Getting Started with Licks & Fills in the style of Dave Rawlings

Print-friendly tabs, extended video lesson, and jam track all available @ https://songnotes.net/lessons/451/

In this week’s lesson I’m excited to dive into the guitar stylings of Dave Rawlings, and walk you through three sequences that are filled with licks & fills inspired by his playing. Rawlings’ playing style could be described as folk / country / Americana, with heavy doses of bluegrass, gospel, and the blues all mixed in.

His playing often combines loose rhythm with “slippery”-sounding licks, and he’s known for embracing dissonance, cross-picking, chromatic runs, and using other bits of related flair — all of which create a truly magical sound. Many of you have requested Dave Rawlings tunes over the last couple years, the most recent request coming Roy (thanks!) who asked that I make a video on his unique style. Here it is… I hope you enjoy!

0:00 Demonstration
0:58 About Dave Rawlings Style
3:23 Sequence #1
11:52 Sequence #2
15:21 Playthrough (picked)
16:16 Playthrough (fingerstyle)