@SmeagolTheBeagle Tommy was actually inspired by Chet Atkins who was inspired by Merle Travis. Listening to the radio, Chet always thought that Merle was using his thumb and two fingers, so he taught himself that way. He later found out, Travis uses just his thumb and index finger. Chet was amazed!
I had an old LP called "The Merle Travis Guitar". I was amazed how clean he plays considering it was on an electric. Electric guitars just seem to amplify any little mistake, so I was impressed. Chet Atkins could do it of course but Travis also brushed up with his index finger and down with his thumbpick. In the hands of a lesser player, this could have gotten very sloppy. Not Travis. Wow!
Ho notato infatti che usa solo due dita! Certo è una tecnica poco ortodossa,specie per i puristi del fingerpicking,ma il risultato è ugualmente straordinario!
@omkaratube C'è chi ritiene che sia il punto d'arrivo...Vedi Mississippi John Hurt o Gary Davies...Non esiste altro modo per avere quel dumping da 0.43...Grande grande e ancora grande.Ti suggerisco anche il video di Marcel Dadi Je te Veux....Saluti
LOL heliolagojr -- Hey guy, us Americans aren't wearing that kind of clothes anymore... that was in the 1960s, and I will bet that there were a few people where you are from who dressed just as silly back then! :-D Hell, I was wearing 10cm high platform shoes and bellbottom double-knit pants with crazy-ass shirts! :-) I want to burn my old pictures... :-)
Don't forget, Merle Travis INVENTED fingerstyle guitar and taught it to Chet Atkins, who begat Nashville, who inspired those like Tommy Emmanuel -- and inspired a new generation of jazz/fingerstyle guitarists like Adam Rafferty -- who are carrying fingerstyle to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL. WOW, what Merle could do with 2 fingers... most of us couldn't do with four and a band behind us. :-) Try something new, you can change the world! :-)
Haha. Fingerstyle guitar had been around quite some time prior to Merle Travis. I guess I just disagree with your history a bit, bloke. Classical guitar had already been in the making for some time, with Segovia playing in a four finger style some years before Travis came along. Traditional Spanish guitar had been played for many years, too. Let's not forget the American delta, either. Son House, Charlie Patton, all fingerstyle, too.
Respectfully, Segovia did not use fingerstyle guitar as practiced by Chet Atkins, Tommy Emmanuel, etc. Spanish classical guitar is a whole DIFFERENT genre of music. It's semantics, really -- just because one uses right-hand fingers on the strings does not necessarily cast the music as "fingerstyle". Fingerstyle as practiced by Atkins, Emmanuel, Rafferty and others is characterized by a running bass lick using the thumb -- but again, lets just agree to disagree -and enjoy ALL acoustic music! :-)
Forgive me for assuming that playing with one's right hand fingers leads to the classification "fingerstyle". Now that I think about it, it's a rather silly assumption of me.
Unfortunately there's no good term for that style of fingerpicking. Travis Picking ignores the fact that acoustic players had been playing the basis of that style for decades before Merle Travis came along. Thumb picking ignores the other fingers. Cotton picking doesn't communicate much worthwhile information. Stefan Grossman has several excellent DVDs that teach the style and cover a bit of the history. Traditionally the index finger was the only non-thumb figure used. I don't know why.
alternate bassline is the most commonly used "style term" for this playing style. I do agree that earlier blues and acoustic players used a style similar to his, but Merle was probably the most proficient player of the style to hit the mainstream . I moss hearing guitar playing like that. Another great player of this style was Chet Atkins, although he used it only occasionally.
You are right, APerched and I stand corrected. Mose Rager actually worked with Travis and Travis carried it from there... I spoke with Mose several years ago. They used to play at a radio station near here in Mayfield KY WAYYYYY back when.... it was a kick to hear from him, tho. And, to be honest, I didn't even know who he was until I spoke with him, but he educated me reaaal quick. :-) PEACE from Western KY.
Yeah. I was always told that in order to Travis pick you need 3, but here I am. In dismay of what I see. The inventor of Travis picking travis picking with two fingers. On fuckin' cannon ball rag.
