Thumb Picking Backstroke

[Chris Templeton]

I've been using this thumb technique I adopted to my guitar playing from a technique that Jerry Byrd used.
Let's say I tune the standard low "E" to "D", this gives me a 1-5-1 on the Bottom strings.
When doing "thumb style", and alternating between the the 5th string and the 6th string, instead of the thumb going around the 6th string, the thumb goes back and picks the string with the thumb nail. It saves time.
This technique works for steel, but Herco picks are too flexible, but Nationals work well for a "backstroke".
Bobby Garrett's "Thumbs Up" Is the best thumb style steel record I've heard.

[Fred Treece]

I tried it a long long time ago when I first started using a thumb pick and lost patience with it. I did not have a great sense of rhythm, and it seemed to throw a wrench in my Travis style, which was challenging enough as it was.

Then along came Tommy Emmanuel and Scotty Anderson, who were pinching the thumb pick with their index finger and using it like a flat pick to play alternating down/up stroke single note lead lines and I thought, Whoa Doggies! I got to try me some o’ dat! It was a long process that tested my patience once again, but now it’s a big part of the way I play guitar. I have tried it on steel when I mess around playing thumb pick and bare fingers, but there’s not much hope for me there and I don’t really pursue it.

I realize you are talking about something different here, but just thought I’d mention something similar that had worked out well for me on guitar but didn’t really cross over to steel.

[Chris Templeton]

Yes, Fred it takes a while for a new technique to take root, or as Buddy would say, getting "another crease on the cerebellum".
Tommy Emmanuel, is one of the finest guitar players there ever has been! Any style of music.
He spent time with Chet Atkins and is a hero of his.
If you are not familiar with Tommy, here's a YouTube search of his videos:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... y+emmanuel

[Mike Neer]

Definitely something I've used quite a bit without really thinking about it, even using it to alternate pick between two notes on the same string, like in playing the melody for South. As a guitarist, I'll use any trick in the book I can think of.

[Chris Templeton]

Yes, Mike. the backstroke happened without thinking about it, and t when I thought about it, I realized it was something Jerry Byrd did.
Again, it doesn't work very well with Herco thumbpickss. Heavier National work better.

[Bill McCloskey]

wouldn't the backstroke sound significantly different than the forward stroke. I also think this would be very difficult if you wore a thumbpick.

[Chris Templeton]

When not using the thumb pick, the backstroke uses the thumbnail, and has a little brighter/crisper tone, but when playing, that difference never comes to mind.

[Bill McCloskey]

I'm not thinking of the tone as much as the attack. The down stroke of a thumb is much more powerful than the upstroke. Definitely not something I could get used to.

[Mike Neer]

True, the attack velocity is definitely stronger on the thumb's downstroke, but the thumb is also stronger than every other digit as well, so the attack being uneven is not much to worry about. Once you develop the thumb upstroke, it will contend with an index finger stroke. I've been practicing with it a little more, playing up and down the scale on one string, alternating down and up strokes, and also doing backward sweeps across the strings.

Chris, I use the Black Mountain spring-loaded picks, the heavy version. They are pretty great.

[Chris Templeton]

Black Mountain thumb picks, interesting: https://blackmountainpicks.com/pages/thumb-picks

[Fred Treece]

I’ve tried them, and the Fred Kelly Bumblebee too. They’re kind of bulky and unforgiving for my skinny thumb, but I think forumite Dave Mudgett mentioned that he uses the Black Mountain pick on acoustic guitar with some success.