How to Play Country Music on Guitar

Looking to add a country twang to your guitar skills? Check out this blog post to see how to play country music on guitar.

Open Position Chords

To get started playing country music on guitar, you’ll need to learn some basic open position chords. These chords are typically played with the root note on the low E or A string. We’ll start by learning some basic chords in the key of G.

The Major Scale

In music, there are 12 notes in what’s called the chromatic scale. The chromatic scale is simply all the notes in succession from A to G# (A#), and then starting over again at A. To make things easier, we give each of these notes a number. The numbers go from 1 to 12, and we use Roman numerals to represent them. The chromatic scale looks like this:

I ii iii IV V vi vii
A B C D E F G#

The first step in learning how to play country music on guitar is to learn the major scale. The major scale is a specific sequence of seven notes that create a pleasant sounding melody. The major scale is built off of the first, third, and fifth notes of the chromatic scale. In the key of C, those notes are C, E, and G. So, the C major scale would look like this:

C D E F G A B C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

If you were to play all of those notes in order on your guitar, you would be playing the C major scale.

The Minor Scale

The minor scale is one of the most important scales in Western music. It is the foundation of many genres, including jazz, rock, and blues. The minor scale is also the basis for minor chords, which are commonly used in country music.

There are three types of minor scales: natural, harmonic, and melodic. The natural minor scale is the most common type of minor scale. It is used in many popular songs, such as “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “Ode to Joy.” The harmonic minor scale is often used in classical music. It has a slightly different sound than the natural minor scale. The melodic minor scale is used in jazz and blues. It has a different sound than both the natural and harmonic minor scales.

To play a minor chord on guitar, you will need to know how to play a basic major chord. A major chord is made up of three notes: the root note, the third note, and the fifth note of the major scale. For example, if you were playing a C major chord, the notes would be C-E-G. To turn this major chord into a minor chord, you would lower the third note by one half step. So, a C minor chord would be C-E♭-G.

The Pentatonic Scale

In country music, the pentatonic scale is commonly used to solo over open chords such as the E, A, and D chords. The pentatonic scale is a five-note scale that can be played in any key. In this lesson, we will learn how to play the pentatonic scale in the key of E.

To play the pentatonic scale in the key of E, we will use the following notes: E, F#, G#, B, and C#. These notes can be played in any order or combination. For example, you could play the following pattern:

E-F#-G#-E-F#-G#-B-C#-E

Barre Chords

When you’re first learning how to play country music on guitar, one of the things you’ll need to know is how to play barre chords. Barre chords are chords that involve using one finger to “bar” all the strings on a particular fret. They can be a bit challenging to play at first, but with a little practice you’ll be barre chording like a pro in no time. In this section we’ll go over some tips for playing barre chords.

The CAGED System

The CAGED system is a method of learning the fretboard and visualizing guitar chords. The name comes from the five open-position major chords that use the same pattern, namely the chords C, A, G, E, and D. These shapes can be played all over the fretboard, which makes them extremely useful for both rhythm and lead guitar.

The CAGED system is based on moveable chord shapes. This means that you can take a particular shape and move it up or down the fretboard to create different chords. For example, if you take the C shape and move it up two frets, you will get a D chord. Move it up another two frets and you will get an E chord, etc.

Learning the CAGED system will not only help you visualize chords all over the fretboard, but it will also help you understand how chords are related to each other. This knowledge can be extremely useful when it comes time to write your own songs or improvise solos.

The Nashville Number System

The Nashville Number System is a method of transcribing and communicating melodies using numbers instead of chord symbols. It was developed in the 1950s by Nashville session musicians and it is still in use today.

One of the benefits of the Nashville Number System is that it allows musicians to play a song without having to know the chords. The melody is transcribed using numbers, and the chords are usually written out using Roman numerals. This makes it easy to transpose a song into a different key, or to play it in a different style.

Another benefit of the Nashville Number System is that it makes it easy to communicate musical ideas to other musicians. For example, if you want to tell a guitar player to play a D chord in the second measure, you can just say “two” instead of having to spell out D-G-D-A-D.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Nashville Number System, there are plenty of resources available online and in print. And if you’re ever in Nashville, be sure to check out one of the many live music shows where you can see this system in action!

Rhythm Guitar

The 8th Note Strum

The 8th note strum is a staple of country music guitar playing. It’s not the only strumming pattern you’ll need to know, but it’s a good one to start with.

