In this song tutorial, J.D. Jarell will lead you through the country classic "Help Me Make It Through The Night" as made famous by Johnny Cash. You'll learn the opening riff, the chord progressions of the verses and choruses, about the fills between the vocals, the boom-chick rhythms, and then have both acoustic and electric play alongs to cap it all off.

This tutorial was inspired by a great country classic from the legendary Merle Haggard in 1968. This song is one of the most requested, and it can still be heard several times a day on lower Broadway in Nashville. We'll learn the verse and chorus chord progressions, the signature intro lick, the solo and tone, the dobro parts, and there's an acoustic and electric play along to boot!

In this series of song lessons, J.D. Jarrell will teach you "Tulsa Time" by Don Williams. First we'll look at the song as a whole, then the gear and tones. J.D. will then get into the song intro followed by the rhythm patterns in the song. Next is the riff fills in 2 parts, then we're on to three lessons on the solo's. We'll finish up with a play along performance, then it's your turn to play the song by yourself in the jam along.

This tutorial on chicken pickin' was inspired by a subscriber in the forum although I've been meaning to do this for a while. I'll show you these concepts followed by a lick in the style of their creators. One method is the popular hybrid pickin' concept and the other method uses the flat pick. Next I'll cover what chicken pickin' is today and share some licks that every chicken picker should know.

This tutorial on basic hybrid picking exercises was inspired by a young man who asked me how to get started hybrid picking. I'll show you a variety of exercises that you can do to develop your hybrid picking. In the first five lessons I'll show you some basic exercises using the A, G, E, C, and D chords. Next I'll show you a couple using barre chords, and then how to alternate the bass notes using the A, D, C, and B chords.

This tutorial of hybrid picking exercises was inspired by pickers I've met while performing, and they wanted to know how to get started hybrid picking. These five easy exercises are all root/5 picking patterns, with alternating bass notes. First I'll show you exercises using E, and then A barre chord formations. Then I'll show you similar exercises using the other basic chords.

This hybrid picking progression in A was inspired by the basic hybrid picking exercises, to show how adding other concepts to the exercises can make some awesome riffs. First I'll show you the riffs using the 1, 4, and 5 chords in the key of A. I'll also talk about palm muting, and then play them in a progression.

This tutorial on playing in thirds was inspired when I was trying to think of useful concepts, that would teach some basic ideas for starting to solo. I've put together 4 combinations, and used these shapes in eight positions. I'll play the notes at the same time, and then I'll split them up. I'm starting in the 3rd fret, and I'll move it up to the 15th fret using the musical alphabet.

This tutorial on string bending was inspired by a few subscribers in the forum, that wanted to know how to start bending strings. I started with useful tips, followed by sixteen lessons using whole tone bends on the B string. In the first eight I'm bending the 2nd note of the scale up to the 3rd. In the next eight I'm bending the 4th note of the scale up to the 5th, and close with tips on how to use them.

This tutorial on string bending was inspired by a few subscribers in the forum, that wanted to learn how to bend strings. I'll show you two ways to bend the string in the first lesson, and give you some tips using both of them. The next eight are all whole tone bending positions on the G string, starting with an A bend in the 4th fret, up to the A bend an octave higher in the 16th fret.

This tutorial on string bending was inspired by a few subscribers in the forum, they wanted to learn how to bend strings. I'll show you some useful tips, and eight whole tone bending positions on the G string. I'm starting with a G bend in the 5th fret, and going up to the G bend an octave higher. Then close with tips on how to use them, and how they all work together.

This tutorial on bending the flat 7 up to the 1 was inspired by my other string bending tutorials. I'll show you the bend in A, and then use it with other whole tone bends. I'll show you some steel guitar licks, and then how to bend a scale. After a few bending combinations, prebend some strings, and then I'll put it in reverse. Finally, I'll close with some useful tips about how to use this in other keys.

This tutorial on prebending strings was inspired by all the other string bending tutorials, and all the legendary guitarists that use this concept. In the first lesson I'll mention a few of them, then show a couple of examples using this trick. Then I use bending positions that work with the 1, 4, and 5 chords in the key of A, and also talk a little about how palm muting works with this too.

This tutorial on prebending strings was inspired by all the other string bending tutorials, and all the legendary guitarists that use this concept. In these lessons I'm sliding up a whole step to the note, prebending the string up to the same note, and releasing the bend. Put these together for a 1, 4, 5, 1 progression in the key of A.

This tutorial on string bending behind the nut was inspired by a previous tutorial on B bender guitar. I'll show you how to do this with the left hand, and also using the right hand. Then I'll show you how this works with open chords, and also the barre chord positions. Some of these will work by bending the string a whole tone, and some work by bending the string up only a half tone.

This tutorial on string bending behind the nut was inspired by a previous tutorial on this technique. I'll show you how to do it with the left hand, and also the right hand. Then I'll show you how it works with open chords, and also barre chord positions. Some of these work by bending the string up a whole tone, and others work by bending the string up only a half tone.

