Brad Davis teaches bluegrass guitar

A video and tab lesson on advanced picking

Guitarist (Brad Davis/Adrian Clark), Mon 13 Jul 2009, 9:53 am BST

You might not think you're a bluegrass fan, but if you ever strum simple chords on an acoustic, Brad Davis's bluegrass tips will add sparkle to your rhythm parts.

In this video lesson, Grammy-winning guitarist Brad Davis delivers a whistlestop tour of bluegrass playing, starting with a basic overview of the style of rhythm guitar used in bluegrass, then revealling some of the secrets of his phenomenal technique.

And as if that wasn't enough, we've tabbed some of his examples, too.

Example 1: basic bluegrass guitar - 2m54s

(Click tab to enlarge)

With its alternating bass notes and chromatic runs, this is typical of bluegrass rhythm guitar. However, it's useful to be able to play this type of thing as it relates to a huge range of accompaniment styles. Pick evenly, keeping hand movement to a minimum.