Essential Bluegrass Guitar Licks: The G Run

Wed, 06/28/2017 - 4:22pm
Written by ArtistWorks
Topics: bluegrass, bryan sutton, guitar

bluegrass guitar g run

One of the most popular licks in bluegrass music is the famous G-run. If you’ve ever listened carefully to a bluegrass jam session, you'll hear it all the time. Notice how each person or instrument plays the rhythm part until they eventually get a chance to shine by playing the lead.

The G-run is simply a handful of notes played by the guitarist to complete a phrase and, at the same time, signal the beginning of a new phrase.

4 Essential Bluegrass Guitar Scales: Beginner Lesson

Tue, 05/30/2017 - 11:55am
Written by ArtistWorks
Topics: bluegrass, blues guitar, bryan sutton, guitar

If you love bluegrass guitar you owe it to yourself to check out Bryan Sutton's lessons at ArtistWorks. Click here for free sample lessons! 

bluegrass guitar scales

You must learn to walk before you learn to run. When it comes to flatpicking, you must first learn your scales before learning to shred. 

Learning some of the commonly used scales is a critical step towards advancing your skills as a bluegrass guitarist. As with any instrument, it's very important to make sure that you're taking your time with the basics before moving onto more complicated techniques and theories. Let’s go over some essential guitar scales you will want to learn early on before moving on to the more advanced concepts.

With some of these basic bluegrass guitar scales under your belt, you'll have a great foundation to build on when it comes to playing leads and improvising. 

Bluegrass Guitar: "Walking" Bass Between Chords

Wed, 04/26/2017 - 2:26pm
Written by ArtistWorks
Topics: bluegrass, bryan sutton, guitar

bluegrass guitar: walking bass

Some of the most famous bluegrass tunes consist of catchy licks that connect common chords together. These transitions are often referred to as ‘walking’ between the chords, or ‘walk ups’ and ‘walk downs,’ since they sound like you are stepping up or down to the next chord in the progression. This technique connects the two chords in a rhythmic pattern and usually goes in one direction.

So what's the secret? Lucky for us, we have Bryan Sutton's excellent lesson on the topic to help guide us on the art of walking bass. 

Bryan Sutton & Michael Daves: Special Guest Interview

Mon, 04/03/2017 - 4:38pm
Written by ArtistWorks
Topics: bluegrass, bryan sutton, guitar, michael daves, singing

bryan sutton michael daves interview

Good News: we just put up a new 5 part interview/jam series with Bryan Sutton and Michael Daves. Bryan happened to be touring through the NY area and dropped into Michael Daves' home studio for some shop talk and blazing bluegrass duets! You can find it all in the +Music section in the Learn area...