There is a lot of crossover between bluegrass and western swing music. They originated in different geographic regions of the United States, but they share a lot of influence from Scots-Irish immigrants, blues music, old-time fiddling, etc. Because of this there are a lot of songs that can be played in either style. Furthermore, there are a lot of country songs that can work in a western swing or bluegrass style. Bob Wills had a heavy influence on musicians like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, and you can hear it in their music.
Because of this, it's worth learning some of the basics of western swing if you are interested in bluegrass music. You are bound to run into it at some point.
This lesson presents four basic or "core" chords of western swing. (there are many many more). Knowing these four chords will give a good foundation for moving ahead with other chord voicings, but these four would also probably be enough to keep up with basic western swing songs.
Pay attention to the following things:
1. Finger positions when moving form one chord to the next.
Work on trying not to lift all of your fingers off the finger board when you change chords if it's not necessary to do so. Some fingers can slide into position for the next chord, or lay down or arch into the next chord.
2. Chord / Chop
Play a full chord on the first beat of the measure, then stop pressing the strings down to mute the strings (do not take your hand out of position) and chop on the second beat of the measure. Then press down again on the third beat of the measure, and chop on the fourth beat.
3. Put your pinky and ring finger down on the finger board before your other fingers.
These two fingers have a harder time moving into place so concentrate on them first. Your first and second finger will move into position more easily.
4. Practice changing from each chord to every other chord.
Don't just practice them in order, work on moving from G6 to every other chord. Then C9 to every other chord. Then D7 to every other chord...etc. Practice the chords until you can play them and carry on a conversation or read your social media, and still keep time. Then you will know it is in your muscle memory.
5. Practice moving the chords to different places on the neck.
These are closed position chords so yo can move them around on the neck of the guitar like Barre chords. Find the root note of the G6 then move it to an A6 position. Do likewise with the C9 and D7. It's worth the time to learn the names of the notes on the E-string and A-string so that you can move the chords around.
6. Have fun and listen to western swing.
Bob Wills was the greatest. You won't be sorry.
I demonstrated the song "Hey Good Lookin'" by Hank Williams Sr. in this video. If you would like to hear my version of the full song here is the link:
• Martin Gilmore - "Hey ...
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