Giving up flatpicking... need recommendation for good strumming materials.
 

After almost 2 years, I have come to the conclusion that bluegrass flatpicking for me is futile. Just don't have the motor skills in my right hand (left hand ain't that great either). Therefore, I'm thinking that strumming might be the best way to go (not interested in fingerpicking). What are some good song or lesson books for this type of playing? Doesn't have to be super easy. Probably could use something in the "middle to advanced beginner" level.

Thanks in advance!

try justinguitar.com

all you need is there including strumming and rhythm techniques plus a hole lot more.

Don't give up on bluegrass music altogether. There are TONS of great bluegrass players that are not great flat pickers. Like anything else, there are varying degrees of skill in flat picking. There are scores of big name players who are only moderately good flat pickers and some are not good at it at all. I mean, even the great Del McCoury will tell you he's not a great flat picker. There are tons of big name players who are not on the level of Bryan Sutton, Cody Kilby, Tim Stafford, Kenny Smith, Clay Hess, Tony Rice, or other elite flat pickers.
I've been practicing flat picking for about 6 months and I can keep up with songs of moderate to some moderately fast tempos but not really fast temo songs like Ricky Skaggs' version of "Little Maggie". However, I've been playing for 48 years and have some other skills I can draw on that have helped my flat picking come along much quicker than if I was a total beginner.
But guys like Dan Tyminski, Daily and Vincent, and many of the older big names are not lightning quick players like the others mentioned above.
The only reason I mention all this is I hope you don't become discouraged with bluegrass just because you can't flat pick like the top pros. After all, they're full time professionals and make their living playing music.
OTOH, there's not a thing wrong with being just a good, solid, rhythm player. That's a whole other set of skills altogether.


Tom

If you like Flatpicking, stay with it.

After 47 years of playing, I decided to take up Bluegrass and I must say that I'm having to do things really slow to learn but, learn I will.

Don't try to bite of big pieces, learn a few notes at a time and develop your speed from there.

Good luck.

Your situation sounds very similar to mine.


Tom

Giving up flatpicking... need > strumming materials.
 

How about a nice 12 string Acoustic?..... 12 strings = better strumming!:)

You can strum anything.

Strum the bluegrass songs you like. Strum the full chords rather than picking individual notes.

There are no rules. Have fun and let go.

Don't give up! Flatpicking is a lot of fun and you don't have to be as good as the professionals to enjoy it.

You've ONLY been at it 2 years. It can take longer than that to be proficient. I've been at it 35+ year and I am an intermediate on a good day.
Love me some flatpickn! :)

At E C's Level
 

I saw a show on Eric Clapton the other night. He started out with a Reel to Reel machine with Big Bill Bronzie tunes.....Totally self taught....Listen, work it out, wind it back, start all over. At the end of the program he said he would never be able to to get that correct Robert Johnson sound or feel , it would elude him , just not right, very self critical........your in good company;)

Thanks for the replies. I'm not planning on giving up bluegrass rhythm. Developing a good flatpicking technique just seems completely out of reach. Definitely have some right hand motor skill issues.

Perhaps I should have just asked for good strumming materials in my OP. I'm looking to branch into other genres besides bluegrass.

"Easy Guitar"
 

Many Players are covered in print under the "Easy Guitar" brand published by Hal-Leonard....I have several...one Eric Clapton, another The Who...ect. They come with strum and pick patterns. halleonard.com Enjoy the Trip:up:

Long time strummer here. Would LOVE to learn some easy flatpicking stuff to begin with. Can someone recommend some books or methods for beginning flatpicking?

It took me 5 years for me to develop the muscle memory for flat-picking if that is any encouragement.

The way it was explained to me is that our brains develop the concept before out muscles develop the ability to perform. This is why playing slow with a steady tempo, using a metronome, is important.

Personally, I found the style of Norman Blake more intuitive for me. He plays out of a chordal framework using simple scales. Over time you will develop the skills and also be able to hear and scale and know what to do perhaps.

Something that helped me when I started my flatpicking journey was learning to play mandolin.

The mandolin forced me to re-evaluate right hand techniques and develop the skills I needed that were directly transferable to guitar(unbeknown to me at the time).

After a year or so of working at simple fiddle tunes, I was delightfully surprised one day to find myself hammering out tunes I learned on mandolin with the guitar.

Old habits die hard and sometimes a new,fresh approach on a different instrument will transcend old bad habits developed earlier on a different "tool".