101 Doggone Good Country Guitar Licks in the Honky Tonk Style [Plastic Comb]

Larry McCabe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 5, 2007

Tablature, standard notation, CD

Classic country fill-in licks book by Larry McCabe

If you love the sound of a twangy, chicken-picked vintage Telecaster or Stratocaster guitar and want to learn the exciting country lead guitar fill-in style associated with classic truck driving songs, drinking songs, and cheating songs, this book is for you.

This fine book features 101 country guitar licks (phrases) that can be applied to standard chord progressions in thousands of country songs. The licks are primarily for the electric guitar and were recorded with a vintage Fender Telecaster playing over honky-tonk piano accompaniment. Useful introductions and endings are included along with instructions for how to apply the licks to songs.

This is not a method book per se, but a collection of 101 guitar licks for learning, application, and modification according to the discretion and requirements of the user. Most of the licks are accessible and fairly easy to play.

The licks can be applied to country songs from all eras including acoustic, honkytonk, and contemporary Nashville. In addition, the licks are a perfect match for the country-flavored pop stylings of artists like the Eagles, Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, and similar musicians.

This is a book for early intermediate and intermediate guitarists who are enthusiasts and players of classic country music.

For Cajun music and rockabilly fans too.

This book is a new 2007 reissue of Larry McCabe's 101 Nashville Guitar Licks, formerly published by Mel Bay.

Prerequisite Ability

• Ambitious early intermediate guitarist who wants to learn to play country lead guitar licks.
• Intermediate guitarist who is just starting to learn country music.

User Profiles

• Serious hobbyist guitarist.
• Flatpicking guitar players wanting to learn the electric country style.
• A gigging rock guitarist, blues guitarist, or jazz guitarist who wants to study electric country guitar.
• Guitar teachers who teach electric lead guitar.

Goals and Purposes

• Learn how to play Bakersfield Sound guitar, classic country lead guitar, Nashville guitar, honky-tonk guitar, chicken picking, etc.
• Explore the major pentatonic scale and the major scale on the guitar fingerboard.
• Practice country guitar fill-ins with piano accompaniment.
• Study familiar country chord progressions.
• Greater familiarity with guitar fingerboard.

Author-Recommended Supplemental Listening for Country Guitar Players

Listening to the following vintage guitar players and musicians will provide unlimited enjoyment, inspiration, and ideas.

Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens,Johnny Bond, Bobby Bare, Roy Acuff, Johnny Cash, Billy Byrd, James Burton, Jim Ed Brown, Alan Jackson, Ferlin Husky, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Emmylou Harris, Vern Gosdin, Don Gibson, Little Jimmy Dickens, Moon Mullican, Hank Locklin, Waylon Jennings, Sonny James, Stonewall Jackson, Hank Snow, Carl Smith, Connie Smith, Rose Maddox, Jean Shepard, Marty Robbins, Mel Tillis, Hank Thompson, Marty Stuart, Mel Street, George Strait, Wynn Stewart, Gary Stewart, Red Steagall, Red Sovine, Moe Bandy, Leroy Van Dyke, Porter Wagoner, Ian Tyson, T. Tex Tyler, Conway Twitty, Ernest Tubb, Floyd Tillman, Randy Travis, Vince Gill, Mel McDaniel, Faron Young, Dwight Yoakam, Tammy Wynette, Bob Wills, Asleep at the Wheel, Hank Williams Jr., Don Williams, Jimmy Bryant, Gene Watson, Susan Raye, Johnny Horton, Billy Grammar, classic Dolly Parton, Lloyd Green, Jim Reeves, Gram Parsons, the Desert Rose Band, Skeeter Davis, Cowboy Copas, John Conlee, Tommy Collins, David Allan Coe, Hank Cochran, Chris Hillman, Loretta Lynn, Lynn Anderson, John Anderson.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Larry McCabe's credentials include an education degree from the University of Arizona, more than thirty years of music teaching experience, over eighty published music books, columns for Living Blues Magazine and Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine, and authorship of the Roy Clark Fiddle Magic Method and the Roy Clark Bluegrass Banjo Bible.

He plays electric and acoustic blues guitar, clawhammer and three-finger banjo, fiddle, and other string instruments. During his career, he has taught blues guitar lessons, banjo lessons, fiddle lessons, song writing, music theory, music history, and other subjects.

Larry has played in numerous bands including blues, classic country, rockabilly, traditional Irish, and Cajun, and he served on the prestigious W.C. Handy Blues Awards nominating committee for many years.

Larry and his wife, Becky, operate the popular roots music instruction book company Red Dog Music Books.

Some of Larry's Country Guitar Influences:

Chet Atkins, Norman Blake, Junior Brown, James Burton, Billy Byrd, Thumbs Carlisle, Maybelle Carter, Duane Eddy, Ray Flacke, Hank Garland, Billy Grammar, Albert Lee, Grady Martin, Joe Maphis, Sam McGee, Bob Moore, Scotty Moore, Roy Nichols, Carl Perkins, Riley Puckett, Mose Rager, Jerry Reed, Don Rich, Eldon Shamblin, Arthur Guitar Boogie Smith, Merle Travis, Doc Watson, Clarence White, Curly Chalker, Don Helms, Ralph Mooney, Leon McAuliffe.

