In this lesson, you’ll learn a great solo from a bad song that Matt characterizes as having no melody and regrettable lyrics. This version of “Billy Goat Rag” was recorded by the Light Crust Doughboys, and it is very silly, indeed. Still, it features guitarist Wilson “Lefty” Perkins playing a two-chorus solo (@ 01:22). For Matt, this solo epitomizes western-swing guitar soloing, and as he walks you through the solo, he analyzes Perkins’s “guitaristic” approach to playing jazz in a countrified setting. Matt teaches you both choruses of the solo in the Doughboy’s key of B♭ and provides some tips on fingering the more challenging phrases. In this video, Matt shows you the first chorus of the Lefty Perkins solo, and along the way he waxes philosophical on the discrete skills of the western-swing guitarist.
