Country Guitar Styles: 2nd Edition

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Learn those beautiful hot licks and finger-picking patterns of country music. You’ll learn all about the various types of country music, from classic to current—from Western Swing to bluegrass and everywhere between. Get beyond the cowboy chords to more complex arrangements, signature opening licks, and solos that characterize today’s country hits. Online audio tracks illustrate these licks and concepts in context, and the book shows you exactly how to play them.

You will learn how to play:

Single and double-note lead style
Rhythm guitar styles
String bending, including single-, double-, and triple-note bends
Triadic pedal steel styles
Fingerpicking technique
Western swing style
Bluegrass lead and rhythm style
Sound effects, to make your guitar sound like a marimba, Theremin, banjo, and more

The price of this book includes access to audio tracks online, for download or streaming, using the unique code on the first page. Now including , a multi-functional audio player that allows you to slow down audio without changing pitch, set loop points, change keys, and pan left or right—available exclusively from Hal Leonard.

“I began playing the guitar in 1956, and there was very little in the U.K. in the way of help and instruction in the art of guitar playing. For us it was either classical or learning from a jazz player. There were no rock ’n’ roll players to see until Eddie Cochran, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Big Bill Broonzy, and Duane Eddy reached our shores, so we relied upon what we heard on record. The world has changed a great deal since then, and it’s books of the caliber of Mike Ihde’s that have opened up so many opportunities for all of us. Mike is doing a great service to those investigating the world of country guitar.”

—Albert Lee, known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee won the award as Guitar Player magazine’s “Best Country Guitarist” five consecutive years. He is known as “the guitar player’s guitar player.” Lee’s song “Country Boy” helped to redefine country guitar for a whole generation of players, and was later to become a hit for multi-instrumentalist Ricky Skaggs.

“Mike has included many techniques and examples to help you learn basic to fancy stylistic tricks that are often heard in country soloing. Being an experienced teacher and player, he lays it out in a very logical way. Everybody can learn something from this book, and I would expect that there are few experienced players that have all of these techniques down.”

—Steve Morse, guitarist/composer (Dixie Dregs, Deep Purple). Five-time winner of Guitar Player Magazine’s “Best Overall Guitarist” Award.

“Mike Ihde is a guitarist that I have always admired This new country book he has put together tickles me to pieces! Mike sounds like he has fourteen benders! He is such an adept player and teacher. This book will inspire you and keep you on your toes by teaching you some of the best of what chicken pickin’ has to offer.”

—Johnny Hiland, musician/guitarist known for mixing chicken pickin’ country guitar with rock, blues, and western swing. In-demand session player who has recorded with Toby Keith, Ricky Skaggs, Janie Fricke, Hank Williams III and many more.

“For close to five decades, Mike Ihde has shaped country guitar pedagogy. His teaching is informed by his artistry, musicianship, and countless hours on the road and in the classroom. He brings to this book what he brought to our department at Berklee: a clear, creative, and practical approach to the music he loves. This volume is a valuable part of his continuing legacy as a player and professor.”

—Kim Perlak, Chair of Guitar, Berklee College of Music

“Mike Ihde has played a whole lot of country guitar throughout his career, on lap steel, pedal steel, and electric guitar. He knows just about every lick I’ve ever heard, and he knows how to teach them! In this new book, Mike shows us a huge shelf full of the secrets that have made country style guitar so distinctive, and his own playing so rich and interesting!”

—Guy Van Duser, fingerpicking country/jazz guitarist. Recorded for Rounder Records extensively from the 1970s to the 1990s, and often appeared on A Prairie Home Companion. His guitar arrangement of “The Stars and Stripes Forever” has been covered by Chet Atkins and many others.