How to play Runnin’ Wild by Midland
Welp, sometimes you gotta dig into something you can’t get out of your head. Runnin’ Wild has been filling the space between my ears for the last few months, and it was time to learn how to play it. These guitar licks are some of the best I’ve heard in a while. It’s not your typical rock n’ roll guitar thrown over some cowboy chords. In fact, you’ll notice some similarities between these and baritone guitar licks you hear in old country songs. While the guitar work is not fast or flashy, it is deliberate, intentional, and defines the feel and style of the song. I say these are some of the best licks because of their simplicity and effectiveness at transporting a listener to another place. Seriously, you’ll feel like you’re horse on a prairie! Or rolling down the highway in an old pickup truck with the windows down!
Ok, maybe not but come on, let’s get excited! Today we’ll be diving into the acoustic and electric guitar parts by breaking down the rhythm and lead work. Learning how to play Runnin’s Wild will teach you some classic old-school country guitar licks.
Check out our YouTube video lesson where you’ll see the strumming pattern and lead licks slowed down to manageable speeds. And don’t forget to scroll down for the tabs and chord charts.
Gear Corner
Grab that Tele and slap over to the neck pickup! We are going to be using the fat woody sound of the telecaster to get the tone we want for Runnin’ Wild. I usually roll the tone knob back to take some of the bark and bite out of the single-coil pickups. Don’t forget to roll on some heavy reverb. You want your reverb to allow your notes to drift off in the background for about a second or two. Any more reverb than that and your tone will sound too muddy and dark.
For amplification, I used my Line 6 Pod Pro and pulled up a “Deluxe Reverb” amp model. You could also get away with any of Fender’s Hot Rod series or Reverb series amps. A Hot Rod Deluxe I’m sure would sound great for this song too. The short story is you’re looking for full, warm, and round Fender amp tones.
I think Mark Wystrach uses Gibson acoustic guitars when he plays. If you watch some live Midland videos you can confirm this. I believe he credits a Gibson J-200 for “starting it all” when he talks about the band, but it looks to me like he uses a hummingbird live.
I could speculate about guitars all day, but I would say if you have a Gibson acoustic lying around, use it. If you got a Martin, use that instead. And when all else fails, use what you got!
Guitar Chords
Nashville Numbers
To learn how to play Runnin’ Wild, we are going to start with the key of B. The Nashville numbers for this song are I-IV-V (1-4-5) in the verses, and I-III-IV-V (1-3-4-5) in the chorus. You’ll also need to know the II (2) and the III (3) chords, and we’ll get to those in a little bit.
So, how do we find the chords? Simple! We use our B major scale, look at each note in sequential order, and then give each note a number. In this case, the 1st note of a B major scale is B, the second is Eb, third is E, fourth F#, and the fifth is Ab. Lucky for us that’s as far as we need to go today. Since we want the 1-2-3-4 and 5 chords, we simply need to know the B, Eb, E, F#, and Ab chords!
The song has some cool changes in the chorus that drift away from your typical progression. The second time around, you’ll still play I-III-IV-V (1-3-4-5), but you’re going to continue on with I-IV-II-V (1-4-2-5). Now, all of these numbers are typically found in popular music, but this is one of the most unique progressions and uses of these chords that I’ve seen in recent music. The take away? Mess around with different progressions and orders of chords! You’ll never know what you may come up with until you throw the chords in a blender and see what comes out!
Chord Charts!
Some of you may have groaned when you saw the B, Eb, and Ab chords in the paragraphs above because you thought, “oh no…bar chords!” If bar chords are not you’re friend, I have good news for you. If you grab you’re capo and put it on the 4th fret of your guitar, you can largely eliminate the bar chords from this song! Woohoo!
The chord charts below use the G chord shape and the associated chords using your Nashville numbers if the song was in the key of G. The chord charts below include both the actual chord name and the name of the chord shape you will be playing!
Electric Guitar Licks!
Intro
You already know that these licks inspired me, and if you’re reading this they inspired you too! Let’s dive into the intro of the song first. This lick immediately sets the tone for the song and puts you out on that prairie!
Lick #1
Lick #2
This is a pretty simple lick to fill up the empty spaces of the song with long low notes.
Verse!
The verse is where the electric guitar opens up with some awesome sounds. These are the classic country, and learning these will give you a great foundation and base to build off as you continue on your country guitar lick journey.
Lick #3
These are some easy slides between the lyrics. It’s a pretty sound and adds some character behind the words.
Lick #4
The first of a series of cool licks over a B chord and an F# chord. You may recognize that these licks are formed around a major pentatonic scale. If you keep this scale in mind and are mindful of the slides and bends, you can use these licks in any country song.
Lick #5
Here we have some more cool-sounding slides and low notes to fill in space between the lyrics. There is a pattern here where the guitarist plays significantly less when Mark Wystrach is singing. This is important to remember as a guitarist (or any musician) because you want the singer and the lyrics to have their moment to stand out and shine. Stay out of their way as much as possible and only play where there is space between the words.
Lick #6
This lick will be very similar to Lick #4. There is a large gap between the lines of the verse here, and you can fill it up with more slides and bends using your major pentatonic scale!
Lick #7
Here we will play what could be the hardest lick. The only reason this lick is hard is because of the harmonic technique used. Harmonics are played by lightly laying your finger on a string (you do not fret the string!) If you have an open E note and you lightly place your finger over the 12th fret (or half of the string length) you’ll hear a harmonic! This is demonstrated in the YouTube lesson above at the 11:25 mark. Take your time with this. It’s an advanced technique and may take practice if it’s the first time you’ve played harmonics.
Lick #8
Lick 8 is another lick that’s similar to Lick 6 and Lick 4! By now, you know we’re using the major pentatonic scale, and you may be noticing how small changes to the same lick can make a big difference. If you’re writing songs and you have one lick that you really like, try to change one or two notes each time you play it. Or change the timing of the lick slightly. You’ll make the lick sound different each time you play it and it will be more engaging and enticing to a listener.
Lick #9
These are easy and classic country licks! What’s cool about these are the pre-bends you’ll play on the 11th fret of your G-string.
Lick #10
This is the last lick before you roll into the chorus of the song. Not too difficult, and it just takes a couple slides.
Chorus!
In the chorus, we are going to change our lead work and start playing some rolls. With your right hand you can use your thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers to play these rolls. Or you can do what I do, use a pick, and flat pick the roll. Either way is fine. One way is not correct or better than the other. You’ll need to decide whatever is the easiest or best way for you to play these rolls.
Final Licks of Song!
The last lick of the song circles and repeats a bit before it closes with a long slow bend. This lick sounds like a baritone and may confuse some listeners into thinking that the song is in drop D. In a sense they are not wrong, but the electric guitar is in standard tuning. It’s just that the low open E string sounds much lower and deeper over the key of B. Remember this the next time you’re playing a song in B! No need to play in a drop tuning, just plays some deep low E notes!
That’s IT!
You know how to play Runnin’ Wild!! If you’re looking for more country guitar riffs to rip on your electric, check out our lesson for Tennessee Whiskey (smellytele.com)! The main riff is based on R&B and country-style licks that a beginner can pick up; additionally, we cover the guitar solo and fills!
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Also, go and check out some of our other electric guitar lessons! We have lessons for All Night, Brothers Osborne (smellytele.com) and Only Daddy That’ll Walk The Line (smellytele.com)
And if you liked the guitar we used in today’s video, check out our full review of the Martin Custom D Classic Rosewood (smellytele.com) and the Fender Classic Player Baja ’60s Telecaster (smellytele.com).
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