For those about to rock-
I play mostly rock and blues but I would like to learn country guitar. I really like the instrumental stuff from Redd Volkaert, Johnny Hiland, and Doug Seven. I also really like the style and sound of Jim Campilongo which seems very rooted in country playing.
I got a couple of country licks DVD's and can play all those licks, but I think I need to understand the basics of how to string them together. I basically learned to play blues-rock by reading Guitar World and learning songs by tab until I could pick stuff out by ear. Is there a good way to approach learning country other than the generic DVD's? Is there a country guitar magazine or something that would help me on my quest?

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Hmmm....Country Music as we hear it today is a complete metamorphosis of the actual genre ( for lack of a better word ) It really isn't Country, more reminiscent of the Eagle's, Skynyrd, NRPS and a host of other bands who themselves used (pre 1960's ) Country Music as their Base....
It just has done a full circle....

Today I would classify Gillian Welsch & Dave Rawlings more in the line of true country music than 80% of the Stetson wearing Spread Eagled parody bands that are dominating the playlist....
True Country Music is really Humble, there is no pretense, the Music does the talking....
Willie Nelson is a Classic example of country Music, I myself am not a big fan, his voice just doesn't do it for me, but he is one of the most prolific songwriters in any Genre....
Speaking of Mr. Nelson.....There is a book Called " Will the Circle Be Unbroken " by Paul Kingsbury and Alanna Nash, the foreword is by Willie Nelson, ISBN-13:978-0-75662-353-1
This book traces back Country music to the 1920's which is where Country Music originated when the influences of Rural American Music was recorded and sent across the airwaves....
It's a great chronology of the music and it's musicians thru the years up to the present.
The Grand Ole Opry ( The Grand Ole Opera House ) Tin Pan Alley, The Traveling Minstrels, BlueGrass......

You might look into the syndicated Music show of the 70's and 80's " Hee Haw" which contained some pretty stellar players in it's house line up such as Buck Owens and Roy Clark and Flat & Scruggs....Aside from the buffoonery of the show, the music was as good as it gets and the guests were a whole list of Country music's who's who....

Looking up the history of Country Music will throw you a few curves as to who or what is in the Genre....Some I did not even suspect but makes perfect sense Now...

BTW....Like any style of music....Learning the licks is OK, but it's not going to get you there, you can learn all the Blues Licks, Jazz licks, Neo-Classical and all....But unless you dive into the history, the bands, the players, the music has to be understood and played as a whole rather than cherry picked snippets..... Country Music as simple as it sounds is actually difficult because of it's rich historical complexities...It really is a Soup but one that requires a full understanding of it's ingredients to get it right...

Have fun....Happy Spelunking....

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

I just googled it and a whole list of links came up. Try that and see if there`s anything there that can help get you started.

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Hi rieserchristian, you could hang out with country players and learn stuff first hand from them. Or find a good country guitar teacher. There is good ones on the net, but interaction with a real person is the best. I find it difficult myself to learn country guitar playing just by watching youtube. Good luck.
Claude.

Thanks, these are all great tips! I think I will need to find some local players, although country players are a bit rare in NYC. Youtube clips are good, but putting all the licks together is a challenge!

Tele > MXR Dyna Comp > Deluxe Reverb

53maganatone gave you some very good advice.

I would like to add, be genuine. You don't have to be from the country to play country, but you do have to be real. True country fans can spot a wanna be a mile away.
Country music is as much or more about feeling the song as it is hearing it.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

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I just Googled Country Music in NYC and got at least 7 venues in Manhattan, further google-ing returned quite a few leads as to bands and organizations......
If you cannot find it in NYC then you are not looking.... Having visited and stayed in NYC multiple times over the years, I know that NYC has just about every style of Music known to Man and a following for just about everything dreamed up by people......

Forget You-Tube, you are going to have to get out there and play with people, interact with musicians, NYC is not lacking in either...leave the licks behind and Go play with people, make mistakes, laugh about it, but most importantly even if it is with only two or three people figure out the country tunes and where they are going .....The Chorus ( licks/solo's ) must reflect the tune's melody or it is just semantics.....I highly suggest Bluegrass as an intro to Country since Bluegrass has been around much longer and is the basis for Country Music.....Similarly to the Blues being the base for Rock.......

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

I'm not a musical purist. I love it when a band or artist blend various styles that may (seemingly) not fit together. I love the fact that Waylon combined a rock attitude with country music or that Willie Nelson plays and phrases more like a jazz cat than a hillbilly.

However...Most modern country music sucks. It's not country, it's Def Leppard with a fiddle and a steel guitar (and I hate Def Leppard). It's Pop Music With A Twang. There's not a dime's worth of difference between most of the singers (male or female) or their bands (most are using the same handful of session musicians, many of whom ran out of new licks and creativity ten years ago).

The few creative guys that are left (Johnny Hilamd, etc.) are not known by the mainstream and probably never will be...a few have broken out (Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, etc.), but their fame isn't based on their awesome playing ability--and they do play well-- it's more based on their good looks and/or who their (equally or more famous) hot wife is...

I realize there are some stellar players in that genre, and I enjoy their playing immensely, but don't tell me that what they're "selling" as Top 40 Country is in any way related to the stuff I truly like, like Waylon Jennings and Billy Joe Shaver and Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash (who themselves are/were not "pure/straight" country artists)...

Most of the crap I hear (when forced to listen to it) has more to do with Journey, Def Leppard or other 80's pop/rock bands than Hank Sr or George Jones.

Having said that, there is a big movement of Red Dirt/Outlaw/Troubador style music out there--and it's good. The songwriting, musicianship and performances are interesting and entertaining. The only problem is that many of them take themselves too seriously.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

New York City???

Get a rope!!!

(Sorry, I couldn't resist, from the Pace Salsa commercial).

I used to watch Hee Haw with my Grandparents growing up and recognized Roy Clark from the show. He has some books and and instructional DVD that I'm checking out, thanks for the tip!

I can play some bluegrass but I'd like to learn some of the modern stuff I hear in Redd Volkaert's or Johnny Hiland's playing.

While find country players is NYC is obviously possible and I've seen a couple country shows in the city, I am actually looking for a little guidance for self study. I am a weekend guitar hero and I can usually only find time to play after the little ones are asleep- finding time to jam with the buds is unfortunately very difficult for me at the moment

If anyone has anymore tips for country guitar tab or instructional dvd, that would be great!

In this opinion, modern "country" is naught but hyper-overproduced sequin-Stetson pop featuring singers with carefully distressed bluejeans.

Listen to some Patsy Cline and Johnny Horton and Hank Williams and Marty Robbins stuff. Their guitar pickers are hot shots.

And for a modern master, Junior Brown.

Best of fortune.

The late Chet Atkins has a few tab books out there, one with Mark Knopfler, Atkins is actually a pretty good model for country study....I won't spoil the discovery but I highly recommend looking him up and his legacy......That should keep you busy for a while....

As for getting out there to jam with the buds, I empathyse, I have absolutely no time myself.
I jammed 4 weeks ago and that will probably be the highlight for quite some time....
I had assumed from your posts that you were quite young and had plenty of time to spare..
My bad....

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

No worries! To be young and carefree again!
I really like Mark Knopfler - he gets that great strat tone as well. His newer stuff is just great.
It really seems like Chet Atkins is the cornerstone of the style- I should probably start there and there is a wealth of tabs.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals