It seems to me Maybelle Carters guitar style known the Carter Scratch was taken from the autoharp & applied to the guitar.She was self taught on both but she learned the autoharp frist.It looks like a thumb lead followed by one or two fingers in a down up motion.I play both & i see how her guiter style would develop into the Carter Scratch...What do you people think?....Bob
It seems to me Maybelle Carters guitar style known the Carter Scratch was > taken from the autoharp & applied to the guitar.She was self taught on both > but she learned the autoharp frist.It looks like a thumb lead followed by > one or two fingers in a down up motion.I play both & i see how her guiter > style would develop into the Carter Scratch...What do you people > think?....Bob
That's the story I've always heard; thumb pick, then brush down with the fingers. Lester Flatt always played that style, too.
Although Lester Flatt played guitar with a thumb and finger pick, his> style was distinct from the "Carter-Scratch" in that he normally only> picked upward on the strings with his fingerpick and simultaneously> downward with the thumbpick...a motion he described as a "pinch-lick".> This was an amazingly effective device for playing fast bluegrass> rhythm on guitar. Unfortunately, this wonderful guitar style has been> virtually overlooked by the current crop of bluegrass (and old-time)> musicans. >
Ken Landreth>
Interesting; first time I've heard a detailed description of what he did. It's a style that's not quite any particular style, sounds like. And I can see how it would work for fast playing, since the motion is basically in the fingers and you don't have to worry about flinging your arm around with a flatpick.
"sundog" <rhokenson@chartermi.net> wrote in message news:nwtge.3799$rt1.1229@fe04.lga...> It seems to me Maybelle Carters guitar style known the Carter Scratch
I thought Gillian Welch did a poor job of demonstrating the "scratch" on the recent PBS show on the Carters. She flat picked it! However, just after that scene is great film footage of Maybelle playing close up. Looks more like a banjo style to me. She played banjo too.
My opinion: "The Carter Family: Will The Circle Be Unbroken" show was good but not great. Some of the photographs shown were wonderful. I just read and thoroughly enjoyed Mark Zwonitzer's book, "Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?" which the show was apparently based on. Highly recommended!
Is it mandatory to use the same country music personalities on all these type productions? In this case, Gillian Welch and Marty Stuart. I would have much rather seen and heard someone like Dr. Charles Wolfe.
On 12 May 2005 06:15:59 -0700, klandreth@hsc.wvu.edu wrote:
Unfortunately, this wonderful guitar style [thumb and finger picks> for Bluegrass and/or old-time rhythm] has been>virtually overlooked by the current crop of bluegrass (and old-time)>musicans.
There are still a number of folk who do it this way -- Chris Sharp has figured it out most recently, as has Beth Hartness. Curley Seckler still does it, and I believe Moon Mullins does also.
It seems to me Maybelle Carters guitar style known the Carter Scratch was> taken from the autoharp & applied to the guitar.She was self taught on > both but she learned the autoharp frist.It looks like a thumb lead > followed by one or two fingers in a down up motion.I play both & i see how > her guiter style would develop into the Carter Scratch...What do you > people think?....Bob
It's thumb/index up/index brush down/index up. 1-2-3-4 beats. This is a not uncommon banjo pick which you can hear from Lilly May Ledford and Oscar Jenkins, though each musician has a unique take on how much is pick and how much is strum. When I started playing guitar almost no one played with a plectrum - that was strictly for jazz or that new "rock & roll". The big three of bluegrass guitar - Carter Stanley, Charley Monroe, Lester Flatt - were using thumb picks. Jack Elliott, the best flatpicker around in those days, was heavily influenced by Bill Carlisle.
I have seen the autoharp played so many inventive ways that I be hard pressed to say there's any correct way. With that as my hypothesis, I think it more likely that the autoharp absorbed styles from other instruments, rather than vice versa. Interestingly, that "pinch & strum" style used by Lester Flatt is quite common nowdays for playing melody on the autoharp.
Bill Dillof wrote:>>It seems to me Maybelle Carters guitar style known the Carter Scratch was>>taken from the autoharp & applied to the guitar.She was self taught on >>both but she learned the autoharp frist.It looks like a thumb lead >>followed by one or two fingers in a down up motion.I play both & i see how >>her guiter style would develop into the Carter Scratch...What do you >>people think?....Bob>
It's thumb/index up/index brush down/index up. 1-2-3-4 beats. This is a not > uncommon banjo pick which you can hear from Lilly May Ledford and Oscar > Jenkins, though each musician has a unique take on how much is pick and how > much is strum. When I started playing guitar almost no one played with a > plectrum - that was strictly for jazz or that new "rock & roll".
When playing rhythm / backup with thumb-pick and fingers, I find the problem is how to get sufficient impact with the finger strokes. Some folks manage using finger-picks installed backwards, but personally I have never found that comfortable. Maybelle, however, achieved a big sound without finger-picks (that I'm aware of). Maybe it's a matter of how tough your finger nails are, and how strong your fingers.
"Allin Cottrell" >> When playing rhythm / backup with thumb-pick and fingers, I find the> problem is how to get sufficient impact with the finger strokes. Some> folks manage using finger-picks installed backwards, but personally I> have never found that comfortable. Maybelle, however, achieved a big> sound without finger-picks (that I'm aware of). Maybe it's a matter> of how tough your finger nails are, and how strong your fingers.
Hi, Allin. One contributing factor to Maybelle's power is that she does not seem to have braced her hand on the soundboard, but throws a lot of wrist and forearm into the downstroke, almost like you would with a flatpick. It doesn't hurt to have a really loud, well-balanced guitar either. A 1920s L-5 would do the trick.
On Wed, 11 May 2005 16:00:45 -0500, "sundog" <rhokenson@chartermi.net> wrote:
It seems to me Maybelle Carters guitar style known the Carter Scratch was >taken from the autoharp & applied to the guitar.She was self taught on both >but she learned the autoharp frist.It looks like a thumb lead followed by >one or two fingers in a down up motion.I play both & i see how her guiter >style would develop into the Carter Scratch...What do you people >think?....Bob >
Thanks for starting an interesting thread. Maybelle was more of a banjo player in the early days than an autoharp player. She took up the autoharp in later years because of difficulties with arthritis. On the old Carter Family records, it is Sara Carter playing the autoharp to back up Maybelle's lead guitar.
There are many old time banjo styles that use a thumb lead, some with a "pinch", as Ken Landreth has suggested that Lester Flatt used, some alternating with one or more fingers. Lester told us in an interview that he began as a banjo player, just as Maybelle did (and so did that old time guitar great, Riley Puckett). Maybelle's thumb lead style is explored in some detail on my instruction Lp, issued in 1975, "How To Play carter Style Guitar". This has now been reissued as a CD and can be found here: http://www.bluegrasswest.com/ideas/sti-105.htm
Mike Seeger also has some instruction material on Maybelle, but emphasises her fingerpicking style, so the two packages complement each other nicely.
Note that, while Maybelle did record with a thumbpick most of the time, she did in fact also use a flatpick. The fluidity of her playing seems deceptively simple. She remains one of my absolutely favorite guitar players.
I think you hit the nail on the head with that comment. I believe it is the strength in your hands/fingers that makes the sound more prominent. Check out my video on you tube and see what you think. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiI3pHEyU3g
