Chicken Pickin' 101: Getting Started

[@sweetwater]

Thanks for watching! If you enjoyed this Chicken Pickin' lesson, let us know in the comments then hit those like and subscribe buttons!

[@jayschultz3614]

More. More! MORE!!!!!

[@jkeane22]

Great! Okay, my nails are terrible. I don’t want acrylic nails. Finger picks are a learning curve that I’m willing to take if worth it. I understand some folks chicken pick with finger pads until they are calloused. Which way is more likely to pay off? - finger pick learning curve, or play with fingers till calloused?

[@johnscott6072]

I didn't learn to appreciate chicken pickin' until my 40s when I stumbled across some old Jerry Reed videos and I realized what an amazing guitar player he was. So down the rabbit hole to watch his vids and I love how he mixed various picking styles to create his sound.

[@Jonseyfun]

I always picked around on guitar with a flat pick on and off until I seen george thorogood with his thumb and finger while using his slide. I tried it and it was natural, and I always listen to jerry but it wasn't until I was 18 and watched a video of Jerry reeds guitar man and watched how he played, that's when I knew Jerry reed was something special. That's when I also went down the rabbit hole of Jerry reed. I'm just breaking the surface of his style and let me tell you what. My fingers are cramping son!

[@josephvega3763]

Jerry Reed was an animal of a player

[@XneverstopfightingX]

Do I listen to country? No Do I want to play country guitar? Not necessarily. Am I gonna turn down a chance to learn “chicken pickin”? No way!

[@tommorris2771]

Exactly

[@carlbaumeister3439]

@@tommorris2771 I’m kind of like that. I’m not the biggest fan of country (although I like some of the really early, folky, “authentic” stuff, Guthrie, Cash, Sun Records, etc - not the modern, over-produced stuff), but I love the guitarists, and doubly love the chicken pickin’.

[@rebeldunn]

I have listened to country all my life . I'm not really a fan of the "chicken pickin". To me its the country version of shredding ( a flurry of licks, in key ,without melody).

[@carlbaumeister3439]

@@rebeldunn Good point. Not sure why, I just like the sound and syncopation.

[@rebeldunn]

@@carlbaumeister3439 It's not that I hate it ,more like, its used so much its like a fad ( the Nashville Sound of the 70's)

[@ChrisPutt]

I'm very thankful for this lesson - I can't get over how much my listing I preferences have evolved over the years. Developed my chops during the hair metal peak - during which I discovered Led Zeppelin, then discovered SRV and the blues, put down the guitar almost entirely during the grunge and alt-metal years, tried my hand at jazz but got discouraged, then picked it back up about 10 years ago and dove back into the classics and blues, and now I'm all about Outlaw Country, Southern Rock, and Americana. Thanks Don!

[@tedc6694]

love more chicken picking lessons! they were the OG shredders

[@dtreenjr]

Thanks Don! I am just starting to appreciate the skill level needed to CP. Way more going on than it seems, and going from 50 years of straight picking to hybrid picking requires much more coordination and development of multiple muscle memory. Keep these lessons coming!

[@jr0706]

True. Fortunately I’ve been hybrid picking for quite a few years so it’s not super challenging. For me it’s phrasing and knowing where to play.

[@jerryhorton5708]

Great job, Don! You can make any guitar style look easy but you’ve broken down chicken picking to a great starting point!

[@cajc3230]

This is fantastic Don! Hope these Chicken pickin' lessons are on going!

[@RichardStrief]

I’ve always wanted to learn this

[@ryansnyderstudio]

Richard Strief dude chicken pickin is so much fun!! Hope you keep on plucking! Positive vibes, always!

[@LewisShieldsUS]

Sweet and neat. I'm here in the kitchen, Don Carr, thanking you.

[@gibfen1235]

I appreciated the "drop D" mention halfway through this 2nd lesson. I "missed" the whole start of this portion wondering "where you were at" to match my tuned guitar. Beside this a good lesson.

[@blues61]

Nice. I've been wanting to add this technique to my arsenal and this video is a great on-ramp. Thanks Don! Stay healthy and be well.

[@blues61]

PS You didn't warn us about the blisters we might get on our chicken-pickin' fingers. lol. I guess I'll be developing calluses on my picking hand too. :-)

[@chuckhenry2331]

Don: I really appreciate your attention to detail and your patience to describe what you're doing in detail. Great instruction! -Thanks Much!

[@meldeer6253]

thank you so much i just picked up my guitar after 10yr's i had a realy Bad neighbor distroyed my confidence this is realy helping me thank you Don

[@bisonmusicuk537]

Killer! Tone is so clear too 🎸

[@Burnt_Gerbil]

I think of chicken pickin as a banjo technique played on the guitar. It’s about the dynamics and the muting.

[@Datanditto]

Not really.

