Tommy Emmanuel: Flatpicks Bluegrass

Mark Noad over at our facebook page recommended this video to me… It’s Tommy so, you know it’s better than good!

I can’t really for certain tell that indeed Tommy Emmanuel is using a flatpick, but the technique and style is definitely what I’d call flatpicking, even though it has sort of an Australian sound to it!! (Hey, in this case, it’s a beautiful thing).

Tommy mentioned that this original song was inspired by fiddle great Byron Berline ..
someone that every musician should know. Check out this vid with Dan Crary and John Hickman.

One thing I noticed in this vid… when Tommy sped the song up I though …

How is he gonna get that crosspicking out at that speed?

Well, you might notice that he did a three string sweep picking technique instead of going down up down (hey, way too fast for that).

You will also notice that he is not picking every note when he does those fast runs. He is using pull and push ons, and hammer ons with his left hand to help avoid picking all the notes.

This is yet another great vid by Tommy that just keeps proving to us that he’s the most versatile guitarist on the planet.

Share this one with your friends… they will thank you!