In this month’s lesson, Bill demonstrates how to use the Flatt and Scruggs classic “Blue Ridge Cabin Home” as a template for improvising using roll patterns and licks. He starts by reiterating the process he’s advocated in this course for learning a new song: First listen to as many versions as you can. Second, learn the chords. Third, find the basic melody on the fingerboard. Next, relate the melody to the chord pattern and start to think about the roll patterns and licks that will support the melody. Then he walks you through the process on “Blue Ridge Cabin Home.” You’ll start with a bare-bones version emphasizing the melody and then learn to add a variety of licks and rolls to round out the sound. In this video, Bill reintroduces the basic process and then walks you through a solo for the song. He also urges you to think of the solo as just a jumping-off point for your own creativity rather than as a finished work.
