Blazing Fast Bluegrass Licks- Learn One Of Bryan Sutton's Best Solos

1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4.

1, 2, 3, 4.

Hey there, it's Aaron Jaxon coming to you today with another bluegrass flatpicking lesson. So I've got a really cool one here for you today. We're gonna be covering Brian Sutton's solo to Ricky Skaggs's version of I'm Ready to Go, or Hallelujah I'm Ready to Go, which was an old Stanley Brothers bluegrass gospel classic that Ricky recorded on his gospel album called Soldier of the Cross that came out way back in the day. And so Brian plays the solo to this song. It's, it's fast, but what I wanted to do here was present this to you, show you the ideas here. And to kind of go back and reference the beginning of the video, I played this solo up to tempo, I played it at half speed, and then I played it at a quarter speed after that. And the reason that I wanted to do that is because so many people, when they're kind of getting into this style and they're starting to build their their vocabulary of licks and phrases and solos, when they hear a solo like this that's so fast and clean and powerful, it kind of scares them away. They're like, I can't play that, that's too fast. And I think that's a mistake because this solo contains a lot of fantastic ideas, a lot of great licks, a lot of great phrases, and, and a lot of great ideas on how to play around chord changes. So anyway, I'm gonna, I'm gonna present this to you as slow as I can show it to you. And also you can get the tabs for this lesson. And I've got some custom backing tracks at different tempos that you can get as well. Just hit the link down in the video description and in the top pinned comment to grab that. So let's jump into the solo here. So the chord progression for this solo is just. It's classic bluegrass. It's 1, 2, 3, 4 G, G, G, G, C, G1.

I mean, about as—

it's about as classic of a bluegrass chord progression as you can get. So, um, when we're coming in here, um, 1-e-and-a, 2-e-and-a, 3-e-and-a, 4-e-and-a, 1. Okay, so that's gonna— 1-e-and-a 2 and a 3 and so it comes in on the and of 3.

1 and a 2 and a 3 and a 4.

Okay, so that's how this solo will start off here. Okay, so this solo will start on the and of beat 3. So now that we know where to come in rhythmically speaking, let me just go through the whole thing here. I'm going to play it really, really slow and then I'll kind of go through and break each section down, um, one by one here.

So let's, uh, 1 E and a 2, E and a 3, E and a 4, E and a 1.

So, um, let's kind of go through here, and I'm going to break each section down here and just kind of small chunk this. Let's start with the beginning here.

Again, remember, 1-e-and-a, 2-e-and-a, 3-e-and-a, 4-e-and-a, 1.

Okay, so that's kind of how I think about the first phrase of this solo.

Okay.

So just a couple of things on that, um, that little slide right there. We want to make sure that that slide is— it's really just an embellishment on this note. Like, a lot of times when people are learning this and they see that there's a slide right there, they'll want to play it like—

and we don't.

We don't want the the two separate notes to be articulated like that. We just—

it's really just like a—

okay.

And then we'll come into the chord progression, switches to a C shape.

It's an E chord, but—

and we're going to do—

now that right there Um, you can pick all of those if you want, where this is a pretty fast solo.

I like to do a hammer-on, so that's like a down, up, hammer, up. All right, down, up, hammer, up.

And then we'll do—

okay, so again, one more time, really just like the first phrase of this solo. So we'll do Okay, let's keep going here and we'll do—

okay.

So again, coming out of that, um, okay, so, um, and that's again over our G shape. It's a B chord, but our G shape. And then we're going to jump into this little lick over a D, which Brian uses these kinds of ideas all the time, which is really cool.

And we're going to do—

okay.

Okay, so kind of the second phrase of the solo. Okay, so before we go on, let's just kind of COVID our tracks here and let me kind of put those two phrases together. Okay, so we'll do, um, and again, remember, 1 and 2 and a 3 and a 4 and a 1. Okay, and with this lick right here, though, now on the tabs that you can get for this lesson for free, I've got the pick strokes written out on that so you can reference that if you need to.

But, um, just to kind of talk about that real quick, so down, up, down, up, down, hammer, up, down, pull-off, down, up, down, up, pull-off, up, down, up, down, slide, down.

Okay, okay.

And so now he throws in this little, um, which, which is a straight fiddle lick. Fiddle players use that little all the time. And that's, I guess, that interval— I get that, that's a, that's a fifth, I think. Yeah, it's a fifth there. You, you really don't hear, um, guitar players use that idea, um, very much, but you'll, you'll hear fiddle players use it all the time, especially over like a 1 chord. And it's, it's really cool because it kind of, it kind of makes the listener's ear kind of perk up for a little bit. Um, but all it is, um, so kind of over here, and I'm going to speak relative to the capo, uh, pointer finger second fret of the third string, pinky finger fifth fret of the second string, and then hit that and slide it up.

We'll do, and then do another. All right, and then let's We'll do a slide right there. All right, just a really cool little idea, again borrowed from fiddle players.

And then now the chord progression goes to our C, and, and he's going to do—

okay, pretty simple there, that little 6th.

And then a slide, and then we'll end it with a little pull-off right there.

Okay, so we've got—

all right, and then lastly, he's gonna end it with this very Tony Rice-inspired phrase that will go like this. So one more time, the very last phrase of the solo. Okay, so kind of the, the second half of this solo again. And there we have it. Um, so one more time here, let me go through the whole thing.

So 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1.

Okay, so lots of really cool and usable ideas here. Like I was saying a minute ago, you know, you can clearly hear Brian's Tony Rice influence in this solo, although, you know, he's got that really cool, you know, little idea that kind of borrowed from fiddle players who will use that idea a lot. And then, you know, that's something you can throw in here, adds a little bit of tension and dissonance into your solos, which is really cool. And then, you know, obviously over D here, that's a great little idea to use, you know, anytime you're playing over a D shape. Or not anytime, I mean, sometimes it's appropriate, sometimes it's not. But you'll hear Brian use ideas like that a lot, like over a G, you know. But in this case, over a D.

Okay, so some really cool stuff there.

Now, one more time, let's, let's hear how this solo sounds up to tempo. And we'll hear how it sounds slowed down at half speed. And then I'm going to play it, um, at quarter speed. And on the half speed and quarter speed, I'll have the tabs that'll pop up on the screen there. So let's hear how that sounds.

1, 2, 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4.

Okay, so again, like I was saying toward the beginning of the video, I just— I don't want the speed of this to intimidate you, um, because there's so many good licks and phrases in this that are great for, you know, adding that to your vocabulary. And these ideas sound great at any tempo. Like, I think they said Okay, and so that's why I've provided you with the tools. You've got the tabs that have the pick strokes and everything written out on that, and I've also provided you with a couple of custom backing tracks at different tempos, um, so you can practice this, uh, solo at, um, any tempo that you want here. So yeah, this is one— I mean, all of Brian Sutton's solos are amazing. Brian is just— I mean, he is, um He's just, I mean, absolutely one of the best players to have, you know, ever picked up an acoustic guitar. But I wanted to show this one to you because it's a short solo, it's only about 8 bars, and of course the way he plays it is just unbelievably fast and clean and just friggin' amazing. But it's got a bunch of great stuff in here, and you don't have to play it at the tempo that Brian plays it at to get the benefits of learning these ideas, these licks, and these phrases here. So that's why I wanted to share this with you today. So again, as always, thanks for hanging out. Again, link in the video description to get the tabs and some backing tracks for this, also in the top pinned comment. As always, thank you for hanging out with me today, and I will see you next time.