It differs, some people can do it with just thumb and index finger (like Travis himself, and Doc Watson), some people use thumb index and middle, Jerry reed used every finger except his index oddly enough. Doesn't matter really.
This guy's technique is incredible. Nobody took these guys seriously back then, they were just "hillbillies" to most of the public.
You just know Merle Travis must have woodshedded just as much as any jazz or classical musician, plus there were no "schools" for these guys back then.
You learned from your relatives and neighbors. Great talent will out no matter the circumstances.
Yeah, ffairlane, but at least there's a body of literature that gives these musicians credit. Of course younger people haven't heard of most of these pickers since they're way under the radar. Recently I turned on a young woman I know who sings in a local punk rock band, I cut her into Doc Watson's Nashville Pickin' and Travis' Cannonbal Rag, Pigmeat Strut, and other thumb picking songs. She was amazed by their talent.
That guitar was made back in the days when guitar manufacturers took great pride in building and desiging an instrument for artists. I used to own a Gibson ES-175DN and I've never had a guitar that compares since then in the 1960's. Good job on this video!
my dad passed away 8 years ago and played this song alot. i miss hearing him playing the guitar everyday. he started teaching himself to play when he was only 4. kept playin until the day he died. he was only 56.
That's not duct tape. You'll often see Bigsbys from that era without the more commonly-seen black highlighting paint on them... as a matter of fact, Gretsch re-issues its new DSW models with a Bigsby tailpiece identical to the one Merle is using.
I think it's just plain metal with embellishment around the outside. Maybe he asked for it to be plain like that, or maybe it's not a bigsby licensed tailpiece. Maybe they didnt do the distinct 'Bigsby' text in there back then. Those are my guesses.
Well the guitar was built for him with Mr. Bigsby himself and origionally had a Gibson tailpiece, but then he had a custom Bigsby tailpiece with that arm sticking out made for him. This tailpiece has always said BIGSBY PAT. PENDING on it in the early years and once patented said BIGSBY PATENT (whatever #) and there never was a point that Bigsby vibrato tailpieces didn't have either of those written on the tailpiece. I don't know why, but this sure is duct tape.
He uses the same guitar on the Ronnie Prophet show clip, and the light hitting the tailpiece glints off like shiny metal. If that's duct-tape, I'll eat my hat!
He could use his whammy bar as a bottle opener.
gtrefghuk 1 month ago 2
FAST Travis picking. Great subtle showmanship, too!
larryfeltonj 1 month ago
All that and P-90s too.
CochynPict 2 months ago
I wish I had Merle's guitar !!!!
SilvioManfredDante85 2 months ago
lol...crazy looking tremolo arm
pyschedelicsoldier 3 months ago
I think he needs a bigger guitar.
bigemoney31 4 months ago
Great stuff - you don't put your name all over the neck of your axe if you can't live up to it!
Creepycottages 6 months ago 11
@Creepycottages Yep, Joe Maphis sure did!
tombstonejackson 2 months ago
He's pretty awesome.
Tommy Emmanuel is probably inspired by this guy!
SmeagolTheBeagle 6 months ago
@SmeagolTheBeagle Tommy was actually inspired by Chet Atkins who was inspired by Merle Travis. Listening to the radio, Chet always thought that Merle was using his thumb and two fingers, so he taught himself that way. He later found out, Travis uses just his thumb and index finger. Chet was amazed!
rockinredneck57 3 months ago
I wanna see his right hand at 0:44
tubegucker1 6 months ago 2
the best guitarist in my heart with scotty moore
MrOnlystrongsurvive 6 months ago
WOOOW SR. QUE TECNICA TOCA MARAVILLOSAMENTE SUUUUPER BIEN. FELISIDADES.
salvitagirl 7 months ago
I had an old LP called "The Merle Travis Guitar". I was amazed how clean he plays considering it was on an electric. Electric guitars just seem to amplify any little mistake, so I was impressed. Chet Atkins could do it of course but Travis also brushed up with his index finger and down with his thumbpick. In the hands of a lesser player, this could have gotten very sloppy. Not Travis. Wow!
