picking thread

[markIvan]

I am overjoyed to be tapped back in the rhythm of picking and my old patterns i use now are somehow still there ( as gave up picking due to the work it took to just complete one song ,untold hours ) ( The boxer was the song ) but without the implanted song i learn t for to start picking the pattern are realy adaptable and i am just making music ,its fantastic

Now i have one question amongst others like hand condition /nail standard and such and that is finger picks .I seem to be picking in like a claw style with just three fingers really except the occasional third finger on the bottom E string and wondered if a thumb pick would be a good move at this time or should i carry on with the way i am until i mastered that ............or do i want to start like i mean to go on and face the awkarditity ( if such a word exists ) while my habits are still largely unformed .

It really was some of the guys here at the AGF who posted what they do that made me think yes i like all music but there is just something special that you get as a player when locked in a pattern and strolling through chord sequences ........heavenly for me ,i truly am in my secret garden . And yes i would love to post some time with a recording but first impressions count i think and i have high hopes for recognition as a picker .I know part is ego but most of it is just a wonder if you hearing the same sound as i am .Often i think is it just the rhythmic almost chant of the guitar is what is so appealing .

[David Hilyard]

Originally Posted by Zelator

I am overjoyed to be tapped back in the rhythm of picking and my old patterns i use now are somehow still there ( as gave up picking due to the work it took to just complete one song ,untold hours ) ( The boxer was the song ) but without the implanted song i learn t for to start picking the pattern are realy adaptable and i am just making music ,its fantastic

Now i have one question amongst others like hand condition /nail standard and such and that is finger picks .I seem to be picking in like a claw style with just three fingers really except the occasional third finger on the bottom E string and wondered if a thumb pick would be a good move at this time or should i carry on with the way i am until i mastered that ............or do i want to start like i mean to go on and face the awkarditity ( if such a word exists ) while my habits are still largely unformed .

It really was some of the guys here at the AGF who posted what they do that made me think yes i like all music but there is just something special that you get as a player when locked in a pattern and strolling through chord sequences ........heavenly for me ,i truly am in my secret garden . And yes i would love to post some time with a recording but first impressions count i think and i have high hopes for recognition as a picker .I know part is ego but most of it is just a wonder if you hearing the same sound as i am .Often i think is it just the rhythmic almost chant of the guitar is what is so appealing .

Yes, I think so, but it depends. The sound afforded with a thumbpick is different than just using the thumb and or thumb nail. There's usually a stronger bass sound and easier muting. If you like that sound, grab a thumbpick now, and get over the "awkwardness" of using it while you are getting back into the groove. A bare thumb will give a softer, less punctuated sound in the bass, unless you use a lot of nail.

Using the song you mentioned, here's Paul Simon playing "The Boxer", first with a thumbpick, and then the second version, using a bare thumb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hqdZ...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnTa4...eature=related

And Chet Atkins, with a thumpick on a Del Vecchio guitar, the same tune instrumentally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4cVY_ArZ4Y

Another song, from about the same era, also played by Chet, "Me and Bobby Mcgee".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdxHd...om=PL&index=35

Laurence Juber, bare thumb, "All of Me", same sort of alternating bass, muting at times, and a whole bunch of other techniques.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtSkrdXWxzI

Which sound, in the bass, do you like the best?

[markIvan]

Thank you David for the time spent posting these songs ,they are a great example for me ,much appreciated.

[markIvan]

just listened to bobby ma gee .....great and basically exact pick pattern using three fingers ........thanks

[markIvan]

some fantastic picking going on there David ,chets version of the boxer is amazing .What i see is how these guys work the strings with the fretting hand .......thats where the work lies mostly i feel .Does anyone know where this type of alternating thumb started being used ,what is the history of the style



To answer the question at the end of your reply David i would say i like Paul Simons picking as it is done with an accompanying kind of style to vocals ( which is what i aim to do as the ability to work the strings with fretting hand does require a lot more work yet for to represent the main attraction i thing .So i kind like the softer way i think but think i need to play amped up more

[rmyAddison]

I think it comes down to time and practice.

I've been playing for decades, I flatpick and fingerpick fairly well, but when I try something different like using a thumbpick or fingerpicks I sound like I've been playing for a week.

It goes back to the investment of time, I'm sure I/anybody could overcome the thumbpick/fingerpicks learning curve just with practice time, but then it comes down to priorities. I really appreciate crosspickers who use a thumbpick but I'd rather be writing songs then learning a new style at my age.

Zelator, post something, I'd love to hear it..........

[markIvan]

Originally Posted by rmyAddison

I think it comes down to time and practice.

I've been playing for decades, I flatpick and fingerpick fairly well, but when I try something different like using a thumbpick or fingerpicks I sound like I've been playing for a week.

It goes back to the investment of time, I'm sure I/anybody could overcome the thumbpick/fingerpicks learning curve just with practice time, but then it comes down to priorities. I really appreciate crosspickers who use a thumbpick but I'd rather be writing songs then learning a new style at my age.

Zelator, post something, I'd love to hear it..........

