What we are playing here is a rockabilly rhythm with a chromatic type run as part of a pattern. You can flatpick here, which has its own flavor, and what you get is a quick upstroke with that old timey feel.

I’m playing the E chord in the beginning and then I quickly get out of there to play an A or an open A9th by playing only the second fret on my D string. So we get a little melody with that difference between our 1 chord and our 4 chord.

And what you get is a full, flowing, walk up and then back down, and each one’s a pluck, a pull off. You can experiment mixing those up together. The possibilities are endless.

The open D position will work well with the chromatic runs as well. So have fun with this, try new ideas and don’t be afraid to experiment.

Until next time,

—Arlen Roth