Hot Country! 30 Great Licks Nashville style...
Country guitar is one of those styles that turns the heads of guitarists no matter which genre they specialise in. Indeed, when I was a teenage metalhead 30 years ago it was the chicken pickin’ of Zakk Wylde and Steve Morse that drew me to it. Over subsequent years I discovered a world of country specialists from Albert Lee and James Burton to Brad Paisley and Brent Mason.
It’s a huge world that you need to enter with an open mind as it means different things to different people – to some it’s the driving acoustic guitar of Hank Williams and Johnny Cash, while to others it’s the licks of Luther Perkins, Scotty Moore and the soloists that followed in their footsteps. When you get into the lead playing aspect of country, it can be a challenging style and take a long time to master. Many of the licks here may push your limits technically, but stick with them and the results will colour the other styles you play in a musical and exciting way.
“COUNTRY VOCABULARY IS NOT THAT FAR FROM WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW: SO, MAJOR AND MINOR SCALES, PENTATONICS, MIXOLYDIAN MODE”
Getting the country sound into your own playing is contingent on several aspects. First is the techniques that country guitarists use. To
