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Topic: Travis style picking on C6 |
Ben Godard
From:
Jamesville NC
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Posted 20 Jun 2021 10:23 am |
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I’ve seen a few people like Russ Hicks and Bobbie Seymour perform awesome Travis picking on the C6 neck. Does anyone know what tuning and setup they are using
Thanks |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 20 Jun 2021 1:13 pm
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I used to do some "thumb picking" on standard C6th (with high G on first string). It was a carry over from my 6 string lead guitar days of thumb picking (on a Gretsch Chet Atkins model guitar). At 83 I can't do it any more.
I've seen Emmons (both E9th and C6th) and Seymour do it on C6th but suspect he could do it on E9th too.
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GFI Ultra Keyless S-10 with pad (Black of course) TB202 amp, Hilton VP, Steelers Choice sidekick seat, SIT Strings
Cakewalk by Bandlab and Studio One V4.6 pro DAWs, MOTU Ultralite MK5 recording interface unit |
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scott murray
From:
Asheville, NC
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Posted 20 Jun 2021 3:00 pm
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don't forget the great Bobby Garrett who kind of pioneered the style on steel.
pretty sure they were all using a standard C6 tuning. seems to work best when you use the 9th string as the root
_________________
1965 Emmons S-10, 3x5 • Emmons LLIII D-10, 10x12 • JCH D-10, 10x12 • Beard MA-8 • Oahu Tonemaster |
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Bob Watson
From:
Champaign, Illinois, U.S.
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Posted 21 Jun 2021 1:32 am
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| I was living in Nashville in 1987 and my roommate, who was also a pedal steel guitar player, was having trouble with his P/P Emmons, so we took it into Steel Guitar Nashville to have it adjusted. I forget who was working that day, but he made an adjustment and was showing us that he had fixed it when Bobby Seymour walked in the door. He told Bobby what he had adjusted and then asked Bobby to sit down behind it and make sure it was working right. The problem had been on the E9 neck, so my roommate didn't put the C6 pedal rods in when he initially set it up to get it worked on. Bobby played some nice E9 licks and after a few of them he told us that it seemed to be working fine. After that he kept playing and talking with us at the same time. All of a sudden we noticed that he was doing some great Travis picking on the C6 neck without any of the pedals being set up, and he was talking to us while he was doing all of this great Travis picking on the C6 neck. It blew our minds. |
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Bob Watson
From:
Champaign, Illinois, U.S.
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Posted 21 Jun 2021 1:37 am
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| I was living in Nashville in 1987 and my roommate, who was also a pedal steel guitar player, was having trouble with his P/P Emmons, so we took it into Steel Guitar Nashville to have it adjusted. I forget who was working that day, but he made an adjustment and was showing us that he had fixed it when Bobby Seymour walked in the door. He told Bobby what he had adjusted and then asked Bobby to sit down behind it and make sure it was working right. The problem had been on the E9 neck, so my roommate didn't put the C6 pedal rods in when he initially set it up to get it worked on. Bobby played some nice E9 licks and after a few of them he told us that it seemed to be working fine. After that he kept playing and talking with us at the same time. All of a sudden we noticed that he was doing some great Travis picking on the C6 neck without any of the pedals being set up, and he was talking to us while he was doing all of this great Travis picking on the C6 neck. It blew our minds. |
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Duane Becker
From:
Elk,Wa 99009 USA
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Posted 21 Jun 2021 4:22 am
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Ben, it's pretty easy actually on the C6 neck. Standard tuning. Dont worry about using pedals at the start.
Not that you asked, but if you never did that style of Travis pickin', here's my take on it:
Just begin by using your thumb on strings 10 and 7. Back and forth-just keep doing that for awhile. Then using your finger pick, hit a string-maybe the 3rd string. Just pick single notes at first with your finger pick.
Remember thumb does the rhythm and finger picks do the melody. To start off if your not used to doing this, just pick the melody notes when you strike the 10 and 7 string with your thumb. Don't worry about picking out a song yet, just play around with getting your mind and right hand into that pattern. Use bar on a fret or no bar-either way it will work for practice.
For me the E9 is tuffer, as you have to use different strings on the thumb, as the 10 and 7 strings on the C6 seem to be a better reach for me. |
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scott murray
From:
Asheville, NC
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Posted 21 Jun 2021 11:33 am
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to follow up on Duane's suggestions... if the root of your 1 chord is on strings 7 and 10, then your 4 chord will be on string 9 which you can alternate thumb-picking with strings 8 and 10. same with your 5 chord, 2 frets up.
I believe the Travis picking section of Rose City Chimes is done in C using a lot of open strings in the bass, and open strings with hammer-ons/offs on the higher melody strings
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1965 Emmons S-10, 3x5 • Emmons LLIII D-10, 10x12 • JCH D-10, 10x12 • Beard MA-8 • Oahu Tonemaster
Last edited by scott murray on 21 Jun 2021 12:34 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 21 Jun 2021 11:41 am Re: Travis style picking on C6
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| Ben Godard wrote: |
| I’ve seen a few people like Russ Hicks and Bobbie Seymour perform awesome Travis picking on the C6 neck. Does anyone know what tuning and setup they are using? |
They use whatever tuning they use for their regular playing. So many times, players think there is something special, but what is "special" is the player. Lots of times, players here have commented about different stylings, thinking they need some special tuning or setup. People think that what so-and-so did requires something out of the ordinary, but 99% of the time, it's the standard turnings and setup.  |
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Ben Godard
From:
Jamesville NC
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Posted 21 Jun 2021 2:29 pm
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| Thanks for the replies everyone. This gives me a good starting point. I’m decent at Travis picking on the guitar but it’s a little harder on the pedal steel |
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Pete Burak
From:
Portland, OR USA
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