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One of my favorite players in this genre. Really amazing. Figured I'd share:
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11-05-2013 07:40 PM
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Yeah, he's really good. His rockabilly DVD is on my Amazon wishlist. I'm heavy into rockabilly now. In part, it's just fun music. In another part, it's a way to work out the kinks in lots of fundamentals. Perhaps most importantly in my case, finger picking. I work on it daily now. Slow going but worth the effort, I think.
Thanks for sharing the videos!
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You're welcome. His "hillbilly picking video," which is Travis/Atikins style is on my list.
Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
I work on the picking every day too. I'm a good finger picker but didn't start learning the Travis/Atkins style until about five or six months ago. Right now I have versions of "It's Only A Paper Moon" and "I Remember You" that I got out of this book:
http://www.amazon.com/All-Time-Stand...travis+picking
I'm also working on this version of "Sleigh Ride":
The gentleman playing it has his arrangement posted as a PDF.
Your comment about working out lots of kinks in the fundamentals is right on target. This type of playing is not only fun and sounds great but it helps you to lock in on playing good time and really hearing the tune, both the bass and harmony. Then, once you learn a tune, you can play around with different things, subs, rhythmic stuff, etc.Last edited by paynow; 11-19-2013 at 09:16 AM.
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That version of "Sleigh Ride" is way above where I'm at now. I tip my hat to that guy.
I've been listening to Elvis' Sun Sessions and love the way Scotty Moore played on those songs. I like his variation of Travis picking and his ability to combine it with other styles. That cat could get real, real gone!
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Back in the early nineties I discovered Doc Watson and really got into the whole Travis style pretty heavily for a few years....even used a thumb pick. Then of course there is Blind Blake whose stuff is no walk in the park....lol
This guy does a pretty great job of playing Blake...
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I bought one recently. I've tried them a few times but they always felt so odd,i just quit. I like using one for "Susie-Q" but most days, I don't put it on. I could never fathom how Johnny Winter plays the way he does with one! I use the super-thin Conti pick (.38 mm nylon) and a thumb-pick is like a hammer after that! Originally Posted by djangoles
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yea never felt comfortable with it.....
but tried for probably a year and then just lost it and used the thumb....
Found this guy on you tube last year when I had to learn a couple of ragtime tunes for a show....
he is pretty awesome... playing a Ton Van Bergeyk arrangement (who I think has posted here a few times and is a member??)
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I've never really found a thumb pick I like. I usually have to file them, or try to stretch them so they fit my thumb.
These are supposed to be the best. I want to order some since I've never tried the brand. You can only get them through the Fred Kelly site:
http://fredkellypicks.com/
Thom Bresh is Merle Travis' son, and is also excellent. I think he has an instructional video out:
http://www.bresh.com/
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Also since I'm a lefty finding a lefty thumb pick back then was a little tricky... Mandolin Bros was the only place I could find them.
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I was visiting a friend in Staten Island recently and got to go there for the first time. It's the best guitar store I've ever been in. I can imagine they have everything. They knew Patrick also. Originally Posted by djangoles
I practice Travis/Atkins picking on a cheap Washburn acoustic with moderately high action so that my fingers get callouses and so that when I play it on a better guitar it's easier.
Recently I got to play this guitar, for which I posted the following:
http://gretschpages.com/forum/vintag...s/66742/page1/
I must say, such a pleasure to play that style on the master's instrument. And it's still in great shape after all these years that my friend has owned it.Last edited by paynow; 11-20-2013 at 08:13 PM.
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lot of stuff here if you're into it...
http://www.acousticfingerstyle.com/midifils.htm
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I've always had a decent feel for this style, in that the constant thumb was never an issue. What halted my progress was my inability to use my thumb to effectively fret those 6th or in some cases even 5th string bass notes. My hands are just too small. I would need to find a slim v shaped neck to continue with this stuff again. If not for that I might specialized in Travis style. Travis had a huge collection of thumb chords he used and almost all of them are tough to thumb, for me at least.
Last edited by mjt; 12-16-2013 at 11:42 PM.
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Tom Bresh is the son of Merle Travis. He's a virtuoso of this style. I watched this several months ago and need to watch it again. One thing he talks about is how you should just take a very simple melody and apply a bass line to it, in order to get your feet wet. There's also an interesting anecdote about the great Howard Roberts trying to learn this style:
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Enjoyed that vid. The Mark Hanson book ("Art of Contemporary Travis Picking" or something close) the host holds up is the one I'm working with now. Good stuff. Wish I could play like this guy!
