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David Rawlings Style Lead Guitar Lesson – EP068

Description

In this guitar lesson, learn how to play a David Rawlings style lead on acoustic guitar (this could also be played on electric). Learn how David plays using a lot of open strings and dissonance. If you aren’t familiar with his work, check out the Dave Rawlings Machine (his band) or his work with Gillian Welch. He’s one of the best!

Part 1 - David Rawlings Guitar Lesson

Part 2 - David Rawlings Guitar Lesson

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Slow Walk-Through - David Rawlings Guitar Lesson

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Comments

  1. Brian says

    September 13, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    Live

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    • ash89 says

      October 22, 2015 at 1:49 pm

      hey Brian, thanks for posting this lesson, as i hadn’t seen it yet..

      i really think this is more about John Fahey’s style, and Rawlings has borrowed from him…

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    • ALLEN H says

      October 22, 2015 at 8:56 pm

      The A note is part of the F chord. Why do you find it strange when played over F chord? What am I missing here?

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      • Brian says

        October 22, 2015 at 9:09 pm

        Not missing anything, you’re right the F chord has an A in it – it was just an odd way to play the F, with the A in the bass.

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    • Benjamin O says

      September 18, 2017 at 11:16 pm

      Really loved this! Please, more stuff like this!

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    • Bill D says

      December 24, 2018 at 6:42 am

      Brian, going back in time… this lesson is one of my favorites of all your lessons. Dave Rawlings is the tastiest guitarist in the business and this sweet little lesson captures his essence perfectly. I don’t know if you have stumbled on Eric Haugen’s online stuff, but you will really appreciate this: https://www.youtube.com/user/ebhaugen/search?query=dave+rawlings

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  2. Guruvey says

    September 13, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    Brian, I enjoy your lessons and web site. You are an excellent teacher. Thanx for being you.

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  3. mdhonze says

    September 13, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    I really love David Rawlings and of course Gillian is the best!!!!
    My wife and
    I are going to see the machine in Santa Barbara on Oct. 05 at a 900 seat theatre and I am very excited because I have never seen them before…….thank you soooooo much Brian

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  4. jez ward says

    September 13, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    Good choice for an artist. Armed with what i’ve learned from your lesson I’m going to dig out my Gillian Welch records and see if i can copy him. What would you call that chord in measure 4?  The one with a F G(open) C E(open)?  It’d be a F9 i guess if the E was flat…..i know you dont like to get hung up on the theory but i might want to use it up the neck/in other keys.

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  5. sam mercer says

    September 13, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    love your lessons Brian. Can you please do a lesson in the style of the song, Life without you by Stevie Ray Vaughn. Love the ideas you give for when playing by yourself Awesome work!

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  6. silverado08 says

    September 13, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    Awesome lesson Brian, as usual from you. This lesson, to me has hints
    of Hawaiian slack key guitar playing. Love it.

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  7. STC says

    September 13, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    excellent lesson as usual.  I would like to join ‘Sam Mercer’ in his request for a lesson in the style of the song Life without you by SRV.  Would be awesome.  greetz from Belgium.

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  8. garyshoer says

    September 13, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    great lesson, love Dave Rawlings

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  9. guldndragn says

    September 13, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    Great lesson again Brian. I love your acoustic lessons! Could you give another extended version on acoustic?  Thx again

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  10. raywilson says

    September 13, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    Very beautiful arrangement! could you add more to it next week?

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  11. guldndragn says

    September 13, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    Hello again Brian. I would gladly pay an additional fee for an extended version of this lesson. Thx again.

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    • Hermann M says

      January 2, 2016 at 11:36 am

      Gibt es auch deutsche Kommentare ??
      Ich würde auch gerne mehr Lektionen von David Rawling lernen.
      Das ist sehr gut.

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  12. parsonblue says

    September 13, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    Great tune, excellent lesson. The first half has some sweet Willie Nelson type runs too. Many Thanks!

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  13. FenderBlues says

    September 13, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    Another awesome lesson!  I too would love to see an extended lesson….

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  14. cbearw says

    September 13, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    Super lesson Brian! Very clean and very pretty. You gave me a great introduction and appreciation for David Rawlings style of playing. Thankyou!

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  15. vincew says

    September 13, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    Did you have a costume change?

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  16. erwin41 says

    September 13, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    Thanks Brian for another nice easy Piece.You make it so easy and also understandable for us.

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  17. Drsteinberg says

    September 13, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    Hi Brian. What a lovely little tune. Must get started on this one! As Silverado mentioned it does sound very hawaiian. How about a slack key lesson? We don’t get much of that in scotland! Thanks again for great lessons. Keith

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  18. A. Minor says

    September 13, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    Lovely arrangement.

