Playing 2 notes with one fingertip in Travis picking or Fingerpicking
 

I've recently started playing in the style of Tommy Emmanuel fingerpicking style. Just getting the hang of it, I realized he sometimes plays 2 bass notes with his fingertip. Usually ring or middle finger. And I'm not talking about giving a curvature to the finger. I've seen gypsy jazz players do that too they cover 2 bass notes to give a fuller sound. Unfortunately I could not find anything online. Is there anyone who can do that and give me some tips. Like, should i have a finger tip that is big enough to cover 2 strings or is there a way to approach it as far as technique goes. Cause i dont seem to have enough sized fingertip :)

You mean with the fretting hand?

E -

There is no "correct" style, but Travis picked with a thumb and index finger as did Rev. Gary Davis. Blind Blake 'double thumbed' his bass notes with his thumb (ie. he played the sixth and fifth strings in close succession to provide a stutter)

But don't worry about their styles, develop your own. If it sounds good, then it's correct!

best,

Rick

Do you mean playing two strings with one finger of the picking hand or thumb pick with a little strum or fretting two strings with a barre?

Sorry I guess I wasn't clear enough. I meant the fretting hand. For example when you have to alternate between bass notes, C and G on C major chord you have to either press down on G with your pinky and play or you can alternate with ring finger between C and G. But some people can play the C and G with the same finger tip which looks impossible. I was asking about that if any of you can do it and is there any tips you can give to do it ?

Quite alot depends on the neck and nut measurement of course but I found that it was just a matter of keep trying.... eventually your fingertip discovers how to do it, a slight angle here, a slight flattening there. I advise just keep trying and you will get there.
Nick

I have messed with this technique a little. I aim to fret an imaginary note between the two strings. Sometimes, I'm lucky enough to get both notes, but I might have to flatten out my first knuckle a little bit.

I’ll bet some of that is done with a wraparound thumb technique. (ie holding the neck like a baseball bat)

Ah that, well I used to hold both strings with one finger but that was a long time ago, maybe I had a guitar with a narrower nut but now I play alternating bass by moving 3rd finger back and forth between the C and G and get a cleaner sound . Don't forget that what may be doable on one guitar can seem quite difficult to achieve on a guitar with different dimensions, I once heard a pro guitarist playing a Maton Tommy Emmanuel signature model and he was saying how much easier it was on the fretting hand due to the narrow nut width.

You sure about that? Generally would be a bad idea. As far as Tommy I know he can thumb two bass notes but I have not seen it the way you described.
Here is Tommy teaching "Freight Train" (see at about 2:10)

I couldn't find the interview of Tommy Emmanuel I've watched some time ago. He was talking about it and now that i try to play the style I realized the need of that, it really makes your playing economy better but then again you dont really have to depend on this, I was just asking. But i can find many instances of this technique. Especially in gypsy jazz they play chords structured like that. Not that you have to play the chords like that but to get a fuller sound they add one extra bass note. With that you obtain more freedom for one finger. Hence, it makes this technique really important to work on, cause you know freedom is everything, especially on your fingers.

Keep looking for a youtube video that shows clearly specifically what you are talking about.

Are you saying that you don't believe me ? Cause I can bother, and look for it and show it to you if that's what you are trying to say. Otherwise i wont bother cause it doesn't make any sense. :D You know, im in a different time zone.

Show something. You already said you had seen it done frequently.

Awesome fourth post to this forum, dude.