Chords for Licks & Tricks: Chet Atkins style guitar
Tempo:
78.35 bpm
Chords used:
A
E
Em
Am
F
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
This time I thought we'd talk a little bit about the Chet Atkins style of muting the bass while playing the melody.
For this, you need [E] a thumb pick.
The idea is that when you're playing rhythm guitar, let's say you're playing in the key of A.
While you're holding down [Em] that A chord, you [A] might play an A bass note and then strum a chord, and then an E alternate bass note and strum a chord.
Well, the country town ladies sing this song [E] all through the year.
Now, [A#] what Chet would [A] do is to try to get that rhythm thing going just with his thumb.
[F] He's [A] hitting the bass note, the chord, the alternate bass note, and the chord all with just [E] swipes of the thumb.
Notice that they are muted, however.
[C#] Right in between the bridge pins on an acoustic guitar and the bridge saddle, there's a little gully there.
I kind of place the heel of my hand in that [F#m] gully.
My little finger just [Gm] rests on the [E] top of the guitar, which kind of produces a little bit of an S shape that keeps my hand off of the upper strings,
so [A] that they're still clear while these are muted.
So you want it to go like that.
So [C#m] the melody is [F#] nice and [A] clean while the bass is doing this.
Okay?
So, [E] the first thing to do if you're going to try to learn that tune, would be to just play the chord progression.
[A] It goes like A to [E] E or E7
and then [A] back to A
back to [Bm] E7
[A] back to A.
So you [E]
go
[A] [E]
[A] And I'd practice that for quite a while before trying to add any melody.
And then while this is going on, you start adding the melody.
And the melody is pretty much right in the chord.
[C#m] [F#m] And you're going to have [A] to add a finger for that one note.
So
So while you're doing [E] [F#] this
you're [A] now going
See [A]
kind of how that works?
[G] So anyway, that's a pretty fun thing.
And that Atkins style, or the Merle Travis style, which is just the bass is a little bit different on his style.
But at any rate, they are very good things to learn, and you can use them [A] for all sorts of tunes.
I use them for
[E] I [A]
[E] [B] [A]
[Em] use them for tunes like that that aren't even necessarily considered Chet Atkins style tunes.
But nevertheless, that will [Am] fit.
You can go
[E] [Am] like
[E] [A] Or
[F]
[Dm] [Am] [E] [Bm] [Em] And it fits almost anything.
It's just amazing.
So anyway, if you like [N] that style, you might want to take a look at my website.
I carry a great book by Bruce Emery.
It's a Travis picking book.
And that book gives you just blow by blow from the beginning exactly how to do the accompaniment style,
and then the solo style, and by the end of the thing, you're playing some like Merle Travis Chet Atkins style tunes.
But it's very gradual and easy and fun to learn out of.
So anyway, I hope you enjoy that, and give the Chet style
For this, you need [E] a thumb pick.
The idea is that when you're playing rhythm guitar, let's say you're playing in the key of A.
While you're holding down [Em] that A chord, you [A] might play an A bass note and then strum a chord, and then an E alternate bass note and strum a chord.
Well, the country town ladies sing this song [E] all through the year.
Now, [A#] what Chet would [A] do is to try to get that rhythm thing going just with his thumb.
[F] He's [A] hitting the bass note, the chord, the alternate bass note, and the chord all with just [E] swipes of the thumb.
Notice that they are muted, however.
[C#] Right in between the bridge pins on an acoustic guitar and the bridge saddle, there's a little gully there.
I kind of place the heel of my hand in that [F#m] gully.
My little finger just [Gm] rests on the [E] top of the guitar, which kind of produces a little bit of an S shape that keeps my hand off of the upper strings,
so [A] that they're still clear while these are muted.
So you want it to go like that.
So [C#m] the melody is [F#] nice and [A] clean while the bass is doing this.
Okay?
So, [E] the first thing to do if you're going to try to learn that tune, would be to just play the chord progression.
[A] It goes like A to [E] E or E7
and then [A] back to A
back to [Bm] E7
[A] back to A.
So you [E]
go
[A] [E]
[A] And I'd practice that for quite a while before trying to add any melody.
And then while this is going on, you start adding the melody.
And the melody is pretty much right in the chord.
[C#m] [F#m] And you're going to have [A] to add a finger for that one note.
So
So while you're doing [E] [F#] this
you're [A] now going
See [A]
kind of how that works?
[G] So anyway, that's a pretty fun thing.
And that Atkins style, or the Merle Travis style, which is just the bass is a little bit different on his style.
But at any rate, they are very good things to learn, and you can use them [A] for all sorts of tunes.
I use them for
[E] I [A]
[E] [B] [A]
[Em] use them for tunes like that that aren't even necessarily considered Chet Atkins style tunes.
But nevertheless, that will [Am] fit.
You can go
[E] [Am] like
[E] [A] Or
[F]
[Dm] [Am] [E] [Bm] [Em] And it fits almost anything.
It's just amazing.
So anyway, if you like [N] that style, you might want to take a look at my website.
I carry a great book by Bruce Emery.
It's a Travis picking book.
And that book gives you just blow by blow from the beginning exactly how to do the accompaniment style,
and then the solo style, and by the end of the thing, you're playing some like Merle Travis Chet Atkins style tunes.
But it's very gradual and easy and fun to learn out of.
So anyway, I hope you enjoy that, and give the Chet style
Key:
A
E
Em
Am
F
A
E
Em
_ This time I thought we'd talk a little bit about the Chet Atkins style of muting the bass while playing the melody.
For this, you need [E] a thumb pick.
