#31
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#32
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There is no question that in the earliest days of bluegrass' development, guitar was considered a rhythm instrument, and the primary right hand tool was fingers. Lester Flatt was primarily a Carter style guitar player, who combined that with some licks from his days as a drop-thumb frailer on the banjo. He is given credit for bringing the G-run into bluegrass, and it has remained a signature of the music.
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Billie Forrester played accordian with Bill Monroe for a couple of years, as I recall, but that doesn't make it a bluegrass instrument! I have heard two opinions on who brought the flatpick into bluegrass. One group would say George Shuffler when he played with the Stanley Brothers. Most, however, lean toward Don Reno, saying he started to flatpick fiddle tunes when he was playing rhythm to accompany Tommy Magness ... Doc Watson gives credit to Don Reno as the one who started flatpicking bluegrass music. It soon became the standard, because it maintained the guitar's role as a rhythm instrument, but also made in an effective lead instrument ... very similar to the transition from frailing to three finger banjo playing. |
#33
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Diff Strokes!
Personally, For Me, I Think... sorry if I missed any qualifiers!
I do both, all of the above. If I'm best at anything, it would be flatpicking and strumming. I do just a very FEW songs where I truly fingerpick (bare) - Blackbird, Stars by Fogelberg, Secret O' Life by JT... There are some tunes I do that SHOULD BE fingerpicked - Classical Gas, Don't Think Twice, Puff, others - but I am so much more comfortable with a flat pick that I play them with a pick, yet my versions work. I also sometimes use my fingers WHILE flatpicking. The only thing I do NOT do is use fingerpicks - I just can't. I say all this (about ME) only to support the earlier mentioned stance that BOTH is a fine solution, you do NOT have to go completely one method or the other. Find what works for you, practice, perform, have fun! Best, Mike |
#34
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That's a good point where a few of you have pointed out some of the speedy classical and flamenco artists. Where I suggested a FLATpicker is faster.
I can't really disagree with that. I guess I'm thinking of pure BLAZING speed for minutes at a time. And the aspect of amplification as well. A flamenco player is most likely playing solo, so he/she can do as they please with the volume and such. However you put that fingerpicker into a concert scenario with other instruments in a live performance and the fingers cannot do what a pick can do in that situation. You probably disagree with that, too. LOL Its all a wash. I like both styles. The one fellow who said the learning curve from fingerpicker to flatpicker is shorter than the reverse .......AMEN TO THAT! |
#35
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cadb...eature=related Fran
__________________
E ho`okani pila kakou ma Kaleponi Slack Key in California - www.kaleponi.com My YouTube clips The Homebrewed Music Blog |
#36
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The Waybacks, when Stevie Coyle was with them, blended Stevie's fingerstyle with James Nash's very aggressive flatpicking. It worked fine. Lots of other examples exist. |
#37
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Can you be more specific about what a pick can do in that situation that fingers cannot?
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#38
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Sure.
Take your typical rock band. Loud and amplified. I think you'd struggle to find a fingerpicker who could play lead solos at high speed for a sustained period of time, where it would be advantageous versus using a pick. Nor do I think the clarity would shine through. Same with a bluegrass acoustic fingerpicker. My opinion (which is only opinion, remember) is that a PICK enables a guitarist to consistently play LOUDER and CLEARER when other instruments are competing for sound. Having said all that, I probably have more overall respect for a talented fingerstyle player than a single pick guitarist. I just think he's going to shine a little better if his music is softer and more subtle. Generally speaking, of course. |
#39
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Last edited by David Hilyard; 05-04-2009 at 04:16 PM. |
#40
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Here's an example of what I'm talking about. With the harmonics and more subtle sounds, notice the fingerpicking. The actual pick is held back for the more complex and rapid playing. Once he goes beyond Mach 1, or the speed of sound, notice its 100 percent flatpicking.
Take the time to watch most of it. And then ask yourself if anyone on this planet could do this without a pick. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnqpOFcBiMM |
#41
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Phelps played lead on Cheyenne, Dec. 31, 1954; Cline played lead on Used to Be and Brown County Breakdown, Sept. 16, 1955. |
#42
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This is a speedy tune, best played fingerstyle. Pete Huttlinger's "Brown Bomber": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a33rP0u-7eA And Joe Pass, who played with a pick and fingerstyle, does this fingerstyle, just because he wanted to. He often held a pick in his mouth so he could switch off, when he wanted a different sound. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDjMLTtv6Us This is a cool tune played with a banjo roll approach. That'd be hard with a pick. I'm enjoying the CD I got from Martin Tallstrom. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XZgz...780A08&index=4 My point is, both methods can be used with speed and complexity. |
#43
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#44
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I am a mainly pick player, but lately have been studying fingerpicking, and I must say it;s far more versatile then pick playing, but you do need to know both, plus some hybrid picking to be a complete player. Like Eric Johnson is actually.
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My YouTube Channel Only a life lived for others is a life worth living." - Albert Einstein |
#45
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Ah, yes, how great. Leave the work to the sound guy. Don't bother to develop good technique and dynamics because you will never need it. No wonder so much music sounds so anemic and artificial today. But not all. In April I went to a big guitar show in a large city. It was pretty noisy. I had the bizarre experience of seeing a Taylor dealer deomonstrate his products plugged in to listeners just a few feet away. In the evening I went to a classical guitar recital in a big school auditorium. No PA, no amplification, of course, just a lone player and his guitar. How refreshing. |