Country ripping....
I've really gotten into good ol' blazing country, such as the stuff from Chet Atkins or Jerry Reed. I want to learn to play this style as well as I can, but it's tough because it is so far away from the stuff I usually play (rock/metal). For instance, if any of you know the song Jerry's Breakdown, that main head just seems way too much for me to handle. Anyone with experience playing this kind of stuff have advice? Specifically about technique, as that seems to be the thing I'm struggling with most...
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how did you learn to play rock/metal? you probably have been listening to it for a while and you're familiar with it.dzdncnfsd wrote:I've really gotten into good ol' blazing country, such as the stuff from Chet Atkins or Jerry Reed. I want to learn to play this style as well as I can, but it's tough because it is so far away from the stuff I usually play (rock/metal). For instance, if any of you know the song Jerry's Breakdown, that main head just seems way too much for me to handle. Anyone with experience playing this kind of stuff have advice? Specifically about technique, as that seems to be the thing I'm struggling with most...
Along with reading and learning about country stuff and whatnot, you should listen to it more until you're used to the common elements of it and are able to reproduce them, the rest is up to creativity.
- notavirtuoso
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You may want to check out Steve Morse since he does rock and chicken picken. I found this vid on youtube but my soundcard is screwed at the moment so I don't know if the audio is any good. Hope so though and hopefully it helps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuXPBoTz2Oc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuXPBoTz2Oc
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Toby is my kind of country
what an artist
he has fun with it too
and he's cool as a catfish
what an artist

he has fun with it too
and he's cool as a catfish
Checkout Martin Tallstrom website for some tips on traditional country playing. There are some tabs in PDF format and a number of videos. http://www.tallstrom.com
See Martin's version of Jerry's Breakdown below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJkE9Cck ... PL&index=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
See Martin's version of Jerry's Breakdown below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJkE9Cck ... PL&index=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Learn to use your fingers to pick. The idea behind playing Chet's music is that his thumb plays a bass note, then skips up to hit some chord tones while his fingers are playing a melody. It's too much for just a pick and too much to even chicken pick (which refers to the specific technique of holding a pick between your thumb and forefinger while using your middle and ring fingers to play other tones). Also, get that half time shuffle rhythm in your head/body. Learn to feel those two beats per measure and swing the quarter notes. The main technical difficulty, though, will be getting that right hand in shape.