phydaux - Posted - 12/30/2021:  06:58:01

Greetings all! I'm new on the site, and sorta new to flat picking.

Recently I picked up a sitka & rosewood Eastman AC422CE. It's a beautiful guitar, with a beautiful, bright tone. I got a handful of Dunlop Primetone 1.5 smooth large triangles, and I got Flatpicking Essentials vols 1&2 from Flatpick.com.

I like the Flatpicking Essentials systematic approach to learning songs. I find it very straightforward and understandable:

1) Select a Vocal Song
2) Learn the Chord Progression by Ear
3) Learn the Basic Melody by Ear
4) Find the Carter Style Arrangement
5) Embellish the Carter Style Arrangement using techniques such as hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, alternate chord strums, tremolo, double stops, crosspicking, neighboring notes, scale runs, drones, and fill licks.

I wish this forum were a little more active. Hopefully we can trade ideas and I can learn a lot.

jdmcquerry - Posted - 01/10/2022:  01:46:54

Welcome, and good luck! I've been lurking for ages to see if anyone comes back here... I wish it were even half as active as Mando or Banjo hangouts!

instrumentful - Posted - 01/19/2022:  12:10:00

I just came back after a year of hiatus and it seems like it has become much less active... is there another community that many flatpickers are joining together on? Otherwise, I would also like to hear of other essentials for new flatpickers - I have only been working with ArtistWorks so far - with Bryan Sutton as the online teacher.

jdmcquerry - Posted - 02/02/2022:  07:38:03

I bought the year pass to Bryan Suttons Artistworks during the holiday but i haven't begun using it yet.

For Christmas I got myself the first three Steve Kaufman Parking Lot Pickers books and the first one has been keeping me very busy for the last month, and I've found myself making drastic improvements in both speed and playing. I'm sure it didn't hurt that Santa also brought me a new D18 to pick on...

Grant - Posted - 02/09/2022:  00:32:40

This is gonna be exciting! Thanks for sharing!

Grant | Home Remodel Design

DogFoodSoup - Posted - 02/09/2022:  07:35:37

New here too! Been playing guitar for a bit, started playing country blues about 6 months ago, now I'm fully obsessed with the Bluegrass tradition of flatpicking. Currently working on Billy in the Lowground, Whiskey Before Breakfast, and I've Endured.

Been playing an old Martin 000X1, but have an Alvarez MD60BG being delivered tomorrow.

Looking forward to learning all I can, and, one day, working up enough nerve to join a local jam.