Yes even this early before i realy got the variety of chord changes it is very difficult to be persuaded to come off the track to learn a new trick ,could hold me back quite a bit spending time and what i got already is coming on so fast wonder .I do also love the humming of the base strings rythmic pules ,even the strings spring with which your fingers is pulsated up and down is addictive .........i once seen on youtube two guys come on stage and put their heads down with closed eyes lock right into that rythmic humm and repetative movement .When they finnished they opend their eys completely out of it for just a few seconds untill they came back .Its very deep deep music to follow if you playing the top half of the guitar for long two and fro action .I wouldnt like to go as deep as that for long but it is a useful way to hold things a bit while deciding where to go next .I have quite a bit to do there as i need more variety of threads to make mine more flowing .I will try recording tonight some of it and i will give you the link in a pm and show where i am .I would always concider suggestion from a man who likes to play that way .

thanks for the incite

[David Hilyard]

Originally Posted by Zelator

some fantastic picking going on there David ,chets version of the boxer is amazing .What i see is how these guys work the strings with the fretting hand .......thats where the work lies mostly i feel .Does anyone know where this type of alternating thumb started being used ,what is the history of the style

There are volumes written about the history of fingerstyle and thumbstyle guitar. What Paul Simon is doing in "The Boxer" is basically a "Travis style" pattern. Merle Travis, Mose Rager and Ike Everly are three names associated with the early development of the style. But they had influences, too. The black Delta blues players before them where thumping out a beat in the bass strings while playing melody and riffs on the treble strings. Chet kind of learned on his own, copying what he saw local players doing. Then he heard Merle Travis and was influenced more by him. He played a smoother style and used a thumb and 3 fingers. Jerry Reed came along and took the style elsewhere. And there were lots of other players taking the style different places, in parallel. John Fahey, John Renbourn, Stefan Grossman just to name a few. It's a big subject.

This is a very well presented talk on the history and style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9cpN9QivVE

[shawlie]

Finger/thumbpicks seem - as Rich (rmyAddison) points out - a matter of prefrence and practice. Lots of players use them and lots don't. Seems like my favorites didn't - but I used them for a while, quite a few years ago and can't seem to get used to them anymore. Probably could, but it does seem like a big step to take, sometimes.

Alternate thumb style in general is a great style and you should certainly give it a try, Zelator, if you don't already play around with it yet. It has it's limitations and is very chord oriented, but that kind of makes it easier than other approaches to playing. The thing that makes it easy - after you got it learned - is that your thumb just doesn't stop moving. It hits a note every beat. And it gets you thinking about chord fingerings as well - quite a lot of options once you start playing around with things.

Once you have that down, it becomes fairly automatic, and you just add melody on the top strings. Mississippi John Hurt is a good example of a player who's bass notes almost never missed a beat - he had little variation in his thumb, but made some great tunes. Blind Blake takes it to extremes - it's still alternating bass in a way, but he'd throw in extra bass notes each measure (or miss a few). Great stuff.

Alternate thumb might not be the most modern of styles anymore, but I don't think I'd play guitar if it didn't exist. Hurt learned it as a boy, people like Frank Stokes and Simmie Dooley were a generation before him. It's an old style, in all it's forms.

[markIvan]

http://www.showcaseyourmusic.com/sil...tentertainment


ok here is what i do for picking ...........laced with mistakes but just trying to work the stings in a practice session .

[markIvan]

This is a very well presented talk on the history and style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9cpN9QivVE[/quote]


Now that is exactly what i wanted to know ,fantastic from one so young ,born to play i would say .

[markIvan]

Thanks again Shawlie for good direction ( Mississippi john hurt i like ) .I think you are very much where i would like to be as a player and always good to hear you comment on anything i ask

[markIvan]

Originally Posted by rmyAddison

I think it comes down to time and practice.

I've been playing for decades, I flatpick and fingerpick fairly well, but when I try something different like using a thumbpick or fingerpicks I sound like I've been playing for a week.

It goes back to the investment of time, I'm sure I/anybody could overcome the thumbpick/fingerpicks learning curve just with practice time, but then it comes down to priorities. I really appreciate crosspickers who use a thumbpick but I'd rather be writing songs then learning a new style at my age.

Zelator, post something, I'd love to hear it..........

here you go then Rich rude and raw as it is ,it is still how i like to play .
http://www.showcaseyourmusic.com/sil...tentertainment

Like i say i only just started back picking in the last week or so and know so much more has to come but that rhythm of alternating thumb is definitely coming along ....................say something nice ,i need the encouragement heheheheh

[markIvan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N48TR04pHQ8


liking this also ,love that Southern comfort type blues

[markIvan]

Hey i'm feeling all insecure about my picking and i need hugs have i got it or what will i make a picker ? hell yea ,your cue is


you must be out your beds by now over the water its after dinner where i am .......................make something up even if it isnt so

Originally Posted by Zelator

http://www.showcaseyourmusic.com/sil...tentertainment


ok here is what i do for picking ...........laced with mistakes but just trying to work the stings in a practice session .