Walk on Boy - Rhythm & Fills: Doc Watson style #2

Learn to play "Walk on Boy" on guitar in the style of Doc Watson! This one is all about his rhythm playing and "fills". Fills are short lead lines that are played between vocal phrases. They fill the space when the singer is not singing.

For the strums in this tune, it does not have to be perfectly accurate as written in the tablature, unless it's indicating a single note be played. Anytime you see that 2, 3, or 4 notes should be played as a chord, it will be totally ok if you hit a few more or less. It's more about hitting a group of high strings, mid-range strings, or low strings, and even more important than that is your timing.

Engage the swing feel in the playback tab. Doc always played with swing feel on this tune. Listen in Tunefox with the swing feel engaged, and without, to hear the difference in timing and feel.

Follow the suggested fingerings in the guitar tablature and remember to use the focus feature to work on this in pieces. Because this one is challenging some extra mental practice will help. Read and listen before playing regularly at slow speeds. This will help you understand how it's supposed to sound. Listen to the original recording as well. Use the focus feature to listen to and practice individual measures, groups of measures, or sections.

There's a lot of cool elements in Doc's solo here. The blues scale is used very frequently. He also seamlessly blends rhythm and lead playing, combining boom-chuck, alternating bass, cross picking, walking lines, triplets, melody, and of course some hot licks!

Explore more Walk on Boy Guitar Tabs:

Melody, Melody - Up the Neck, Playing the Syllables, Bluegrass, Up the Neck, Doc Watson Style, Doc Watson Style #2, Rhythm & Fills: Doc Watson style