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  19. Nataliewow says

    September 13, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    I came across this video on youtube and loved it so much that I signed up for active melody! Do you think you could post an M. Ward style video? Dave Rawlings & M Ward on two of my absolute favorites! Thanks!

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  20. Dan P says

    September 14, 2015 at 6:45 pm

    Brian, new subscriber writing to say how much I enjoyed this lesson, my first on ActiveMelody. Good topic (Dave Rawlings), and great teaching style on your part. Exactly what I was looking for. Looking forward to working my way through the lesson catalogue. Thanks again.

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  21. Dennis U says

    December 4, 2015 at 7:11 am

    Hi Brian, I am a new member to active melody and am loving your lessons. Thank you so much as you have given me a fresh new start after a 20 year hiatus of playing guitar and I’m having so much fun! I love David Rawlings and I want to learn this lesson but feel my first step should be to learn the jam track. I’m wondering if you might be willing to, at some point, put together a video of the rhythm for this lesson?

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    • Brian says

      December 4, 2015 at 9:22 am

      Hey Dennis, the chords are C, F, and G – I realized that I didn’t have the chords on the tab, so I just added them – if you refresh the page and redownload the tab, the chords will be there.

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  22. Dennis U says

    January 9, 2016 at 11:43 am

    Hi Brian,
    Just a quick update. I have learned both the jam track and the slow version of the lead. I cannot seem to get fast enough to do the lead at the pace of the jam track. I don’t suppose you would be willing to put the lead in a separate downloadable file? When its downloadable I can set my iTunes to automatically repeat the given song. I know you are super busy so if this is not an option I understand and will keep replaying the free lesson until I can match it. Thank you again for your lessons and this one is just so sweet sounding. I would love to see more of these super silky playing lessons.

    Thanks & Regards,
    Dennis

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  23. Dennis U says

    January 10, 2016 at 11:43 am

    Hi again Brian, I figured out a way to auto repeat the intro lesson so I’m good to go! Thank you again for your great lessons.

    Regards,
    Dennis

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  24. Robisfunky says

    June 9, 2016 at 12:26 pm

    Great lesson Brian!

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  25. ZagerGuitarman says

    June 10, 2016 at 7:35 pm

    Greetings Brian; This is the tune/style that prompted me to become a premium member only yesterday. I have been getting your weekly emails with the new lesson for quite some time, but never had the time or inspiration to follow up and learn any of it. This EP068 did it for me. I learned it in about an hour and was having fun with it right away. I think I will get into more of your lessons now. It takes me a lot of repetitive practice to get the muscle memory down solid, and that takes time. Guess I better get into it.

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  26. Steve M says

    June 12, 2016 at 5:24 pm

    Hey Brian, I upgraded to premium today and this was one of the many reasons. Love that there is stuff that stands alone, and that you have lots of stuff for those of us who prefer to play with a pick. One idea I have for a future lesson which is a little in this style is if you could take a run at your interpretation of South of the Border ( Chris Issak version ).

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    • Brian says

      June 12, 2016 at 6:18 pm

      I love “South of the Border” – fantastic suggestion Steve. The solo in that song has some fantastic double stop playing.

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      • Steve M says

        June 13, 2016 at 1:37 am

        Great to hear from you Brian. I am so excited to join this community. I would be thrilled if you could help with this as I have been wanting to be able to do a credible version of this ever since I heard him playing this on the radio several years ago on Cinco de Mayo.

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  27. James A says

    August 16, 2016 at 3:09 am

    Hey Brian,

    Just become a full member…great lessons! Like Silverado08 said in 2014 on this thread, this tune is reminiscent of Hawaiian music such as in the George Clooney film The Descendants…beautiful sounds…

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  28. Dennis O says

    March 23, 2017 at 11:46 am

    Dave,

    Will you post the on-screen tabs and video that enables us to slow tracks down like you have with all other the video lessons? If not, why so? That feature is an exceedingly helpful resource for me, particularly when trying to nail licks that I had a difficult following in the two-part lessons.

    thx

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  29. Alexander B says

    November 3, 2017 at 9:41 pm

    The tab is way out from thge song???Also doesn’t show hammers pull offs and slides?

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  30. Teresa H says

    February 14, 2019 at 5:20 pm

    What fret does David Rawlings capo for “Valley of Tears” performed by Soloman Burke. I realize it is in the key of E, but that capo is way up the fretboard!

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