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I had that book when i first started playing....little too advanced for me back then...hahaha... Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
Been listening to Ton and some of the other semi-obscure Euro fingerpickers.....
If you buy any of his recordings (Ton) through Stefan Grossman you also get tabs of entire albums....
http://www.guitarvideos.com/artists/ton-van-bergeyk
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It's too advanced for me now! I give it some time every morning and I'm getting a bit better at Originally Posted by djangoles
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Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
I don't remember much from that book except Sloop John B with the author singing it???
Take it slow and accurate.....loop 2 and 4 bar bits until it starts to feel natural.
I've been working on 4 different tunes the past week or so.....4 or 8 bars only...other tunes same thing...then on to next 4 or 8. It seems it gets easier as you add them up.
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I love Merle Travis, but 50's Chet Atkins is the pinnacle of electric Travis style finger picking IMO.
He was so clean and musical.
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I have Paul's video, I wish he would do another. He's gotten a lot better since he first did it I believe. It seem like he's almost gone pure Atkins/Travis.
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This geezer is called R J Ronquillo, he seems to be an endorsee for Eastwood/myrareguitars.
Swart + Airline Tuxedo
This is the Wrinkledupgeezer or T K Smith, he makes Bigsby pickups (C.A.R) and Charlie Christian pickups too.
He also does custom parts and stuff for 50's styled guitars
I love that fingerstyle rag, but I have a 5 thumbed left hand
Ahwell....
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Did you catch the look on the guitar player behind Chet (-he's not playing, just holding a guitar and watching) after one of Chet's rolling fills? That look says it all: "Man, I can't believe what I just saw." Originally Posted by mjt
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Yes!! The sound Chet had in the 50's was just perfect. I mean he was good afterward and others have come along, I just think Chet perfected it in that era. The other thing, is Chet was the head of a division at RCA records and he was doing a lot of studio work. The fills he did on many artists records like the Louvin Brothers during period were beautiful. He was a masterful at double stop, and triad fills. The thing about Atkins was, even when he was flashy, it was always musical. Even the false harmonics on Wildwood Flower, fit the song, not the other way around. Just pure taste and technique. Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
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Okay, then. Thumb picks
1) Do you use one?
2) If so, what kind? (Or 'kinds,' if you keep a few in your arsenal.)
3) Where do you get them? (I've never seen a great variety of thumb picks in a music store. Indeed, I think it is possible that all the thumb picks in the music store I go to are from the same bag of a dozen or so bought before I was born.)
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And yesterday, when I was in Sam Ash in New York City, I noticed the same thing. They have tons of picks, all kinds of varieties, but the thumb pick selection is limited. Same old, same old. Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
I've been meaning to try these, which I mentioned earlier in this thread:
http://fredkellypicks.com/
They're supposed to be great and the thumb picks are different than any I've seen before. The Bumble Bee is the one I want to check out. Kelly only sells his stuff online, not through vendors, so you won't be able to find them in the store. I may go with the variety pack, which gives you both flat and thumb picks:
http://fredkellypicks.com/bumble-bee/variety-pack.html
I can never get thumb picks to fit correctly, and I don't really like using them because I don't like the way they feel; sort of a control thing. I had an Ernie Ball in my case, and it just broke, so now I have none. I had filed it to get the tip the way I want too. I can't stand the metal ones.
They do, however, give you that "Chet" sound with the heavier bass notes they produce.
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Hey, Al, check out Elderly.com. They sell Fred Kelly picks much cheaper than Fred does! The Bumble Bee remains expensive, around 3 bucks, but the slick picks are about 75 cents. (My local music store charges a buck for the old-style Dunlop thumb picks.) I ordered three FK picks (from Elderly) on Christmas day and they should be in the afternoon mail. I'll let you know what I think of them. Originally Posted by paynow
I've had trouble with thumb picks too---not feeling right, being too tight, having too long a blade. (When I use an old-style Dunlop pick, I often click it against the neck pick-up, which just won't do.) But I've heard a lot of guys do amazing things with them and, as the saying goes, "I want me some of that." Especially Travis picking---it's part of the style for the bass notes to sound different than the treble ones. A thumb pick gives you that.
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