geetar pickin the tunes

bradster · Post by **bradster** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 9:19 pm

Hi ,
How many of you are (or know of ) guitarists who actually flat pick the tunes at sessions as opposed to back the the tunes?
And can you be heard at all?
At home Ive been picking away with friends for a while and enjoy it a lot more than backing with chords.
When I feel like it I lash out a few chords ( which are very easily determined from knowing the notes I pick ).
Ive been wondering why more people don’t do it at sessions, or maybe they do at sessions I havent been to.
Thanks for any enlightenment!

monkey587 · Post by **monkey587** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 9:59 pm

bradster wrote:Hi ,
How many of you are (or know of ) guitarists who actually flat pick the tunes at sessions as opposed to back the the tunes?
And can you be heard at all?
At home Ive been picking away with friends for a while and enjoy it a lot more than backing with chords.
When I feel like it I lash out a few chords ( which are very easily determined from knowing the notes I pick ).
Ive been wondering why more people don’t do it at sessions, or maybe they do at sessions I havent been to.
Thanks for any enlightenment!

It pretty much just disappears under everything else. You should just get a banjo

bradster · Post by **bradster** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 10:07 pm

"get a banjo" : I've been told this before but I prefer the guitar!

ketida · Post by **ketida** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 6:19 am

I would think that knowing the melody line well enough to play it would help a great deal with chosing complementary backing. And for god's sake, don't get a banjo, that'd be like going to the dark side.

fearfaoin · Post by **fearfaoin** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 7:15 am

I've been trying to get up to session speed with my flatpicking. But I've
seen several guitarists at our session who switch between chording
and picking.

bradster · Post by **bradster** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 5:48 pm

cheers folks.
btw , the speed only comes with practice!
and i use DADGAD which to me seems a lot easier for placement and if you hit the wrong string now and again it doesnt sound too bad!
regarding the chords , the shapes are there in front of you from the notes so you dont have to worry about stuff like which notes go with which chords.

PJ · Post by PJ » Fri Sep 08, 2006 9:06 am

Don't get a banjo.

Get a dobro and tune it to DADGAD.

That'll get you heard at the session.

Alternatively, get a 12-string and tune it to DADGAD. It's buckets of fun picking jigs on a 12-string.

You have plenty of volume and a tone that rises above the clatter and din.

Screeeech!!! · Post by **Screeeech!!!** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 10:02 am

Wold it be considered bad form to use an amplifier in a session?

I finger pick the melody and i can hardly hear myself in room with people talking let alone people playing musical instruments.

PJ · Post by PJ » Sun Sep 10, 2006 4:12 pm

Screeeech!!! wrote:Wold it be considered bad form to use an amplifier in a session?

You are joking, aren't you?

Screeeech!!! · Post by **Screeeech!!!** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 1:11 am

PJ wrote:You are joking, aren't you?

No. It's a genuine question.

Bill Reeder · Post by **Bill Reeder** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 6:17 am

Screeeech!!! wrote:
PJ wrote:You are joking, aren't you?
No. It's a genuine question.

Well then, yes, I would say that generally it's considered bad form to bring an amplifier to a session. And that being the case, it explains why there's not a whole lot of melody finger-picking going on in your typical session. Probably, the best you can hope for is that your session mates will let you finger-pick the tune one time through as a solo before jumping in and drowning you out.

PJ · Post by PJ » Mon Sep 11, 2006 7:05 am

One of the reasons I don't go to pub sessions is that most times, a few players want to be heard above everyone else. For me, a good session is where the musicians are playing together and no one instrument dominates.

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 8:26 am

Amplification could get one shot in certain pubs... bad, bad, bad idea idea altogether. However, I really would like to see what may transpire should anybody do such a thing. I might even have to pop some corn for a snack and settle in with a diet coke to watch what unfolds.

Screeeech!!! · Post by **Screeeech!!!** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 11:17 am

Thanks guys.

Miwokhill · Post by **Miwokhill** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 4:31 pm

When it's suggested to 'get a banjo' I'm guessing it's meant as 'get a tenor banjo'. It is easier, for me anyway, to play melodies on instuments tuned similarly i.e. mandolin, fiddle than on a guitar tuned the usual way. So maybe a tenor guitar is the answer? I've learned a few tunes in DADGAD but am curious as to the suggestions of using this tuning to play melodies. Is it easier to pick out the melodies in DADGAD?

I know more than a couple of tunes on guitar flatpicking style (Norman Blake and David Grier style for example) but when playing session tunes don't find it easy to pick out the melody single string on a regularly tuned guitar.

I was loitering around Gryphon Strings a few years back and was on a 12 string kick. I asked one of the guys there if he thought a 12 string would be cool at a flatpicking session. He says 'well the session might break up pretty quick.' I cracked up at his answer though I wondered if it wasn't a little snobbish. We were talking about bluegrass flatpicking though not Irish (or DADGAD as was mentioned) so he probably wasn't kidding.

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geetar pickin the tunes

geetar pickin the tunes

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