The G run is a short run of bass notes that climbs from the low G note to the open G string. Bluegrass guitar players use it to end a sung line, to mark the end of a break, and to tell the band the 1 chord has arrived. It is the best known lick in bluegrass rhythm guitar. Many players call it the Lester Flatt G run, after Lester Flatt, who played it with Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys and with Flatt and Scruggs.
The notes
Hold a G chord. Play these seven notes in order.
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Sixth string, 3rd fret. This is G.
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Fifth string, open. This is A.
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Fifth string, 1st fret. This is B flat.
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Fifth string, 2nd fret. This is B. Hammer on from the 1st fret. Do not pick this note.
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Fourth string, open. This is D.
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Fourth string, 2nd fret. This is E.
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Third string, open. This is G.
Strum the G chord once after the last note.
The hammer-on
Notes 3 and 4 are one motion. Pick the fifth string with your first finger on the 1st fret. Then bring your second finger down hard on the 2nd fret. The string keeps ringing and the pitch jumps up.
That small bent sound in the middle of the run is what makes it sound like bluegrass. Practice the hammer-on alone until the second note is as loud as the first.
Picking direction
Use down strokes for the notes on the beat and an up stroke for a note between beats. A simple way to start is to play every picked note with a down stroke at a slow speed. Add up strokes when you speed up.
Pick with force. The run has to cut through a banjo and a fiddle.
Where the run goes
The run fits in the gap at the end of a line, when the chord is G and the singer has stopped. It takes about one bar. The last note lands as the next line begins.
Listen for these spots.
The end of a verse, before the chorus.
The end of a chorus, before a break.
The end of a break, as the singer comes back.
The last line of the song. Read how to end a song in a bluegrass jam.
Do not play it in every gap. Two or three G runs in a song is plenty. A run in every line wears thin.
Use it only on the 1 chord
The run announces home. Play it when the song lands on the 1 chord. In the key of G, that is the G chord. Do not play it over the C or the D.
The G run in other keys
A capo moves the run to any key. With a capo on the second fret, the same fingering sounds in A. On the fourth fret, it sounds in B. Players still call it the G run, because the hand plays G shapes. Read how to use a capo in a bluegrass jam.
This is one reason bluegrass guitar players use a capo so much. The run does not work the same way out of other chord shapes.
A shorter version
A first version can leave out two notes. Play the sixth string at the 3rd fret, the fifth string open, the fifth string at the 2nd fret, and the fourth string open. Then strum G. It carries the same message and is easier at speed.
What the rest of the circle hears
Bass, mandolin, and fiddle players listen for the G run. It tells them the line is over and the 1 chord is here. A clear run from the guitar helps a circle stay together, most of all on a song that some players do not know.
Practice
Play the seven notes at a slow speed with a metronome. Say the count out loud.
Then play four bars of boom-chuck rhythm on G and put the run in the fourth bar. Go straight back to rhythm with no gap. Read how to play guitar rhythm in a bluegrass jam.
Last, play a three-chord song such as Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms and add one run at the end of each chorus.
When the run is steady, use it to close your breaks. Read how to play a guitar break in a bluegrass jam. For more on the instrument, see the bluegrass guitar guide.