Bluegrass Flatpick Guitar-Solos, Licks and Tricks Volume 1: Concepts and Tunes

Welcome to Bluegrass Flatpick Guitar-Solos, Licks, and Tricks, Volume One. Back in 1980, I learned my first flatpicking guitar piece, "Beaumont Rag," from a Homespun Tape taught by guitarist Russ Barenberg. I was hooked on this style of playing guitar from that moment to the present. Some forty years hence, I would like to bring you my own insights of how to go about soloing and improvising in this dynamic style-in two volumes of songs, exercises, fiddle tunes, and practical knowledge.

These Bluegrass Flatpick Guitar volumes are not beginner guitar books. Some knowledge of guitar technique is useful to get the most success out of them. This would include basic chord changing skills, an understanding of counting time, and some experience with alternate ("down-up") picking. The notation used is standard six-string guitar tablature. Some background of reading this kind of notation can prove to be helpful.

It is my hope that the YouTube companion videos (jeffbelding.com) with this series will greatly enhance the learning process for you. All the pieces are played on video at a moderate tempo. Where necessary, trouble spots are called out, prior to the run-through.

The first five tunes presented in Volume One are original pieces, all designed to get both your picking hand and fretting hand coordinated. This sets the stage to tackle the widely-played fiddle tunes and solos that follow.

The material found here is most approachable for the later beginner. The tunes are arranged in approximate order of difficulty.

If you could use a daily warm-up exercise, the "Down-Up Picking Study" which appears early in this first book is for you. This gives you a gradual coordination of picking and fretting hands, while it gets the blood pumping and the brain humming!

Although the primary focus of Volume One is about new ways of soloing on popular bluegrass tunes, there is also a section devoted to understanding the chromatic scale. This is essential knowledge for any guitarist who is looking to expand their improvisational skills.

After an in-depth presentation of the nuts and bolts of the chromatic scale, nine exercises are provided to help your understanding of the entire fretboard...a virtual lifetime of study!

One way you might use these books, is as a reference for finding new ways to play popular bluegrass jam tunes such as: "Old Joe Clark," "Devil's Dream," "The Girl I Left Behind Me," "Bile Dem Cabbage Down," and more!

Also peppered throughout Volume One are some short essays on practical subjects that the author believes could be useful to the up-and-coming musician. These include bluegrass jamming participation and etiquette, and daily practice routines. You will also gain insight into whether it is worth considering becoming an independent free-lance musician as a profession. So pick it up, tune it up and enjoy the journey through these Bluegrass Flatpick Guitar Solos Licks and Tricks-Volume One!