COUNTRY LIFE
Get to grips with the Tele stylings of eight country guitar greats
The long and varied history of country music makes it a goldmine for any guitarist looking to level-up their chops whilst discovering some new techniques and approaches. There is a long lineage to the genre from the traditional ‘twang’ of James Burton to the edgier 1970s riffing of Joe Walsh, all the way to today’s more commercial radio-friendly pop-oriented country of players like Keith Urban and Brad
Paisley. Factor in virtuosos like studio ace Brent Mason and all-round Tele genius Danny Gatton and you’ll find a whole new stream of inspiration no matter what genre you already focus on. Country and bluegrass have even crossed over into modern metal thanks to players such as John 5.
Let’s dive in and take a look at the signature styles of these country masters – and don’t worry if you haven’t got a Tele to hand. Any guitar will do while you learn some signature riffs and licks.
Bends within doublestops are a mainstay of country, and Brad Paisley is a melodic master. These licks are fantastic for strengthening the fingers and bends in general, and immediately give you that ‘country’ sound by loosely emulating the pedal steel.
mamaThe late, great Danny Gatton was a bona fide Tele legend. This example shows how he brought blues influences into country. Doublestops are integral to both styles and though you can play our tab example with a pick, try using hybrid picking to bring contrast between the bass notes and two-note shapes.
With over 11 million albums sold and countless awards, including three Grammys, Brad Paisley has become one of the modern megastars of country. He’s set the record for most consecutive number one singles in the Billboard country chart, been a guest judge on America’s Got Talent, collaborated with the likes of Demi Lovato, LL Cool J and The Doobie Brothers, ended up in a South Park episode and even had an episode of Robin Williams sitcom The Crazy Ones named after him [ Danny Chase Hates Brad Paisley].
His first signature, a Road Worn Telecaster, arrived in 2017 and at the end of last year Fender announced details of his second model. This time, it was an Esquire featuring his newly launched Seymour Duncan Secret Agent neck pickup hidden underneath its pickguard, offering warmer tones without sacrificing the Esquire tradition of one solitary option in the bridge.
“I don’t like really beefy neck tones,” Brad tells TG. “I like the Strat-y sound and on my Strats, I set my neck pickup real low for more air. I’m not looking for an ES-335 sound. I want it to still be jazzy but more thin. So we came up with the Secret Agent and it changed everything for me. This is the first time anyone can buy an Esquire with two pickups, just one of them hidden. This classic guitar became an entirely different experience!”
The Secret Agent has now become his go-to neck pickup sound, partly thanks to how its low output makes his bridge pickup feel more like a humbucker in terms of sheer power. “I told everyone at Seymour Duncan that I’d played a lot of Esquires in concert because I love the way they feel without that neck pickup,” he continues. “There’s something about no magnetic pull on the strings and also the fact that you have to make all your music with that one rugged pickup. It just feels so industrial... Going back to the original designs when Leo was trying to figure out how to make a block of wood sound okay. But with the Secret Agent, immediately in the testing room from the very first prototype, we were all like, ‘Holy cow!’ I was hoping for something at least acceptable in the neck, but it’s so much better. I just recorded something with it the other day, using that as my main neck sound.”
Asked about his approach to passing notes in his countrified leads, the singer-songwriter explained how it’s often a lot closer to jazz than it sounds, with similar concepts using chromatics. “I’ve always said that country is jazz on the bridge pickup!” he laughed, noting how a lot of the ghost or outside-sounding notes in both genres often lead to the more traditional ones.
Paisley also emphasises how the overall tone and choice of pickup could place the same ideas firmly into one camp or the other. On a 335 or Les Paul neck pickup through a clean channel it’s going to sound very jazzy, he reasons, hinting at the tones made famous by players like Grant Green and Wes Montgomery. “But if you switch to that back pickup on a Tele and start plucking away using hybrid picking, those licks become immediately country,” he says. “Add some slapback delay and that’s it... You will definitely sound like a country player.”