[devellis]

"Blues" encompasses a wide swathe of music. There are lots of subtypes and even sub-subtypes. So, it's kind of hard to talk about in general terms. I personally think there are styles of blues that lend themselves better to fingerpicking but other types probably lend themselves better to flatpicking. And if you can take a tune that's usually fingerpicked and work up a nice arrangement of it played with a flatpick, that's great. It's a fluid musical form. Play what sounds good to you. When the Doors recorded "Light My Fire," the most prominent music riff was on the organ. The guitars were electrics. But Jose Feliciano recorded it on a fingerpicked nylon-strung guitar and it sounded great. Did it sound like the Doors' version? No. Was it supposed to? No. Was it still rock? Who knows. Probably not, but it was good music.

If different styles of blues have anything in common, its their informality, spontaneity, and lack of a rigid structure. Sometimes, tempos are strictly followed, other times not. Sometimes, the instruments are tuned perfectly, other times not. Most blues musicians in the 20s and 30s played a variety of musical styles and I doubt that they made much differentiation between one piece of music and the next, as to what the genre was. They just played what people enjoyed hearing. So, the notion of strictly defining what is and isn't allowable within the broad category of blues seems a bit out of place and contrary to the nature and history of the music. Of course, there's the further possible safeguard of simply not labeling what you play. Just enjoy it and share it and don't sweat the labels.