How to Play Only Daddy That’ll Walk The Line

Wow, oh wow, how to play Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line is no easy feat folks. It was grueling getting this post together, but I’ve finally finished it for you! This is some serious late 60’s outlaw country guitar. It’s really basic once you figure it out, and it’s built on a lot of different techniques that get a truly authentic country sound. And the best part? It sounds great on a Telecaster. Oh Yeah!!

Today, I will do my standard lyrics and chord walkthrough. If you’re a beginner, go ahead and skip over the first part covering the solo to get to the chord diagrams and the lyrics.

I’m also going to include the advanced guitar solo for those of you who are feeling ambitious. Please watch our YouTube video below. It maps out the main riff of the song and breaks the guitar solo down into 8 separate parts so you can piece this guitar solo together. Once you’ve got it mastered, go play these licks for all your guitar buddies. They’re going to be impressed.

The Main Riff

Besides strumming the chords, the main riff to Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line is arguably the easiest part of this song. It’s a simple riff and it’s tabbed out below. The toughest part about this will be getting the timing down. If you’re a beginner but would like a challenge, I think this is a good lick to work on. This lick repeats often in the song, so it’s the foundation for the song’s guitar work.

Guitar Solo – Part 1

This is possibly one of the best chicken picken intros, and I hope it becomes one of your favorites. Check out the tab below. Note that I’ve included an “X” in front of some of the notes. This is a ghost note. There are two ways to play a ghost note. The first is to just lightly touch the string with your fretting hand so that the string is muted, or not touching the fret. Then you pluck the note with your pick or thumb, and you’re going to hear a *click* or a *thud*. By itself, it’s not that impressive, but it’s the key to chicken picken!

Guitar Solo – Part 2

The second part of the solo is played over the A Chord. You’ll be sliding up and playing some licks that imitate pedal steel like bends. This is really cool sounding and a bit of a finger workout. If you’re a beginner you’ll find that these licks begin stretching your hand and increasing your finger strength. It’s a great lick to exercise your hands!

Guitar Solo – Part 3

The third part of the solo is played over the B chord of the song. It’s very similar in style to the second part of the solo and has more pedal steel bends. This is another really good exercise for finger strength and dexterity.

Guitar Solo – Part 4

The band will sit on the B chord for the fourth lick of the solo. You will notice that licks 4, 5, 6, and 7 are a bit shorter than the previous parts of the solo. That’s because they are very different, and require a different kind of concentration. The fourth part of the solo slides up to the highest frets. On a Telecaster or bolt-on style neck, you are going to need to find a way to get your hand around all the extra material at the upper register of the fretboard. I find it challenging to make the 1/2 bend and hold it at the 21st fret. If it’s difficult for you too, don’t worry. Keep practicing and build up your finger strength.

Guitar Solo – Part 5

The fifth part of the solo brings you to the end of the B chord. When the band stops, you are going to be sliding up to the 17th fret of your B string. The timing of this note is important as everything in the song stops before you play lick #6.

Guitar Solo – Part 6

This is the best part of the song in my opinion! I’ve never heard a lick like this before I learned how to play Only Daddy That’ll Walk the line. It creates so much tension and slides into a great pedal steel bend imitation. If you’re new to country guitar, this is going to be one of the strangest sounding licks you’ll learn. It combines double stops, pull-offs, slides, and bends!

Guitar Solo – Part 7

This lick is a cool one, though it definitely is bringing the vibe back down from the peak that the 6th lick reached. It’s a simple lick that gets us ready to hear the vocal come back in again.

Guitar Solo – Part 8

This part of the solo is kind of a bonus. I think the main solo on the records stops after the 7th part and lets the 11th fret of the A string ring with the 9th fret of the G string. However, if you want to be really technical, there is a second guitar in the background that plays one more lick right before the solo ends. You and I can call this ‘Solo Part 8’ and it goes like this:

The Chords!

No great guitar solo can be played without the band laying down some rythm, backbeat, and chords. Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line is a 3-chord song in the Key of E. The Nashville number progression for this tune is 1-4-5 and this is EXTREMELY COMMON in popular music. I put this in all caps because the sooner you learn to play 1-4-5 in any key, the faster you will be able to learn your favorite songs.

Since we are in the key of E, we need to look at the E-major scale, and count the notes until we reach the 5th note of the scale. So the E-major scale goes E (1), F# (2), Ab (3), A (4), B (5). So the 1st, 4th, and 5th notes of the scale are E, A, and B; therefore, we need to know how to play the E, A, and B major chords! Simple!

Here are some chord diagrams so you can learn to shape these chords.

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The Strumming Pattern

The strumming pattern is straight forward. The easiest way to play is to count along in 4/4 time, one, two, three, four, one, two three, four. While your counting, alternate your strumming with a down stroke, then an up stroke. So on the one, it’s a down stroke, and on the two it’s an up stroke. One (down), two (up), three (down), four (up), and so on.

To make your strumming a bit more interesting, you can play the bass note of the chord, and then a quick up, down, up. I like to use my thumb to play the low note of the chord, and then my pointer finger to strum up, down, up. My thumb will alternate between the two lowest notes of the chord to imitate what a country bass player might play.

Lyrics!

E…………………………………………………………………………

Everybody knows you’ve been steppin’ on my toes

E…………………………………………….

And I’m gettin’ pretty tired of it

………………..A…………………………………………………………………..

You keep a steppin’ out of line and messin’ with my mind

A……………………………………………..

If you had any sense you’d quit

B……………………………………………………………………..

Cause ever since you were a little bitty teeny girl

B……………………………………………………………………..

You said I was the only man in this whole world

B………………………………………………………………………..

Now, you better do some thinkin’, then you’ll find

…………………E……………………………………………………………………..

You got the only daddy that’ll walk the line

E…………………………………………………………………………….

I keep a workin’ every day, all you want to do is play

E……………………………………………

I’m tired of stayin’ out all night

……A………………………………………………………………….

I’m comin’ unglued from your funny little moods

A……………………………………………………………………..

Now honey baby, that ain’t right

B……………………………………………………………………..

Cause ever since you were a little bitty teeny girl

B……………………………………………………………………..

You said I was the only man in this whole world

B……………………………………………………………………..

Now, you better do some thinkin’, then you’ll find

…………………E……………………………………………

You got the only daddy that’ll walk the line

E……………………………………………………………………………………….

You keep a packin’ up my clothes, nearly everybody knows

E…………………………………………………..

That you’re still just a puttin’ me on

A………………………………………………………………………………….

When I start a walkin’, gonna hear you start a squawkin’

A……………………………………………………….

And beggin’ me to come back home

B……………………………………………………………………..

Cause ever since you were a little bitty teeny girl

B……………………………………………………………………..

You said I was the only man in this whole world

B…………………………………………………………………………

Now, you better do some thinkin’, then you’ll find

…………………E……………………………………………

You got the only daddy that’ll walk the line

…………………E……………………………………………

You got the only daddy that’ll walk the line

That’s IT!

Yeehaw! You now know how to play Only Daddy That’ll Walk The Line. Be proud of yourself and start practicing what you’ve learned! Practice makes perfect, and I strongly encourage you to keep playing! The more you play, the better you will get!

Similar Songs

To be perfectly honest, there are no other country songs quite like Only Daddy That’ll Walk The Line on The Smelly Tele right now. BUT! I think you will enjoy learning Marshall Tucker’s Can’t You See! Or perhaps you can try your hand at strumming along to Willin by Little Feat!

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And if you struggled with any part of this lesson, reach out and let me know! I’d be happy to help you work through one part or another!