he guitar player in bluegrass music was not always play solos. As with some other folk styles from various parts of the world, the guitar was originally just part of the rhythm section. The guitarist could be heard playing the odd bass run but apart from that he was in the background.
Nowadays bluegrass guitar is not only a lead instrument in the band but the playing techniques can be quite complex sounding. The early greats of bluegrass guitar playing like Lester Flatt and Charlie Monroe used a combination of fingerpicking and flatpicking using a thumbpick. A common technique which you can also hear in country music is to play bass notes and runs on the E A D strings and melodic passages on the G B E strings.
Flatpicking has become quite common in bluegrass music but that does not mean that playing bluegrass guitar has become easier. It just means you have to work as hard on your flatpicking technique as you would have had to work on your fingerpicking in the early days. A great flatpicker does not need the extra notes provided by fingerpicking to sustain interest. Just take a listen to the CDs and watch the videos featuring flatpickers like Norman Blake, Tony Rice, Dan Crary, Clarence White and Doc Watson.
If you are new to the guitar as well as bluegrass music, you will find that you need to work on the use of your plectrum using up as well as down strokes. Practice doing alternate up and down strokes slowly and smoothly using a metronome to keep time. For bluegrass picking use a heavy gauge pick but as with everything, you should try different ones out till you find what's right for you.
You will see and hear that a lot of bluegrass guitar playing consists of the guitarist playing bass notes and strumming in between. A simple example is to hold a C chord in the first position and pick the C note on the fifth string. Now use your plectrum to strum the other strings. Next, pick the E note on the fourth string and strum the rest of the strings again. Once you have done this a few times you will recognize the familiar bluegrass sound that you hear on CDs emerge from under your fingers.
Once you have got an idea of the guitar players you should be listening to and watching, you will be able to go looking for bluegrass guitar tabs. With these you can learn picking patterns that you can apply to any songs you learn. You will also be able to pick up tabs for bluegrass fiddle tunes you can learn to play on the guitar. Try any bluegrass forums you find, as well as tab archives.
Do you want to learn to play the guitar? Learn How To Play A Guitar For Free is a constantly updated blog which contains all the resources you need for: learning to play solo guitar, how to learn guitar chords, how to learn to read and play easy acoustic guitar tabs, finding a free online guitar tuner, looking for free guitar lessons online, and how to learn guitar scales.
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