That's why they call that style of playing "Travis Picking".
Notice that he only uses his thumb and index finger.
But other than that, I don't know anything about him.
For those of you who know little or nothing about Merle Travis...join the club. I don't either, but the boy sure do know how ta play. Watch this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtJhnExStaw
Those of you who know of Travis maybe you can shed some light. He's quite the picker.
"No Tele For you." - The Tele Nazi
Ha! Tele-ish now inbound.
That's why they call that style of playing "Travis Picking".
Notice that he only uses his thumb and index finger.
But other than that, I don't know anything about him.
Merle Travis had a huge influence on the "Nashville" sound, and wrote a number of hits. Here's a bio.
Electrics: Hagstrom Ultra Swede (Gold Eagle Burst) Gretsch 5120 Electromatic (Orange) Custom Nashville Blackout Telecaster (Black, Stat mid/neck p'ups; Lil Puncher (Modern Vintage) bridge p'up; Wilkinson Compensated Bridge w/ 3 brass saddles, Warmoth Vintage Modern Birdseye Maple Neck) Fender MIM Stratocaster (Blue Agave, Rosewood Fretboard, Fender Tex-Mex p'ups; GFS Trem/Block Kit) Highland Spitfire (semi-hollow, flame maple top w/ bubinga inlay)Acoustics:Washburn D10CEQSB, Yamaha FG160E
Bass: Westone Spectrum ST, Warwick Rockbass Corvette Basic Active
Amps: Vox NT15H/V112NT Night Train, Peavey Bandit 112, Hartke HyDrive 210C Bass Amp, Vox DA5
Spudman,
That was a great find on Youtube. I've only known of Merle Travis from reading about Chet Atkins. It seems that they had a similar style although Chet Atkins took it a little further. It's really cool to see this video and notice the he only used two fingers of his right hand to pick with. That's a lot of sound that he is getting from only those two fingers.
Thanks for sending this link.
-- Jim
Electrics: Hamer Newport, Fender Clapton Strat, Ibanez AF86, Line6 Variax 700
Acoustic Guitars: Taylor 514CE, Martin J40-M
Dobro: Regal "Black Lightning Dobro"
Mandolin: Morgan Monroe Mandolin
Amps: Egnater Rebel 30, Vox AD120VTX, Roland Cube 60
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page...?bandid=301718
The reason I even looked for him on youtube was because as I was learning to play guitar it was the thumb and forefinger that I was using on my picking hand too. A friend saw it and said "hey, that is the Merle Travis style of finger picking."
I was thinking about that yesterday and just thought I would check the tube. Glad you liked it. He's pretty cool.
"No Tele For you." - The Tele Nazi
Ha! Tele-ish now inbound.
Absolutely awesome! That stuff is so cool, yet so hard to master.
The Law of Gravity is nonsense. No such law exists. If I think I float, and you think I float, then it happens.
Master Guitar Academy - I also teach via SKYPE.
Very cool.. was that guitar a Country Gentleman?
I can't say that I've given up on a flanger cause I've never liked the effect either. I also can't say the same about Tremolo. I hate them both equally. - Tone2TheBone 2009