Billy Strings has brought the art of flatpicking guitar to a huge audience, with playing that’s both deeply rooted and highly adventurous. In this column we’ll take a close look at his style by way of two standout guitar solos, both from Grammy-winning albums: Tony Trischka’s star-studded Earl Jam, and Strings’ own Live Vol. 1.
Banjo legend Trischka has been a fixture on the acoustic scene and a household name among bluegrass fans since the 1970s. Earl Jam is his tribute to the great Earl Scruggs, featuring appearances from some of the finest musicians in bluegrass. Strings kicks off the album with a hard-driving take on “Brown’s Ferry Blues,” first recorded by the Delmore Brothers and later codified as a standard by Doc Watson. The track opens with Strings picking the lead, as shown in Example 1, backed only by Sam Bush’s signature mandolin chop on the backbeat.
Like most flatpickers, Strings uses an alternating picking technique, striking down on the beats and up on the ands (pick directions are shown above the tab). This technique underpins the drive and bounce of his sound. Notice how his fretting hand frequently mirrors the chord shapes of the underlying harmony (chords shown above the notation). Using these shapes as a reference, he outlines the melody while striking adjacent strings to fill out the sound—a fundamental flatpicking approach that defines much of Strings’ style. His solo also features classic flatpicking vocabulary, including G runs (measures 5 and 13), cross picking (measure 7), and fluid slurs (measure 14).
Live Vol. 1, which won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album this year, showcases what Strings arguably does best: perform live. The album opens with his original “Dust in a Baggie” before diving into spacious improvisations more reminiscent of sprawling electric jam bands than a traditional acoustic five-piece. One such moment comes in “Fire Line > Reuben’s Train,” the latter a deep cut from the American folk songbook.
Strings begins his solo on “Reuben’s Train” by emphasizing the melody, adding pulsing syncopations and generous slides, hammer-ons, and pull-offs (Example 2). For players unsure how to solo over droning tunes with minimal chord changes, this example offers a roadmap. By splicing the melody with subtle rhythmic and melodic variations, Strings crafts a compelling solo before launching into a fiery diminished run. While some of his moves push boundaries, his playing remains firmly rooted in the flatpicking tradition.
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2025 issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine.
