In order to solo effectively in any given style, you first need to compile a lexicon of licks, and be able to improvise with them authentically. This holds particularly true for country guitar, where it is not only vital to know which notes to play but also how to phrase those notes. It is the most demanding style of guitar music in terms of technical mastery of right and left-hand techniques. This is why so many jazz, blues, and rock guitar players adopt licks from the virtuosos of country guitar.


In his course 30 Burnin’ Country Licks You MUST Know, master country guitarist, Lars Schurse expands your palette with adaptable licks made famous by world-class players such as Johnny Hiland, Brent Mason, Albert Lee, Redd Volkaert, and Jerry Reed to name a few.

Here are seven free videos from the course. For the full course, check out Lars Schurse’s 30 Burnin’ Country Licks You MUST Know on TrueFire!

Country Guitar Lesson – From Blues to Country Lick


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Lick 1 is called “From Blues to Country”. It’s an A7 lick that I heard in Brent Mason’s playing. It uses the A blues scale with an added major third. Let’s check it out.

Country Guitar Lesson – Repetitive Compulsion Lick


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Lick 7 is called “Repetetive Compulsion”. It’s a classic Brent Mason repetition lick based around the open A7 shape.

Country Guitar Lesson – At the Barn Dance Lick


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Lick 10 is called “At the Barn Dance”. It’s played over a B7 chord and starts out with a classic major pentatonic lick.

Country Guitar Lesson – Reed Jerry’s Lick


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Lick 20 is called “Reed Jerry’s Lick”. And you might have guessed it, it’s a lick in the style of the late great Jerry Reed. It uses a lot of open strings and is played over an E7 chord.

Country Guitar Lesson – Steve’s G Lick


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Lick 28 is called “Steve’s G-Lick”. It”s a G dominant lick in the style of Steve Pitico, that features unpredictable intervallic jumps through the use of open strings.

Country Guitar Lesson – Cascading in G Lick


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Lick 30 is called “Cascading in G”. It’s a lick that is quite similar to lick 17, only that it is played over a G7 chord and therefore it uses the G Mixolydian scale plus minor 3rd.

Country Guitar Lesson – Pick It Up Bonus Solo


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Solo 1 is called “Pick It Up”. It shows you how to put some of these licks together to a long solo. It’s important not only to learn those licks, but also to practice applying them. You should be able to connect them smoothly by adding small phrases spontaniously or even planned. You can play into the lick by adding a short pick up or play a couple of notes at the end of it to lead into the next phrase. Solo 1 gives you an example how to achieve this by connecting Lick 8, 16, 2 and 20.

Digging these free lessons? Check out Lars Schurse’s full course, 30 Burnin’ Country Licks You MUST Know.