What is flatpicking? Despite the name, it’s more than simply playing with a pick. Flatpicking refers to the acoustic guitar style, heard primarily in the bluegrass and folk idioms, of playing individual notes with a pick to form melodies, solos, and fills. The approach characteristically has a crisp and snappy sound achieved by combining quick picking, open chord voicings, melodic lines, and concise licks.
The arrangement presented here sits well on the guitar while intentionally retaining the playful rhythmic bounce of the melody.
These solos from two classic American tunes, “Brown’s Ferry Blues” and “Reuben’s Train,” highlight the flatpicker’s deeply rooted and highly adventurous style.
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Walk through three approaches for flatpicking melody and chords together using the classic spiritual “I’ll Fly Away.”
This accessible arrangement, inspired by Maybelle Carter’s style on classics like “Wildwood Flower,” is perfect for the holiday season.
Learn two versions of this well-known mountain folk jam tune, one simple enough for beginners and the other a bit more complex.
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Rice’s solo is an exceptional example of how chord shapes and cross-picking can flesh out a tasteful melody-based lead.
“Big Sciota” is not necessarily easy to play, but if you stick with it, you'll learn a fun and well-known tune and develop some powerful chops in both hands.
This lesson breaks down Watson’s acoustic flatpicking, beginning with rhythm and backup, transitioning to his lead playing, and ending with the combination of the two.
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This version of “Little Liza Jane” comes from the eastern Kentucky fiddler J.P. Fraley (1923–2011), who played it in the key of A major.
Strings' version of this traditional song includes two solos that quote some signature Doc Watson licks.
The rest stroke—similar to the fingerstyle approach used by classical guitarists—is a plectrum technique in which each downstroke lands on an adjacent string rather than passing over it.
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As this arrangement shows, Bach's Prelude No. 1 in C Major works quite well as a flatpicking etude.
Learn to play this expressive and understated flatpicking guitar rendition of the classic tune “Cumberland Gap,” from Courtney Hartman’s 2016 Nothing We Say.
Norman Blake is one of the great unsung heroes of 20th-century folk music. Here's a look at his life, music, and what you can learn from his guitar playing.
What is flatpicking on guitar? Despite the name, it’s more than simply playing with a pick. Flatpicking refers to the acoustic guitar style, heard primarily in the bluegrass and folk idioms, of playing individual notes with a pick to form melodies, solos, and fills.
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This guitar lesson breaks down the mechanics of string crossing and applies it all to a classical guitar etude by Fernando Sor to help build up picking-hand precision.
Here we’ll explore flatpicking guitar through some musical examples based on its key practitioners from Doc Watson to Molly Tuttle and identify some of the genre's essential recordings.
This is not only a good introduction to fiddle tunes, but to flatpicking in general as it covers the hallmarks of the style.
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These arrangements of two songs by Mother Maybelle Carter will help develop your technique and understanding of the flatpicking idiom.
On an early afternoon last September, Molly Tuttle, who was holding a spruce-and-mahogany dreadnought that appeared to be not much younger than 80, showed me the back of the guitar, which sported telltale lacquer wear. Tuttle explained that the instrument wasn’t in fact vintage but was recently made by Pre-War…
The 1964 performance by Doc Watson and Clarence White together at the Newport Folk Festival is a stellar demonstration of flatpicking. As heard on a series of duets on the album Treasures Untold, the recording captures both players early in their careers. Watson emerged on the scene beginning in 1960…
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Try this flatpicking acoustic guitar workout for "Home Sweet Home," inspired by the banjo classic.
Guitarist Alan Barnosky teaches an acoustic guitar arrangement of the melodic fiddle tune “Old Grimes,” as interpreted by Julian Lage and Chris Eldridge
A common question advancing flatpickers have is how and when to play up the guitar neck. The old favorite "Salt Creek" gives a good example of how to do it.
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Despite its popularity among fiddlers, “Leather Britches” is less known with flatpickers—surprisingly so, as it is fun to play and lands well on the guitar.
