a capo. By learning how to use the capo, you'll be able to take the chord shapes and techniques, move them up and down the neck to change the keys, and boom -- bluegrass magic.
Eric Lambert has organized this course in 6 easy-to-understand sections. You'll learn everything from rhythm playing and chord voicings to melody playing and soloing, as well as repertoire. Within each of the sections, Eric presents 3 essential techniques you must know in order to become a proper bluegrass guitarist.
You'll work on chord shapes in G, C, and D, for that bluegrass vibe. Alternating bass, to develop a nice pulse. Walking the bass, to create energy beneath your chords. Hammer-ons, a great soloing technique. Half step dissonance, to get that ol' banjo sound. G runs, a staple in bluegrass guitar playing. Harmony slides, a great way to alter the voice of you solo lines. Open string ring, another banjo technique. Hammering thirds, add some real character to your rhythm and solo playing. And of course, that great banjo twang!
In the last section, Eric will show you the rhythm parts, the melody and some soloing for 6 bluegrass standards. You'll learn how to play Carter Family classic "Wildwood Flower", "Rolling in My Sweet Baby's Arms", "Will The Circle Be Unbroken", "Nine Pound Hammer", "Mountain Dew", and "Arkansas Traveler".
There's really no better way to learn than the old fashioned way of "how'd you do that?!", so that's why Eric has also included a number of interactive playalongs in this course. He'll play something, then you'll play it, then you'll play together. Good ol' fashioned oral tradition.
Eric has also included slow rhythm tracks, medium rhythm tracks, and fast rhythm tracks so that you can work yourself up to speed as you go along. You'll also find charts, tab, and other necessary learning tools to get up and running in this unqiue style of guitar. Enough talk - let's pick!
If you're new to the bluegrass style of guitar, you'll be pleasantly surprised to know that you don't need to know a lot of chords or have a degree in music theory or even know how to read music for that matter -- it's really quite simple. All you need to know is a few bluegrass techniques, all of which are covered in this interactive video course, and you'll be off and running.
One of the very cool things you'll discover right away about bluegrass guitar is that you can use a capo. By learning how to use the capo, you'll be able to take the chord shapes and techniques, move them up and down the neck to change the keys, and boom -- bluegrass magic.
Eric Lambert has organized this course in 6 easy-to-understand sections. You'll learn everything from rhythm playing and chord voicings to melody playing and soloing, as well as repertoire. Within each of the sections, Eric presents 3 essential techniques you must know in order to become a proper bluegrass guitarist.
You'll work on chord shapes in G, C, and D, for that bluegrass vibe. Alternating bass, to develop a nice pulse. Walking the bass, to create energy beneath your chords. Hammer-ons, a great soloing technique. Half step dissonance, to get that ol' banjo sound. G runs, a staple in bluegrass guitar playing. Harmony slides, a great way to alter the voice of you solo lines. Open string ring, another banjo technique. Hammering thirds, add some real character to your rhythm and solo playing. And of course, that great banjo twang!
In the last section, Eric will show you the rhythm parts, the melody and some soloing for 6 bluegrass standards. You'll learn how to play Carter Family classic "Wildwood Flower", "Rolling in My Sweet Baby's Arms", "Will The Circle Be Unbroken", "Nine Pound Hammer", "Mountain Dew", and "Arkansas Traveler".
There's really no better way to learn than the old fashioned way of "how'd you do that?!", so that's why Eric has also included a number of interactive playalongs in this course. He'll play something, then you'll play it, then you'll play together. Good ol' fashioned oral tradition.
Eric has also included slow rhythm tracks, medium rhythm tracks, and fast rhythm tracks so that you can work yourself up to speed as you go along. You'll also find charts, tab, and other necessary learning tools to get up and running in this unqiue style of guitar. Enough talk - let's pick!
What you'll learn
- Use hammer-ons in chord transitions
- Adding energy to chord progressions
- Using capo to change keys while maintaining chord shapes
- Key transposition techniques
- Understanding capo functionality
Release date: 12/15/2012 • 2h 54m runtime
Sample lessons
SECTION 1
Bluegrass Chord Shapes
Chord Shapes: 1
G Shape Variations
Chord Shapes: 2
C Shape Variations
Chord Shapes: 3
D Shape Variations
What's included
72 lessons • 27 charts • 30 Jam Tracks
1-2-3 Bluegrass Guitar
1-2-3 Bluegrass is a course designed to introduce you to the exciting world of bluegrass guitar through a series of easy to understand lessons explaining the use of chord patterns, picking techniques, the capo, the metronome and some classic bluegrass tunes that you can play at your local jam session. We'll also be able to pick together thanks to modern technology and the provided rhythm tracks.
If you're new to the bluegrass style of guitar, you'll be pleasantly surprised to know that you don't need to know a lot of chords or have a degree in music theory or even know how to read music for that matter -- it's really quite simple. All you need to know is a few bluegrass techniques, all of which are covered in this interactive video course, and you'll be off and running.
One of the very cool things you'll discover right away about bluegrass guitar is that you can use a capo. By learning how to use the capo, you'll be able to take the chord shapes and techniques, move them up and down the neck to change the keys, and boom -- bluegrass magic.
Eric Lambert has organized this course in 6 easy-to-understand sections. You'll learn everything from rhythm playing and chord voicings to melody playing and soloing, as well as repertoire. Within each of the sections, Eric presents 3 essential techniques you must know in order to become a proper bluegrass guitarist.