[@f67739]

@@Datanditto what is it then smartass

[@aaronpaterson1615]

I was really drawn into the lesson when you added some interesting facts about James Burton playing on Merle Haggard's Tonight The Bottle Lete Down. Kinda reminded me of Elvis' Bass player Jerry Scheff playing on every track of the Doors last album except La'merica. I always knew there was something special about the Bass playing on the Doors track LOVE HER MADLY I'veoved that song since I was a kid i was born in 1964... and Jerry Scheff bass playing on L.A. WOMAN

[@johncarrington3834]

Really found this helpful and its just what I needed at this point in my learning!! Thanks

[@ronnyholton]

I've always liked the style of picking loved the james burton and Elvis years

[@hearpalhere]

Thanks for the lesson and just wanted to say that's a beautiful guitar!

[@ronlombardi5343]

I'm impressed by the way you teach.

[@k1llj0y87]

You sir, have a magnificent clean tone

[@jimherleva4541]

I've wanted to get this technique since hearing Steve Gaines on Honky Tonk Night-time Man. Mind-Blowing.

[@andypittman357]

YES!! That song and sound is awesome!

[@jamesmckelvey1232]

Excellent! Keep’em comming Don!👍

[@thomasferguson9509]

I enjoyed the pentatonic workout I think that is great training thanks

[@davyr6156]

Thanks Don and Sweetwater. Keep'em coming.

[@bravan49]

Thanks for the lesson Don. Great explanation on the difference. Plucky plucky. Chickens in the barn.

[@MonkeyZen]

This was great!! Please post more chicken picking videos!! Tab would be great as well!

[@Fiddlertom]

It starts in your mind! That’s certainly true!

[@larrywithrow5876]

Awesome instructional video Don & Sweetwater!! Thanks for your expertise and great detailed teaching method. As a “beginner picker” this information was invaluable!!👍 please keep em coming😎

[@girllim0070]

Awesome! I instantly learned what the chicken pickin' is! thanks for sharing!

[@mikemallory8651]

Love it Don!!!! Always wanted to be a chicken picker!!! You got me started!!!!!!

[@johnroseman9087]

Great vid! Early on, like all beginners, I would watch the fret hand. Later, you find the best education comes from watching the pick hand!! Thank you!👍✌♥️

[@dt417rolls6]

Great tutorial beginners and anyone wanting to refresh here's a place to start thanks Sweetwater thanks car

[@diamondminer9263]

Nice introduction to Chicken Picking, THANKS !!!

[@GaryAppledale]

Greetings from England cousins - is this what our boy Knopfler calls 'Yakety axe'?

[@jimmyc5498]

Great job breaking down that first lick!

[@sweetwater]

Thanks Jimmy! 😎

[@ronswoodshack3855]

Love the G&L ASAT! Mine is a 1998 USA!!

[@felladude5643]

That was a cool lesson bro... Thanks

[@ralphcundiff5180]

Please do more on this awesome teaching

[@kevinlindsay5255]

Thanks man, good intro in chicken pickin'

[@ryansnyderstudio]

Chicken picking is my favorite technique!!

[@bldrv7522]

Just what I needed! Looking forward to the next lesson.

[@jamessator5564]

Awesome Mr. Carr !!! I love my MXR Carbon Copy petal that you have demo !

[@sthengr]

Excellent lesson, thanks!

[@MatthaeusEbonah]

Smart man. G&L ASAT classic. Awesome choice

[@cliffleblanc1939]

Really liked it...would have liked a tab that shows pick vs finger...

[@hannaobrc1947]

can this Chicken Pickin riff be learned on accustic guitar?? thanks nice video

[@KordTaylor]

Nice video. Thank you.

[@8KilgoreTrout4]

grew out these nasty nails on my right-hand and my wife hates it 🤣 This is my first lesson thank you

[@theShredwarrior]

What kind of G&L guitar is he playing. Sounds great!

[@raross6119]

Great lesson thanks

[@sweetwater]

You're welcome! 😁

[@rebel-yell9453]

Do you need to use a Chicken Picks pick to chicken-pick? Too bad Sweetwater doesn't carry them, great picks.

[@creepymcpeepers]

Nice

[@hearpalhere]

Those ghost notes on the low E string on Suzy Q are tricky.

[@raymondsanchez808]

Ever since i first started playing guitar at 15, I've always loved the sound of chicken picking in country music.i thought it was way far out out of my reach. At 32, I'm just now going back toy first love and "picking" it up 😁. (Pun intended)

[@billyfreeze1893]

thx!

[@TheGBs1972]

Great lesson, out of interest, what pick ups have you got in your tele?

[@PooNinja]

I needed this thanks Don 🤘🏽

[@blackdogrover]

Thanks, Don, for this starter lesson. I’ve always shied away from Chicken Pickin’ because it intimated me so much. However, I’ve always wanted to burn up the board with that technique. It is mind blowing, to state the obvious. Especially when the guitarist, mandolinist, fiddliest, and bass and drummer are all burning down the bridge at the same time. What I should ask is, what practice regime; what are good practice techniques can be used to work up the all too necessary speed element, essential to quality Chicken Pickin’? Thanks much, Don. Rock On!

