COLUMNS
NICE WORK
Traditional bluegrass styles, and how to play “Line of Work,” part 1
by Molly Tuttle
FOR THIS COLUMN, I’d like to talk about traditional bluegrass rhythm playing and flatpicking soloing techniques. The song “Over the Line,” which I co-wrote with my friend Steve Poltz, is one of the more “traditional” bluegrass-style songs I have penned. “Over the Line” appears as the title track on an album by my good friends Jeff Scroggins and Colorado.
The tune starts off with a bluesy, chromatic lick and then moves into the rhythm part behind the vocal. When I play this song unaccompanied, I usually take a few solos on it before returning to the last verse and chorus. This is a good song to use as a springboard for discussing traditional bluegrass-style flatpicking vocabulary, as well as strummed rhythm guitar approaches.