# AI Wiki - Music - Country Music ## Overview Country music developed in the 1920s in the southern United States, through the Piedmont and along the Appalachian Mountains, from old-time and Appalachian folk music, with influences from blues and gospel. The 1927 **Bristol sessions** in Bristol, Tennessee, where the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers recorded, are recognised as its starting point. WSM's **Grand Ole Opry** radio show (from 1925) made Nashville its centre. Main styles: **honky-tonk** (Hank Williams, bar-room songs, 1940s–50s), the polished **Nashville sound** (early 1960s, Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves), the electric, Telecaster-driven **Bakersfield sound** in California (Buck Owens, Merle Haggard), **outlaw country** (Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings), and **bluegrass** (Bill Monroe) on the acoustic side. Typical instruments: acoustic guitar, steel guitar (lap and pedal steel), fiddle, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, and the Telecaster [[AI Wiki - Music - Electric Guitar|electric guitar]]. For a beginner guitarist, country is one of the most accessible genres: it lives on open chords in G, C, D, A and E, three-chord progressions, and a steady "boom-chick" rhythm. ## Harmony Country harmony is mostly diatonic and built on **I, IV and V** (see [[AI Wiki - Music - Diatonic Chords and Roman Numerals]]), usually as plain major [[AI Wiki - Music - Triads|triads]] with the V often a dominant seventh (D7 in G). Typical patterns: - **I – IV – I – V – I**: the three-chord song. - **I – I7 – IV**: the I becomes a dominant seventh (G7) for a bar to push into the IV (C). - **II7 – V7 – I**: a major II chord (A7 in G) as a [[AI Wiki - Music - Reharmonization|secondary dominant]] of V. This "two-major" chord is a hallmark of older country and western swing. - **I – vi – IV – V** and **I – V – vi – IV** in modern country, shared with pop (see [[AI Wiki - Music - Common Chord Progressions]]). - **3/4 waltz** time for ballads (the country waltz), as well as 4/4 and a fast 2/4 "two-step". ```chords {title: Country I–IV–V with a II7, in G} {key: G} {time: 4/4} {start_of_verse} | [G] / / / | [G] / / / | [C] / / / | [G] / / / | | [G] / / / | [A7] / / / | [D7] / / / | [D7] / / / | | [G] / / / | [G7] / / / | [C] / / / | [C] / / / | | [G] / / / | [D7] / / / | [G] / / / | [G] / / / | {end_of_verse} {comment: A7 is the V of D (secondary dominant); G7 leads into C.} ``` The chords for that chart, all open shapes: ```chord G 320003 210003 --- G7 320001 320001 --- C x32010 x32010 --- A7 x02020 x02030 --- D7 xx0212 xx0213 ``` Session players in Nashville write charts with the **Nashville Number System**: chords as numbers relative to the key (1, 4, 5, 2-, 6-), so a chart can be played in any key without rewriting. Neal Matthews Jr. of the Jordanaires developed it in the late 1950s for vocal parts; Charlie McCoy adapted it for the whole band in the early 1960s. It is the same idea as Roman numerals, and it pairs naturally with a capo (see [[AI Wiki - Music - Capo and Transposition]]). ## Rhythm Guitar: Boom-Chick and Bass Runs The basic country accompaniment is **boom-chick**: a single bass note on beats 1 and 3, and a short strum of the upper strings on beats 2 and 4. On a G chord: - Beat 1: low E string, 3rd fret (G, the root). - Beat 2: strum the top strings. - Beat 3: D string open (D, the 5th) — the **[[AI Wiki - Music - Travis Picking|alternating bass]]**. - Beat 4: strum. On C, the bass alternates between the A string 3rd fret (C) and the low E string 3rd fret (G, move the third finger) or the D string 2nd fret (E). On D, alternate the open D and the open A. **Bass runs** connect chords by walking up or down the scale on the low strings in the last beat or two of the bar. From G to C: G (low E, fret 3) – A (open A) – B (A string, fret 2) – C (A string, fret 3, landing on the C chord). From G down to Em: G – F♯ (low E, fret 2) – E (open low E). ``` G C 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & e|----3-----------|----0-------0---| B|----0-----------|----1-------1---| G|----0-----------|----0-------0---| D|--------0-------|----------------| A|------------0-2-|3---------------| E|3---------------|--------3-------| ``` Bar 1 (G): bass G on 1, strum on 2, bass D on 3, then the run A–B on beat 4 lands on the C on the next downbeat. Bar 2 (C): bass C on 1, strum on 2, bass G (low E string, fret 3) on 3, strum on 4. See also [[AI Wiki - Music - Strumming Patterns]]. ## Scales for Country Lead - **Major pentatonic** (1, 2, 3, 5, 6) is the core country lead scale: G A B D E in G. See [[AI Wiki - Music - Pentatonic Scale]]. - **Major blues / "country" scale**: major pentatonic plus the ♭3 (1, 2, ♭3, 3, 5, 6), used as a passing note from ♭3 to 3 (B♭ to B in G). - **[[AI Wiki - Music - Modes|Mixolydian]]** (♭7) over dominant sevenths. - Licks often target [[AI Wiki - Music - Chord Tones and Improvisation|chord tones]] of each chord as it changes, rather than one scale over the whole song. ```fretboard labels: intervals --- title: G major pentatonic, box at fret 2-5 scale: G major pentatonic frets: 2-5 --- title: G major blues ("country scale") scale: G major blues frets: 2-5 ``` ## Signature Guitar Techniques - **Hybrid picking / chicken picking**: pick plus middle and ring fingers, giving snappy double stops and string skips. The pick usually takes the bass notes. Technique and exercises: [[AI Wiki - Music - Hybrid Picking]]. - **Travis picking**: the thumb alternates bass notes while the fingers play melody on the treble strings. Named after Merle Travis, who learned it