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Basic Bluegrass Guitar Style:
G, C and D chords

Let's start with the easier stuff. Many of your bluegrass songs are going to be three-chorders. Many of those will be in either the key of G, or capoed with a G shape (i.e., with the capo on the second fret, a G shape is actually an A chord; third fret, B-flat; fourth fret, key of B; fifth fret, C). So this one is really handy for a bunch of bluegrass songs.

Hold the pick firmly and get a good solid lick on the bass notes. The strum should be quick and as precise as you can get it. This is not as easy style to master and takes some time and practice.
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Basic Bluegrass Guitar Style:
Other chords

Here I explain other chord shapes (as above, the "real" chords change with capo position), such as E, A, F, and B-seventh. Minor chords are the same bass notes as major chords, since we're only playing the root and the fifth. The third is what determines whether a chord is minor or major. So the E chord pick-strum pattern is also the same for E-minor, E-seventh, E-minor-seventh and E-major-seventh.

As for barre chords, the two most-used shapes are the E shape and the A shape. So the bass notes for these are the same as the E and A chords, no matter where the chord shapes are placed on the fingerboard. There are some exceptions, which I explain here.



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Basic Bluegrass Guitar Style:
"Walking" between chords

"Walking" is just as much a part of bluegrass rhythm, in my opinion, as playing bass notes and chords. It adds flavor and interest to the rhythm part, and moves the guitar forward and backward in the mix to add musical variety.

Here I explain some of the simpler quarter-note "walks" that link up popular chord combinations, and finish up with an easy version of the ubiquitous "Lester Flatt G-Run."

Actually I don't think Lester invented the G-run, though he used it an awful lot. I have heard older recordings by Monroe where he was playing guitar and using it. Many others have used it and created their own variations. I could probably do an entire video series based solely on the G-run.
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Basic Bluegrass Guitar Style:
Song example

You might hear me referring above to this video as the "first" video. I actually did it first, but then decided the chords themselves needed to come first, then the song example. But no matter. This is using the popular Bill Monroe song "Little Cabin Home On The Hill" as an example of pick-strum patterns, walks, and the G-run.

I use it because it's a staple in nearly every bluegrass jam session you will attend, and, being a relatively simple three-chord song, it's a good one to start out with. You can find lyrics to the song at BluegrassLyrics.com.
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