The idea is that when you're playing rhythm guitar, let's say you're playing in the key of A.
While you're holding down [Em] that A chord, you [A] might play an A bass note and then strum a chord, and then an E alternate bass note and strum a chord. _ _
Well, the country town ladies sing this song [E] all through the year. _
Now, [A#] what Chet would [A] do is to try to get that rhythm thing going just with his thumb.
_ _ [F] He's [A] hitting the bass note, the chord, the alternate bass note, and the chord all with just [E] swipes of the thumb.
Notice that they are muted, however.
[C#] Right in between the bridge pins on an acoustic guitar and the bridge saddle, there's a little gully there.
I kind of place the heel of my hand in that [F#m] gully.
My little finger just [Gm] rests on the [E] top of the guitar, which kind of produces a little bit of an S shape that keeps my hand off of the upper strings,
so [A] that they're still clear while these are muted.
So you want it to go_ like that.
So [C#m] the melody is [F#] nice and [A] clean while the bass is doing this.
_ _ _ Okay?
So, [E] the first thing to do if you're going to try to learn that tune, would be to just play the chord progression.
[A] It goes like A_ to [E] E_ or E7_
and then [A] back to A_
back to [Bm] E7_
[A] back to A.
So you _ _ _ [E] _ _ _
go_
_ [A] _ _ _ _ [E] _
_ [A] _ _ And I'd practice that for quite a while before trying to add any melody.
And then while this is going on, you start adding the melody.
And the melody is pretty much right in the chord.
_ [C#m] [F#m] And you're going to have [A] to add a finger for that one note. _
_ _ So_
So while you're doing [E] [F#] this_
you're [A] now going_
See [A] _ _ _
kind of how that works?
[G] So anyway, that's a pretty fun thing.
And that Atkins style, or the Merle Travis style, which is just the bass is a little bit different on his style.
But at any rate, they are very good things to learn, and you can use them [A] for all sorts of tunes.
I use them for_
[E] I [A] _ _
_ _ _ _ [E] _ _ [B] _ [A] _
_ _ _ [Em] use them for tunes like that that aren't even necessarily considered Chet Atkins style tunes.
But nevertheless, that will [Am] fit.
You can go _
[E] _ [Am] like_
_ _ [E] [A] Or_
[F] _
[Dm] _ [Am] _ [E] _ _ _ [Bm] [Em] And it fits almost anything.
It's just amazing.
So anyway, if you like [N] that style, you might want to take a look at my website.
I carry a great book by Bruce Emery.
It's a Travis picking book.
And that book gives you just blow by blow from the beginning exactly how to do the accompaniment style,
and then the solo style, and by the end of the thing, you're playing some like Merle Travis Chet Atkins style tunes.
But it's very gradual and easy and fun to learn out of.
So anyway, I hope you enjoy that, and give the Chet style
For this, you need [E] a thumb pick.
The idea is that when you're playing rhythm guitar, let's say you're playing in the key of A.
While you're holding down [Em] that A chord, you [A] might play an A bass note and then strum a chord, and then an E alternate bass note and strum a chord. _ _
Well, the country town ladies sing this song [E] all through the year. _
Now, [A#] what Chet would [A] do is to try to get that rhythm thing going just with his thumb.
_ _ [F] He's [A] hitting the bass note, the chord, the alternate bass note, and the chord all with just [E] swipes of the thumb.
Notice that they are muted, however.
[C#] Right in between the bridge pins on an acoustic guitar and the bridge saddle, there's a little gully there.
I kind of place the heel of my hand in that [F#m] gully.
My little finger just [Gm] rests on the [E] top of the guitar, which kind of produces a little bit of an S shape that keeps my hand off of the upper strings,
so [A] that they're still clear while these are muted.
So you want it to go_ like that.
So [C#m] the melody is [F#] nice and [A] clean while the bass is doing this.
_ _ _ Okay?
So, [E] the first thing to do if you're going to try to learn that tune, would be to just play the chord progression.
[A] It goes like A_ to [E] E_ or E7_
and then [A] back to A_
back to [Bm] E7_
[A] back to A.
So you _ _ _ [E] _ _ _
go_
_ [A] _ _ _ _ [E] _
_ [A] _ _ And I'd practice that for quite a while before trying to add any melody.
And then while this is going on, you start adding the melody.
And the melody is pretty much right in the chord.
_ [C#m] [F#m] And you're going to have [A] to add a finger for that one note. _
_ _ So_
So while you're doing [E] [F#] this_
you're [A] now going_
See [A] _ _ _
kind of how that works?
[G] So anyway, that's a pretty fun thing.
And that Atkins style, or the Merle Travis style, which is just the bass is a little bit different on his style.
But at any rate, they are very good things to learn, and you can use them [A] for all sorts of tunes.
I use them for_
[E] I [A] _ _
_ _ _ _ [E] _ _ [B] _ [A] _
_ _ _ [Em] use them for tunes like that that aren't even necessarily considered Chet Atkins style tunes.
But nevertheless, that will [Am] fit.
You can go _
[E] _ [Am] like_
_ _ [E] [A] Or_
[F] _
[Dm] _ [Am] _ [E] _ _ _ [Bm] [Em] And it fits almost anything.
It's just amazing.
So anyway, if you like [N] that style, you might want to take a look at my website.
I carry a great book by Bruce Emery.
It's a Travis picking book.
And that book gives you just blow by blow from the beginning exactly how to do the accompaniment style,
and then the solo style, and by the end of the thing, you're playing some like Merle Travis Chet Atkins style tunes.
But it's very gradual and easy and fun to learn out of.
So anyway, I hope you enjoy that, and give the Chet style