[@sweetwater]

Thanks for your interest! In Chicken Pickin’ - like any musical language - you have to develop a vocabulary. You can’t say something fast if you don’t know what you’re gonna say, right? Start by listening, then copying. At first slowly and simply, assimilating, learning, and creating as much musical vocabulary as you can. Be accurate, patient, and persistent and gradually speed up and connect ideas. As for content, the aim of this video series is to give a sort-of stepwise progression through this particular vocabulary - at least my collective version of it! DC

[@blackdogrover]

Sweetwater Right. Thanks again, Don. After fifty years of playing guitar, I have developed a vocabulary of sorts. Inspired by Page, Beck, and the rest of the day, deep listening comes natural to me. Thankfully. The discipline of patience with determined and relentless practice is my weakness. I will overcome. I look forward to your future streams. Rock On!

[@snacks2241]

2:06...played different is Suzie Q from Creedance 😁

[@snacks2241]

Crap dude..I commented too quick . Sorry 🤣🤣

[@stevestrong6958]

I like u my friend a lot chikin pickers i think keep that bass line thing going with a thumb pick or like Mark Knoffler and mess up your thumb!!! That calloused thumb had too hurt he's a real badass. Your method is much easier (right)

[@shawnjbray]

That first way sounded more like rake picking. I prefer that tone

[@zacharychall-hutchinson6720]

You can thank James Burton for this. He did it a lot with Ricky Nelson and then later elvis presley.

[@hbznn]

love it!

[@soundguy5813]

Nice ASAT !

[@dogpdsound]

Excellent Don but did you know that the Turntable behind you is not centered?.🤣

[@freddiebowers1125]

Wow I didn’t know the origin of Suzie Q. Cool 😎

[@nomore2226]

When you play a lick.... you should have a tab on the screen.

[@goldwaiteannie7781]

thanks! just wanted to check, is this technique vegan?

[@sweetwater]

🤣👍

[@bretkindell6887]

1st lick is john fogerty

[@TheBitterRiffs]

Dude great vid, and, your talking voice sounds like Tom Hanks. the whole time I kept hearing like a southern Tom hanks. Maybe it's just me though lol

[@Sidewalk_Surfer]

Dope

[@JonDeth]

I remember working with this a lot when I first taught myself how to play and was on an elite action acoustic that rivaled shred set electrics. *Somewhere along the way, I abandon this skill.*

[@markbottoni6668]

Finely someone show me slowly how do it please send me link too all your videos on chicken picking

[@redbeardshomestead]

I didn't realize that Sigourney Weaver could play the guitar.

[@freddiebowers1125]

Can you down too low D obviously??? 7:00 🕖

[@RedPillTruth2023]

He knows what he is doing. He has a lava lamp

[@fastronaut909]

My life is simple. I see Don Carr, I click.

[@williamcopperge7909]

Did not really get that

[@DuhBlueDream]

HES IN E b for the second riff, is that normal?

[@BlastinRope]

Define normal

[@GaZonk100]

one thing I thought the style never utilised was vibrato

[@Chris_Hetherington]

Guitar playing with Tom Hanks

[@fleadoggreen9062]

2nd way is what most of us call chicken pickn

[@Vaedh]

You look kind of like Steve Buscemi mixed with Dave Mustaine

[@adamkempa5157]

"Tanks"

[@williamkingparrishdial7847]

Your mama didn't realize 😂

[@sou_desu8587]

I just daw this in a fb meme

[@MrRando-cs1sn]

Wow. This is a super solid video. Sub'd bet you have some other good knowledge I can steal.

[@machovanman1470]

Chicken pickn finger licken, gettn fat up in the kitchen!

[@PDCMYC]

OUT OF ALL THESE COMMENTS YOU FOUND MINE HERE'S A COOKIE 🍪 BTW DON'T READ MY NAME

[@Requiredfields2]

Is James Burton Cliff Burton's dad?

[@adipura100]

Cliff's Metallica? Definetely no

[@Requiredfields2]

@@adipura100 Someone finally noticed my dumb comment. Thanks!

[@edwinmcc]

I think he is reading from a screen in front of the camera . . . How many agree ?

[@jrsoper6524]

Wow, you start with a completely diffrent lick then pull out and teach a suzie Q, geez dude where ya comin' from.

[@steve60.]

Nice stuff except calling this getting started, it would be good if you showed the basic finger technique to achieve a chicken pickin sound.

[@Requiredfields2]

I thought if you got yourself a telecaster everything you play is chicken picking.

[@Fender5621]

This started off look but then you made the actual lesson be something with a bend. Com on. Can't ANYONE explain this slowly and clearly using a simple guitar run?

[@patriciaelizalde2720]

tenes el mi desafinado amigo

[@fleadoggreen9062]

Sorry once Suzy q started I had to leave So sick of that song 😊

[@mattharo]

Bro this lessoned suked. even your lava lamp dont work.