Country soloing at its most explosive looks a lot like what Johnny Hiland does over a fast train-beat groove in the key of A. He pulls from every corner of his toolkit: A pentatonic runs, steel guitar-style bends, open-string licks, double-stop passages, and chromatic lines that cut through the mix like a hot knife. If you’ve been building your country lead guitar vocabulary and want to see how a master stacks those techniques into a real, full-speed solo, this breakdown is your roadmap. We’ll walk through the key moments in Hiland’s solo, explain what he’s doing and why it works. Give you a practice strategy for putting it together at tempo.
What Makes Country Soloing Over a Train Beat So Demanding
First, let’s talk about the context. A train-beat groove is relentless. It locks into a driving eighth-note pulse that never lets up. Because of that, your phrasing has to be precise. There’s no hiding behind rubato or a slow shuffle.
Hiland’s solo sits right on top of that groove. He doesn’t fight it. Instead, he lets the rhythm engine push his lines forward. As a result, every technique he uses, from bends to open-string rolls, has to land cleanly on the beat.
For intermediate players, this is the real lesson. Country soloing is not just about knowing the right notes. It’s about delivering them with timing and attitude, even when the tempo is demanding.
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How A Pentatonic and Steel-Style Bends Anchor the Solo
The opening section of Hiland’s solo draws heavily from the A pentatonic scale. That’s the foundation. However, he immediately colors those pentatonic shapes with bends that reference the sound of a pedal steel guitar.
Steel-style bends in country soloing usually involve pushing a note up a whole step, then holding it while a melody note rings above it. Hiland applies that idea on the electric guitar with serious precision. For example, he’ll bend the G string up while the B string sustains, creating that crying, vocal quality country players love.
If you want to go deeper on bending 3rds the pedal steel way, that full breakdown covers the mechanics in detail. For now, just know that these bends give Hiland’s A pentatonic runs an expressive edge that plain scale runs can’t match.
The Open-String Move That Defines His Sound
This is where things get interesting. One of Hiland’s signature moves in this solo involves rolling from the second to the fourth fret on the D string while letting the open G and B strings ring freely. The result is a high-low cascading sound that is immediately recognizable as country guitar.
In other words, you get a low fretted note, then two open strings ringing above it in quick succession. That contrast between fretted pitches and open strings is central to the chicken pickin’ style. It creates a bell-like, banjo-adjacent quality that sits perfectly in a train-beat groove.
Practice this move slowly first. Then gradually bring the tempo up until it locks in with the underlying pulse. Because the open strings ring on their own, your right hand has to be especially clean. Any accidental dampening will kill the effect.
Launching into Double-Stops: The Big Position Jump
Next, Hiland uses one of the most dramatic moves in the solo: a slide starting from the open-position E note on the high string all the way up to the 14th fret. That’s a big jump. However, when it lands, it launches a double-stop bending passage on the G and B strings.
Double-stops in country soloing work because they add harmonic weight without losing the punchy, single-note attack. Hiland bends both strings simultaneously, so the interval between them stays consistent. The effect is thick and vocal, almost like two fiddle notes pushing upward together.
This passage is worth isolating in your practice. First, nail the slide. Then add the double-stop bend on top. Finally, connect them at half-tempo before pushing toward the full groove speed.
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Blending Blues Attitude into Pentatonic Runs
Later in the solo, Hiland’s phrasing shifts. He begins mixing a pentatonic base with a blues-scale attitude. Specifically, he adds the b3 and b7 into lines that are otherwise built on major pentatonic shapes.
This is a key concept for any player exploring country soloing. The blues scale and the country pentatonic scale are not enemies. Instead, they can coexist within the same phrase. Hiland moves between those two color palettes fluidly, sometimes within a single bar.
For a deeper look at that blues-meets-country crossover in action, check out Greg Koch’s approach to chicken pickin’ lead solos. His method shares a similar blending philosophy. Meanwhile, Hiland’s version here stays rooted in the A-groove context, so the phrasing feels organic rather than pasted-on.
How to Use the Tab to Learn This Solo
TrueFire includes full tab and notation for this Hiland lesson. Here’s a practical approach for working through it.
First, use the tab to map the solo into three or four distinct sections. Identify each passage by its main technique: the pentatonic run, the open-string roll, the double-stop climb, and the blues-inflected closer.
Next, practice each section separately at 60 percent tempo. Because the train beat is so relentless, locking in each lick individually saves a lot of frustration later. Then connect the sections in order, adding a few bars of groove between each one. Finally, run the full solo at tempo once the connections feel natural.
Putting It All Together in Your Country Soloing Practice
Every element in Hiland’s solo connects to a broader understanding of what country lead guitar demands. The open-string rolls, the steel-style bends, the double-stop runs. The blues-inflected pentatonic lines are all tools that live in the same toolkit.
Country soloing at this level is not about memorizing licks. It’s about understanding why each technique fits the musical moment. Hiland makes that clear every time he solos over this groove. He chooses each idea intentionally, and the result is a solo that sounds both spontaneous and structured.
Start with one section. Get it clean. Then build outward from there. If you want more context for how outlaw country groove and attitude shape lead playing, or how Andy Wood approaches adding twang to blues phrasing, both of those perspectives will sharpen your ear for what makes country guitar feel authentic. Keep the tab in front of you, keep the groove rolling, and let the train beat do its job.
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Throughout his career, Johnny has toured with his own band, yet has also performed on stage with super artists like Sammy Hagar, Ted Nugent, George Clinton and P-Funk, Les Paul, Steve Vai, Joe Bonamassa, G3, Ricky Skaggs, Hank 3, and many others. He loves to teach, and has his own line of guitar instructional material as well.
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