To play an 8th note strum, you’ll need to use a down-up-down-up picking pattern. Start by picking the lowest string (the 6th string) with your pick, then quickly move to the next string and pick it (5th string). Then, go back and pick the 6th string again. Now do the same thing on the 4th string. Keep going until you’ve gone through all 6 strings.

Now that you know how to play an 8th note strum, try using it in a song. Here’s a simple country song that uses an 8th note strum throughout:

G C G D
I walk the line, my darling I keep you close to me
G C G D
And honest I will be Oh my darling I love you
G C G D
And where you go I’ll follow Anywhere anywhere
G C G D
Oh my darling I love you Oh my darling I love you

The 16th Note Strum

The 16th note strum is one of the most commonly used strums in country guitar. It’s a versatile strum that can be used for a variety of different rhythms and feels. In this lesson, we’re going to learn how to play the 16th note strum and how to apply it to our country guitar playing.

The 16th note strum is simply a pattern of four strums per beat. The pattern is down-up-down-up, or 1-&-2-&-. To get started, we’re going to practice this pattern at a slow tempo. Let your metronome click on beats 1 and 3, and play the strumming pattern on beats 2 and 4. Remember to keep your strums even and consistent.

Once you have the basic 16th note strumming pattern down, you can start to experiment with different rhythms. One of the most common rhythms used in country guitar is an 8th note stride rhythm. To play this rhythm, simply accent the downbeats by muting the strings with your left hand while you strum. You can also add in some accents on the upbeats by using your pick stroke or by gently hitting the strings with your right hand.

There are endless possibilities when it comes to rhythm guitar in country music. The key is to experiment and find what works best for you and for the song you’re playing. The 16th note strum is a great place to start, and from there you can begin to explore all the different possibilities that country guitar has to offer.

The Shuffle Strum

The shuffle strum is a classic rhythm guitar technique that is commonly used in country music. It is also sometimes called the “boogie woogie” or the ” rhythm guitar.” The shuffle strum is created by alternately strumming up and down on the beat while keeping a consistent rhythm. This can be done with any number of guitar strokes, but typically it uses eight notes. To create the shuffle strum, start by playing four slow downstrokes on the beat. Then, play four fast upstrokes on the beat. Repeat this pattern over and over again to create the shuffle strum.

Lead Guitar

The thing that makes country music unique is the lead guitar. If you want to play country music on guitar, you have to learn how to play lead guitar. In this section, we’re going to talk about how to play lead guitar in country music. We’ll cover the basics of lead guitar, including how to choose the right lead guitar, how to play country lead guitar licks, and how to solo in country music.

The Major Scale

In country music, the major scale is one of the most important scales to know. This scale is the foundation of most country guitar licks and riff. If you want to sound like a true country guitar player, it is essential that you learn how to play and improvise using the major scale.

There are many different ways to play the major scale on guitar. The most common way is to use what is known as “open position” or “first position.” This means that you will be using the first, second, and third fingers of your left hand to fret the notes of the scale. To make things easier, we’ll start by looking at a one-octave major scale in open position.

The Minor Scale

The minor scale is one of the most important scales in guitar playing, especially for country music. The minor scale has a distinct sound that can be both melancholy and sweet. There are many different ways to play the minor scale on guitar, but the most common way is to use what’s called the natural minor scale. To play the natural minor scale, you simply use the same notes as the major scale, but you start and end on different notes. For example, if you were to play a C major scale, you would start on C and end on C. But if you were to play a C minor scale, you would start on C and end on C#. This small change in starting and ending note gives the minor scale its distinctive sound.

To practice playing the minor scale, try using this simple exercise:

-Start by playing a C major scale up and down the neck of your guitar.
-Then, start on C# and play a C# minor scale up and down the neck of your guitar.
-Repeat this process for D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, and finally back to C.

The Pentatonic Scale

In music, a scale is a set of notes that are played in ascending or descending order. The most common type of scale is the major scale, which consists of seven notes. The pentatonic scale is a five-note scale that is commonly used in country music.

To play the pentatonic scale on guitar, you will need to use some basic chords. The chords that you will need to know are A, D, E, and G. To play these chords, you will need to use the following fingering:

A chord: Place your first finger on the second fret of the sixth string, your second finger on the third fret of the fifth string, your third finger on the fourth fret of the fourth string, and your fourth finger on the fifth fret of the third string.

D chord: Place your first finger on the second fret of the fifth string, your second finger on the third fret of the fourth string, and your third finger on the second fret of the third string.

E chord: Place your first finger on the first fret of the fourth string, your second finger on the second fret of the third string, and your third finger on the second fret of the second string.

G chord: Place your first finger on the third fret of sixstring, your second finger on th