You'll work on chord shapes in G, C, and D, for that bluegrass vibe. Alternating bass, to develop a nice pulse. Walking the bass, to create energy beneath your chords. Hammer-ons, a great soloing technique. Half step dissonance, to get that ol' banjo sound. G runs, a staple in bluegrass guitar playing. Harmony slides, a great way to alter the voice of you solo lines. Open string ring, another banjo technique. Hammering thirds, add some real character to your rhythm and solo playing. And of course, that great banjo twang!
In the last section, Eric will show you the rhythm parts, the melody and some soloing for 6 bluegrass standards. You'll learn how to play Carter Family classic "Wildwood Flower", "Rolling in My Sweet Baby's Arms", "Will The Circle Be Unbroken", "Nine Pound Hammer", "Mountain Dew", and "Arkansas Traveler".
There's really no better way to learn than the old fashioned way of "how'd you do that?!", so that's why Eric has also included a number of interactive playalongs in this course. He'll play something, then you'll play it, then you'll play together. Good ol' fashioned oral tradition.
Eric has also included slow rhythm tracks, medium rhythm tracks, and fast rhythm tracks so that you can work yourself up to speed as you go along. You'll also find charts, tab, and other necessary learning tools to get up and running in this unqiue style of guitar. Enough talk - let's pick!
If you're new to the bluegrass style of guitar, you'll be pleasantly surprised to know that you don't need to know a lot of chords or have a degree in music theory or even know how to read music for that matter -- it's really quite simple. All you need to know is a few bluegrass techniques, all of which are covered in this interactive video course, and you'll be off and running.
One of the very cool things you'll discover right away about bluegrass guitar is that you can use a capo. By learning how to use the capo, you'll be able to take the chord shapes and techniques, move them up and down the neck to change the keys, and boom -- bluegrass magic.
Eric Lambert has organized this course in 6 easy-to-understand sections. You'll learn everything from rhythm playing and chord voicings to melody playing and soloing, as well as repertoire. Within each of the sections, Eric presents 3 essential techniques you must know in order to become a proper bluegrass guitarist.
You'll work on chord shapes in G, C, and D, for that bluegrass vibe. Alternating bass, to develop a nice pulse. Walking the bass, to create energy beneath your chords. Hammer-ons, a great soloing technique. Half step dissonance, to get that ol' banjo sound. G runs, a staple in bluegrass guitar playing. Harmony slides, a great way to alter the voice of you solo lines. Open string ring, another banjo technique. Hammering thirds, add some real character to your rhythm and solo playing. And of course, that great banjo twang!
In the last section, Eric will show you the rhythm parts, the melody and some soloing for 6 bluegrass standards. You'll learn how to play Carter Family classic "Wildwood Flower", "Rolling in My Sweet Baby's Arms", "Will The Circle Be Unbroken", "Nine Pound Hammer", "Mountain Dew", and "Arkansas Traveler".
There's really no better way to learn than the old fashioned way of "how'd you do that?!", so that's why Eric has also included a number of interactive playalongs in this course. He'll play something, then you'll play it, then you'll play together. Good ol' fashioned oral tradition.
Eric has also included slow rhythm tracks, medium rhythm tracks, and fast rhythm tracks so that you can work yourself up to speed as you go along. You'll also find charts, tab, and other necessary learning tools to get up and running in this unqiue style of guitar. Enough talk - let's pick!
SECTION 1
This section explains the use of the G C and D shapes and how they can be transposed using a capo to play in the key of A, B flat and B
Chord Shapes: 1
This section demonstrates a bluegrass G shape, an alternate G7 shape, a hammer on with the C shape, and the split measure D to D7 shape. We’ll demonstrate how the chord shapes function together as a chord progression and revisit the fact that they can be moved up the neck with the capo to play in the key of A, B flat and B.
Chord Shapes: 2
This section demonstrates the C shape, the C7 shape, a hammer on with the C shape, the F shape, a hammer on with the F shape, and the split measure G to G7 shape. We’ll demonstrate how the chord shapes function together as a chord progression and revisit the fact that they can be moved up the neck with the capo to play in the key of D and E.
Chord Shapes: 3
In this section we’ll demonstrate the D shape to G shape to A7 shape progression. We’ll use a hammer on with the D shape as well as a D7 move to the G shape and explain that we’ll sometimes use the G7 and move to the two finger A7 shape. Again, we’ll explain that, with a capo, we can move these shapes up the neck to play in the key of E and the key of F.
SECTION 2
A verbal intro to the G shape techniques to embellish your bluegrass rhythm playing. The three techniques we will cover will be: alternating bass, walking bass, and using hammer-ons. Here we go!
G Chord Shape Techniques 1
In this performance, I'll demonstrate using alternating bass while playing our chord progression.
+ 65 more lessons
Reviews
17 results
jpi68
Verified buyer
10/13/25
Helpful Course
I’m trying to get into Bluegrass right now, and this is helping me…
Praver
Verified buyer
04/13/23
Great course but not for the faint of heart. Requires a solid practice regimen and learning plan.
Dave58
Verified buyer
03/31/23
123 step to Bluegrass
If you're looking for a Bluegrass-style start-up course, this 123 series is definitely for you. Recommended.
Baritonepaul
Verified buyer
09/14/22
Good rhythm playing is the most important part.
The lessons follow on from one another in a logical and sequential way, which makes them easy to follow and understand. Bluegrass rhythm guitar will get fast but the groundwork in this course will help by developing the fundamental skills required to play at challenging tempos as well as more relaxed tempo material. Baritonepaul
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