Rabi, the early blues performer was a one-man show. He stomped his foot to act as the drummer, the thumb took care of the bass, the fingers of the melody, and the player sang to complete the mini orchestra. He was the band. The beat or the rhythm was the hallmark of the early blues guitarist. As time went by the guitar was accompanied by percussion etc., and Travis picking as an art fizzled out. The Travis style of fingerpicking, firstly, is not a classical style. Merle Travis popularised this style through an acoustic guitar. Also, Travis picking is predominantly a blues style and many contemporary blues guitarists have carried this technique further. Blues is a genre which cannot be enclosed within a few parameters (the style of picking or otherwise). The likes of Robert Johnson have used both Travis picking and normal fingerpicking to vehicle their talent. Also, both fretting hand (hammer-on etc.) and picking hand techniques (brushstroke etc.) have been used in conjunction with Travis picking. The purpose is the music; how to create the music has always been secondary. Raj
@ raj... yeah, the first version of classica gas i heard was william mason's... our guitar instructor played it on cd for us... but i prefer chet atkin's version... Thanks for the list...
Finger picking is really hard for me..somehow i play much better with a pick as compared to using my fingers... ...i tried real hard with Sultans of Swing but then i never even managed 50% of the song...i havent lost hope but then its a long road ahead...
to be honest you've started with the wrong song. for fingerplucking you have to first develop a technique that you are comfortable with decide strictly between you and your fingers which finger is in charge with which string. there are many different variations just for the moment go with one, the most comfortable one, so you can get your hand into that motion and then play the acoustic version of Bryan Adams - Summer of 69 (search for MY tab version) and REM - Everybody Hurts. The thing is once you have your hand in motion of being able to pluck simple songs by finger then a change in the style of plucking won't be as difficult as the first time you learnt. Also by learning the simpler song plucking your going to develop your timing, ryhthm and finger control a lot quicker. forget speed for the time being get your accuracy and timing right once you have that the speed will come naturally.
I agree Rabi that more than speed accuracy is important...the problem i think is with co-ordination...i actually started by playing On Every Street by Dire Straits...i mean the last part which is so sweet to hear...i'm slowly getting there but still my movement is clumsy...you are right i guess i should not have started with Sultans of Swing...i will try to work with Everybody Hurts...thats a nice song which i like...thanks Rabi...
Have anyof you experienced this.. I tend to play a song faster than it actually is.. Ehile Play Classical Gas, i tend to speed off.. The best proof is my metronome which tells me i'm too faast..
