#16
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Thanks everyone for these fantastic suggestions. You've given me a lot of material to launch this project.
I had NO idea how lousy my fretwork was. Strumming glosses over a lot of sins that picking lays bare. Practice, practice, practice.
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#17
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Check out "Spike Driver Blues" from Happy Traum's book. It was my first book many, many years ago and the foundation has served me well. Spike Driver Blues is a good one because it's all based on one chord (G) so there's not much left hand worry while you work on getting your right hand thumb to behave Plenty of other good tunes as well ...
Also, just got an email from Stefan Grossman regarding Rolly Brown's Finger picking nuts and bolts - he is a good teacher ... as is Toby Walker ... There are so many sources ... pick one or two that are not too hard and have fun. The nice thing is almost all the tunes are on Youtube in one form or another so you can hear and see them. I've never understood why people post songs they are obviously still learning. It might be a source of inspiration ("they can do it, I can do it") just beware they some of them have serious timing issues. Thankfully, most songs have many video versions to chose from. Happy learning ... stick with it ... not natural at first ... but once you "get it" the door is open to a lifetime of learning and fun
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#18
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BTW, in case you haven't already noticed, don't use videos of Elizabeth Cotten as teaching aids...! She played a right-handed guitar left-handed, strings upside down; picking bass with her fingers.
OTOH, this one for Spike Driver Blues is useful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vphs2YYBSr0 And check this one for similarly economical use of that G shape: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gytJemzNTM genius...
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"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen. |
#19
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More gold standard reference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlSIQmFQPBM (Tuning = DGCFAD, ie standard, whole step down, so he's in key of D concert, but playing E, A7 and B7 shapes.)
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"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen. |
#20
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Other resources are just as good I'm sure but I can vouch for that one personally. If you really want to learn how to Travis pick, I very highly recommend his books. |
#21
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Fingerpicking Acoustic Blues/Rag/Folk/Slide Lessons https://www.tobywalkerslessons.com/ |
#22
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Blake, at least to my ear had more of a syncopated 'be-bump' to his bass lines then the straight alternating bass that Travis employed. I would suggest songs like 'Avalon Blues' and 'Mermaids Swim With Me' by Mississippi John Hurt if one wanted to play in the Travis style. Also anything by John Jackson, John Cephas would fit the bill nicely.
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Fingerpicking Acoustic Blues/Rag/Folk/Slide Lessons https://www.tobywalkerslessons.com/ |
#23
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OK, so I might be entering curmudgeon mode here, but you might have got more replies asking for 'Easy songs for alternate thumb picking'. As I see it 'Travis Picking' is a sub set of 'Alternate thumb picking'.
As is 'Clawhammer'. Clawhammer is not used so much these days and is different for guitar picking compared with banjo picking. Banjo clawhammer is completely different and now seems to be combined with 'Frailing'. Poor you. Terminology has got to be more complicated than it used to be. It was all much simpler before the internet. Back then we just played music. |
#24
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G7 ain't an honest 7. It's false advertising. Playing 7s ought to be like suffering from road rage: without even thinking about it you've raised your middle finger.
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#25
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Oh Babe it ain't no lie (another Elizabeth Cotten) is fun and much easier than Freight Train
Pancho & Lefty is nice - a couple tricky chord changes I like doing Nine Pound Hammer in a Travis picking style Spike Driver Blues as has already been mentioned I've been having fun with "Big Cheeseburgers and Good French Fries" a Blaze Foley tune that I heard on Gurf Morlix album of Blaze Foley tunes - kind of made up my own arrangement. I think that's really the key. After you get the basics down you really should try doing your own arrangements of tunes. You will never forget them and they will be so much smoother because they are yours. I know you have to learn other folks arrangements as well to pick up vocabulary etc. - but you may surprise yourself. |
#26
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Many thanks again for all the replies, particularly those of you who recommended Hanson's book. I worked this weekend on the outside-in pattern and had enough competency by Sunday that I began to practice "Me and My Uncle" in Am. I think a basic song like "Help Me Make It through the Night" will also soon be within my grasp. I've got a lot of practice ahead of me but I have a much clearer sense of direction now.
Travis picking appeals to a latent obsessive-compulsive tendency I've had since youth. I never could put down a bag of sunflower seeds; I had to eat them one at a time, till my lips were swollen from the salt, and the bag was empty. Travis picking feels a bit like that. I pick and pick until the brain overloads and the mistakes multiply, and then I set the guitar down, but after a short while, I CRAVE the picking again. I almost get twitchy or cranky about it. At least with this habit, I learn a fun skill.
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Now Playing: -----Composite Acoustics Cargo Raw -----Journey OF420 -----Alvarez MF75S -----Guild F20SB |
#27
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There is a logic to the chronological order in which the book is organized, so don't skip around. You'll be proud of the progress you've made when you finish the book. All that is of course just my opinion based on my experience. |
#28
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Another book to consider for those looking for a Travis Picking method. I choose it over the Hanson books as it has a chapter each on the picking styles of Merle Travis and Chet Atkins.
http://www.halleonard.com/product/vi...g&subsiteid=1& |
#29
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Toby Walker (a fellow member) also has a beginner's fingerpicking download class. I don't remember what the cost was, but I know it wasn't much (~$10 maybe). You learn 3 songs, including Spike Driver Blues. They are relatively easy with video to help. Well worth the money!
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Strummin' to a different chord |
#30
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Actually you'll learn 7 songs and this course had helped those like yourself who wanted to learn this style. Here's the web address if you'd like to take a look. http://www.littletobywalker.com/lear...ingerpick.html
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Fingerpicking Acoustic Blues/Rag/Folk/Slide Lessons https://www.tobywalkerslessons.com/ |