Relevant Postwar Country Musicians of Influence:

Roy Acuff, Alabama, Bill Anderson, Lynn Anderson, John Anderson, Eddy Arnold, Asleep at the Wheel, Moe Bandy, Bobby Bare, Clint Black, Johnny Bond, Bill Boyd and his Cowboy Ramblers, Brewer and Shipley, BR5-49, Garth Brooks, Jim Ed Brown, Milton Brown and the Brownies, Carl and Pearl Butler, The Byrds, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, Roy Clark, Patsy Cline, Hank Cochran, David Allan Coe, Tommy Collins, Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen, John Conlee, Spade Cooley, Cowboy Copas, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Skeeter Davis, John Denver, Desert Rose Band, Little Jimmy Dickens, Jimmy Driftwood, Roy Drusky, Dave Dudley, Tommy Duncan, The Eagles, Donna Fargo, Freddy Fender, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Red Foley, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Lefty Frizzell, The Gatlin Brothers, Don Gibson, Vince Gill, Vern Gosdin, Tom T. Hall, Emmylou Harris, Freddie Hart, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Chris Hillman, Adolph Hofner, Johnny Horton, Harlan Howard, Ferlin Husky, Alan Jackson, Stonewall Jackson, Wanda Jackson, Sonny James, Norma Jean, Waylon Jennings, George Jones, Pee Wee King, Alison Krauss, Kris Kristofferson, Brenda Lee, The Light Crust Doughboys, Gordon Lightfoot, Hank Locklin, The Louvin Brothers, Loretta Lynn, Rose Maddox, Mel McDaniel, Tim McGraw, Roger Miller, Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, Willie Nelson, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Oak Ridge Boys, Buck Owens and his Buckaroos, Gram Parsons, Dolly Parton, Johnny Paycheck, Hank Penny and his Radio Cowboys, Webb Pierce, Poco, Ray Price, Charley Pride, Eddie Rabbit, Leon Raush, Eddy Raven, Susan Raye, Jim Reeves, Jimmy Revard and the Oklahoma Playboys, Marty Robbins, Carson Robison, Jeannie Seely, Billy Joe Shaver, Jean Shepard, Carl Smith, Connie Smith, Sammi Smith, Hank Snow, Joe South, Red Sovine, Joe Stampley, The Statler Brothers, Red Steagall, Gary Stewart, Wynn Stewart, George Strait, Mel Street, Marty Stuart, Texas Ruby, Hank Thompson, Mel Tillis, Floyd Tillman, Randy Travis, Travis Tritt, Ernest Tubb, Tanya Tucker, Conway Twitty, T. Tex Tyler, Ian Tyson, Leroy Van Dyke, Ricky Van Shelton, Porter Wagoner, Jerry Jeff Walker, Gene Watson, Kitty Wells, Tony Joe White, Don Williams, Hank Williams, Hank Williams Jr., Tex Williams, Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, Tammy Wynette, Dwight Yoakam, Faron Young.

Product Details

• Plastic Comb: 50 pages
• Publisher: Red Dog Music Books (July 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934777064
• ISBN-13: 978-1934777060
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #190,729 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good meat and potatos stuff, February 11, 2008

By 

John C. Burton "Mojohand41" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This is a collection of really standard "Honky Tonk", Bakersfield telecaster style licks. If you allready play guitar and want to play/explore this style or classic country in general, this book will get you there.
What i liked: 1) the tracks on the cd match numerically the licks in the book i.e. "lick 34" is "track 34" sounds simple but a lot of books screw this up. 2) spiral bound!! Yay! Lays flat. 3) Everything is in one key. (C)Licks are presented as going from the I chord to the IV, V to IV etc. And 90% of the licks are easily moved around the neck for other keys. (If this makes sense to you, you'll like this book)
4) The material is intermediate, meaning not too simple and not too difficult. Too many of these type collections are simply too flashy. This one is useful and playable.
What I don't like..1) Piano is used to keep time with the guitar on the cd. Piano is mixed too loud. 2) A few examples of the lcks used in a complete solo would be helpful.
Really, overall, this is a good deal. The licks fall inot three catagories for me. Ones that I allready know, others that are variations of things I play, and finally ones that make me say "Wow. That's simple, but sounds sooooo good! Why Didn't I think of that?"

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So many great country licks!, October 1, 2008

By 

D. Layton "mprvise" (OK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 101 Doggone Good Country Guitar Licks in the Honky Tonk Style (Plastic Comb)

I just finished playing every lick in this book over the course of several days. Why so long? I found that with about every other lick new ideas would be sparked or they would tie into licks I already play and I'd create new licks! This is exactly the type of instructional book I really love - one that is a spark that starts a raging fire of creativity.

The notation in the book is very well explained and there are great suggestions for students in the intro section. The intro section also includes an example of how various licks in the book can be used in a standard country song. The final section of the book would be an excellent resource for someone looking for suggested listening in the country genre, from the 1920's to the present and all styles. I do agree with the reviewer who said the piano was a little high in the mix on the CD, however it is only in one channel and a quick adjustment of the balance knob on the stereo was all it took to make the mix perfect.

The licks are arranged in sections for playing over standard country chord changes and transitions. There are also some great into and outro licks. Even if the user of this book has been playing coutry for years they will likely get something out of it. This book was recommended to me and I'm so glad I got it. Now I will recommend it to you.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's back, and about time, August 18, 2008

By 

James Kellum (Boulder Creek, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 101 Doggone Good Country Guitar Licks in the Honky Tonk Style (Plastic Comb)

I own a copy of the original edition, and I guard it well. I use it to get students into Nashville electric guitar type music. I don't move on to something more difficult until (a) they have them all down cold, and (b)They start altering them. These are starting points, not the final destination. I agree with another reviewer who said that these licks are hard enough to be interesting and simple enough not to discourage the person learning. I once picked up a book of Albert Lee licks, and I couldn't believe that Albert could play them. (of course he can, but he's not human) If you are looking for help on your way to being scary, this is the right book. Learn the licks dead cold, and then make them yours.