Lead Playing 1 - Licks and Theory (Country Club) Lesson by showard

When reading this lesson, remember that everyone's styles
are different and how people associate the notes they 
play to the key they are playing in are often different. 
The theory shown here is just how I associate material. 
I associate material in two ways: licks associated directly
to the major blues scale, licks associated with chord forms
(still using the major blues scale). Also you should know
that the theory is not something I think about while
playing. I usually find licks I like and then try to 
figure out the theory behind it, so I can understand 
where these licks are best placed and figure out how 
to play them in any key. For me it is all about 
associating certain patterns and areas on the neck with 
different chords and when a chord change occurs, I can now 
move to that area w/o having to think about it. Below are 
simple licks that may help a beginning lead player build up 
some riffs, or it may help a guitar player who has been 
playing these kind of licks understand why they work.



these licks are pretty simple and moderate tempo. I use 
them in the song Country Club by Travis Tritt. In the 
chorus of the recording is where a lot of guitar riffs are 
placed, so I follow suit but use my own style.


Per Korry's tab, the Chorus is shown as this:

[E]Well I'm a member of a [A]country club
Country music is [E]what I love
I drive an old Ford [B7]pick-up truck
I do my drink-in from a [E]dixie cup
Yea I'm a bona-fide [A]dancin' fool
I shoot a mighty mean [E]game of pool
At any honky-tonk [B7]roadside pub
I'm a member of a [E]country club


Now, I will take every line and show a lick that are 
similar to the ones I play. The lick's placement is usually 
at the chord change before the end of the line, but the 
shorter ones may be placed right after the line as the 
first lick shown is. It just all depends on your feel. 
After I show these licks as they are in the song, I will 
then try to explain why they w