This B-bender guitar tutorial was inspired by a subscriber in the forum, that had recently gotten one of theses guitars. In the first lesson I'll describe this device, tell you how it works, and use it to complete an A chord. Then I'll show you a two finger bending combination, and then the same one using a bar instead. Both of these concept's are useful, and can lead to some great licks.

This tutorial on B-bender guitar was inspired by a subscriber in the forum, that had recently gotten one of these guitars. I'll show you several ways to use a B-bender with open chords, and how it works with E formation barre chords. Next a few ways to use it with a G chord, and then the A formation barre chords. Some of these only work with a whole tone bend, and others only work with a half tone bend.

This double stop progression was inspired by some pickers I've met while performing, and they wanted to know how I put these licks together. The first one is mostly double stops, but there are hammer ons, pull offs, even string bending in the next three. I'll show you the licks in the 1, 4, and 5 chords, and play them with the "Med A 1-4-5 Progression Jam" in our jam station.

This double stops tutorial was inspired by some pickers I met on the road, they all wanted to know how I was playing these licks. The first two lessons are a 1, 4, 5 progression in G, and then I'll show you a few double stop tricks. I'll also combine some other techniques like string bending, with the hybrid picking licks, and then a G progression using open chords.

This tutorial on fast bluegrass rhythm was inspired by a friend of mine in the forum. He asked about the strumming techniques all the legendary bluegrass guitar pickers used when playing really fast songs. Im using only downstrokes with the pick, to put even more drive into it. These lessons are the 1, 4, and 5 chord in the key of G, using this fast boom chick strumming pattern.

This tutorial on fast bluegrass rhythm was inspired by a friend of mine in the forum. He wanted to learn fills used to walk into the next chord, and I'm still using only downstrokes with the pick. In the first lesson the fills walk you into the 4 chord, and then back to the 1. The next lesson walks into the 5 chord, and back to the 1. The third one is playing everything together, and the last two are G runs picking up and downstrokes.

This tutorial on driving bluegrass rhythm was inspired by a good friend of mine in the forum. He wanted to know about strumming techniques all the legendary bluegrass guitar pickers used. This 16th note boom chick pattern is another one, and here I'm using a ghost strum too. I'm playing up and downstrokes with the pick, and using the 1, 4, and 5 chord in the key of G.

This tutorial on driving bluegrass rhythm was inspired by a good friend of mine in the forum. I'm using only downstrokes with the pick for the fills, but using up and downstrokes for strumming. In the first lesson I used the fills to walk into the 4 chord, then back to the 1. In the next lesson I walk into the 5 chord, then back to the 1, and the last one is the full progression.

This tutorial on driving bluegrass rhythm was inspired by a good friend of mine in the forum. He wanted to know about strumming techniques all the legendary bluegrass guitar pickers used. This is another 16th note boom chick pattern, but it doesn't have the ghost strum in it. I'm using both up and downstrokes with a pick, and strumming them with the 1, 4, and 5 chord in the key of G.

This tutorial on driving bluegrass rhythm was inspired by a good friend of mine in the forum. I'm using only downstrokes with the pick for the fills, but using up and downstrokes for strumming. In the first lesson I use the fills to walk into the 4 chord, then back to the 1. The next lesson walks you into the 5 chord, then back to the 1, and the last one is the full progression.

This tutorial on syncopated strumming patterns was inspired by a good friend of mine in the forum. He asked about some of the bluegrass strumming techniques that can drive the rhythm of a song. I'll start with a couple of easy ones, and then get into the more complicated patterns. I'm using a G chord for all of these, so you can hear the difference that the syncopated strumming makes in the sound.

This tutorial on crosspicking was inspired by a subscriber in the forum, and in these lessons I'll get you started by showing you a simple pattern starting on different strings. The first one is using open strings, and starts on the 4th string. Then I'll show the roll starting on the 3rd string, the 5th string, and the 6th string. Then I'll put them all together, and crosspick from C to G.

This tutorial on crosspicking was inspired by a subscriber in the forum, and in these lessons I show you another pattern used for crosspicking. I'll show you the same pattern starting on different strings, and then put them into 3 exercises using the 1, 4, and 5 chords in the key of G. Then I'll show you the combinations for a 1, 4, 5, 1 progression, and there's even an alternate ending.

This tutorial on flatpicking was inspired by my earliest musical influences, and also the greatest flatpickers in history. The first lesson has a couple of licks for the G chord, then the next one I start in G and go to the 4 chord. Then I go back to the G chord for the third lesson, and in the last one I go to the 5 chord, and then back to the G chord to finish it up.

By the end of this tutorial you should be able to play examples that combine choking strumming technique using barre chords.

This tutorial on the Boom-Chick Strumming pattern was inspired by our site to show you how useful it is. In the first four lessons I show you the pattern using the 1, 4, and 5 chord in the key of A, followed by a progression in the next lesson. I change to a 16th note pattern with a D chord in the fifth lesson, and then finish up with a D progression using the 16th note strumming pattern.

By the end of this tutorial you should be able to combine the boom-chick strumming technique with barre chords rooted on the E string.