in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, from Mose Rager and Ike Everly; developed and popularised by Chet Atkins. See [[AI Wiki - Music - Fingerpicking]]. - **Carter Family picking ("Carter scratch")**: Maybelle Carter's style, melody on the bass strings with strums on the treble strings in between ("Wildwood Flower"). - **Pedal-steel bends**: bending one string up while other notes in the chord ring, imitating the pedal steel guitar. The B-bender (a device that raises the B string) does this mechanically on some Telecasters. - **Double stops in thirds and sixths** over each chord, slides into chord tones, open-string licks. - **Capo** for singing keys while keeping G, C and D shapes. ## Piano in Country - **Honky-tonk piano**: boogie-like left hand, right-hand triads with grace notes (a crushed note a half step below a chord tone). - **Floyd Cramer's "slip-note" style** (heard on his 1960 hit "Last Date"): the right hand slides from a note a whole step below into the chord tone, imitating a steel guitar bend. - **Boom-chick on piano**: left hand alternates root and fifth on beats 1 and 3, right hand plays the triad on 2 and 4. See [[AI Wiki - Music - Left-Hand Accompaniment Patterns]]. The same I–IV–V in G on piano, with the dominant seventh on D: ```chord instrument: piano columns: 3 --- G --- C --- D7 ``` ## Songs and Artists to Study - **The Carter Family – "Wildwood Flower"** (1928) and **"Can the Circle Be Unbroken"**: Carter scratch. - **Hank Williams – "Your Cheatin' Heart"** (1953): honky-tonk ballad. - **Johnny Cash – "Folsom Prison Blues"** (1955) and **"I Walk the Line"** (1956): boom-chick rhythm. - **Patsy Cline – "Crazy"** (1961, written by Willie Nelson): Nashville sound, richer chords. - **Floyd Cramer – "Last Date"** (1960): slip-note piano. - **Merle Haggard – "Mama Tried"** (1968): Bakersfield sound, Telecaster. - **Dolly Parton – "Jolene"** (1973): minor-key country, Am – C – G – Am. - **Willie Nelson – "On the Road Again"** (1980): travelling-rhythm country. ## How to Practise 1. Play G, C, D7 with boom-chick, root on 1, fifth on 3, strums on 2 and 4. 2. Add the G-to-C and G-to-Em bass runs. 3. Learn the chart above with the A7 (II7) and G7 (I7) colour chords. 4. Learn the G major pentatonic box at fret 2–5; add the B♭ passing note. 5. Start Travis picking on a C chord, thumb alternating strings 5 and 4. 6. Play a waltz (3/4): bass on 1, strums on 2 and 3. ## Key Points - Origin: 1920s southern US; 1927 Bristol sessions; Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry. - Harmony: I–IV–V with dominant sevenths, II7 and I7 as colour/secondary dominants. - Rhythm: boom-chick with alternating bass, bass runs; 4/4, 2/4 and 3/4 waltz. - Lead: major pentatonic and major [[AI Wiki - Music - Blues Scale|blues scale]], chord-tone targeting, double stops, steel-guitar bends. - Techniques: hybrid (chicken) picking, Travis picking, Carter scratch, capo. - Charts: Nashville Number System. ## Open Questions - Which exact chicken-picking exercises (with tab) should come first after Travis picking basics? - **Answered** ([[AI Wiki - Music - Bluegrass Rhythm Guitar|Bluegrass Rhythm Guitar]]): How does bluegrass rhythm (mandolin chop on 2 and 4, G-run) differ from country boom-chick in detail? Same bass-on-1-and-3, chord-on-2-and-4 skeleton, but with no drums the mandolin chop plays the backbeat, the acoustic guitar plays harder, unmuted and slightly ahead of the beat, and walks and the G run (A-B-D-E-G) mark chord changes and phrase endings. - **Answered** ([[AI Wiki - Music - Bluegrass Rhythm Guitar|Bluegrass Rhythm Guitar]]): How are B-bender licks fingered on a guitar without a bender (behind-the-nut and pre-bend tricks)? With oblique bends (bend the B string's 4 up to the 5 under a ringing note, ring finger backed by middle and index), in-tune pre-bends released to the chord tone, and behind-the-nut pushes on open strings, which need a Fender-style headstock and light strings. ## References - Wikipedia, "Country music": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_music - Wikipedia, "Nashville Number System": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville_Number_System - Wikipedia, "Travis picking": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_picking - Wikipedia, "Hybrid picking" (chicken picking): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_picking ## Related - [[AI Wiki - Music - Folk Music]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Blues Music]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Guitar Open Chords]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Fingerpicking]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Strumming Patterns]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Capo and Transposition]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Pentatonic Scale]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Common Chord Progressions]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Diatonic Chords and Roman Numerals]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Left-Hand Accompaniment Patterns]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Rock Music]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Pop Music]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Chord Progression Recognition]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Circle of Fifths]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Major Scale]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Transcription and Playing by Ear]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Hybrid Picking]] - [[AI Wiki - Music - Classical Guitar]]