RGMguitar 7 months ago
i feel like i'm playing super mario world haha
YounGun88 7 months ago
What a guitar!
VietnamAirForce 8 months ago
simply a legend...
chickenfinger90 9 months ago
Oh My God!!.....Is he human? WOW!!!!
Hunterville1000 9 months ago
God I love Merle.
noblesiner 10 months ago
Incredible technique!!
SenorSol 10 months ago
That whang bar is cool........you could blow bubbles through that thing
stringbender69 11 months ago 2
Another one of our very best guitar players with Chet,Jerry Reed and Les Paul!!
035jdj 1 year ago
dobi starosti dobi
aRen1905 1 year ago
sweep picking with a thumb pick is just plain weird...
synesthesia67 1 year ago
How refreshing compared to what you hear on the radio these days.... Fantastic!
pegheadproductions 1 year ago
Guy's a genius...play this with thumb and index finger...amazing!!!
countryclassic 1 year ago
@countryclassic It's insane. I can't believe how fast he's able to play those patterns with just two fingers.
GazzBC 9 months ago
He didn't down tune the base strings, he noted them. On top of that, a two finger roll. Greatest ever.
PoisonClan73 1 year ago
the greatest...
Big Ron
Vermillion2176 1 year ago
no sweat eh Merle?
jothekid 1 year ago
How does he do that using only two fingers on the right hand?
SylvainBrunerie 1 year ago
@SylvainBrunerie Because if he uses his three others fingers the universe imploses.
Arcticpaulo 1 year ago
@Arcticpaulo Ok. Thanks.
SylvainBrunerie 1 year ago
@Arcticpaulo haha I like that.
GameLevelEditor 1 year ago
He makes it look so effortless
drummercali 1 year ago 2
damn that man can pick a guitar.puts his soul into it...thanks for the video
johnmanxxx80 1 year ago 9
This is a tune you can learn and impress your friends with! It is all about technique, passion, and originality. This guy had it all!!!
MrGeorgios2020 1 year ago 2
Merle Travis, that thumb and pointer finger were magic. Just pure magic.
Formlessexpressions 2 years ago 2
In Merle we trust
ThePumalives 2 years ago
Old time country shreddin'. Beautific!
shredder1965 2 years ago
Damn that's a huge bodied ax!
paleoman1999 2 years ago
friggin' sweet...
tman916x 2 years ago
i like the use of his left thumb lol
AbGretsch 2 years ago
incredibile la facilità con la quale esegue il pezzo!
omkaratube 2 years ago
@omkaratube sono proprio le sole due dita pollice ed indice tanta fatica per imparare ma quando arrivi vai a 300 km orari....
blueturtleblues 2 years ago
Ho notato infatti che usa solo due dita! Certo è una tecnica poco ortodossa,specie per i puristi del fingerpicking,ma il risultato è ugualmente straordinario!
omkaratube 2 years ago
@omkaratube C'è chi ritiene che sia il punto d'arrivo...Vedi Mississippi John Hurt o Gary Davies...Non esiste altro modo per avere quel dumping da 0.43...Grande grande e ancora grande.Ti suggerisco anche il video di Marcel Dadi Je te Veux....Saluti
blueturtleblues 2 years ago
Merle Travis, Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed and Tommy Emmanuel, wow!!!
Axl75Andre 2 years ago
Scotty Moore and Joe Maphis.
promagnum 2 years ago
scotty not in same league
vincenz55 2 years ago 2
LOL heliolagojr -- Hey guy, us Americans aren't wearing that kind of clothes anymore... that was in the 1960s, and I will bet that there were a few people where you are from who dressed just as silly back then! :-D Hell, I was wearing 10cm high platform shoes and bellbottom double-knit pants with crazy-ass shirts! :-) I want to burn my old pictures... :-)
bigdood 2 years ago
Don't forget, Merle Travis INVENTED fingerstyle guitar and taught it to Chet Atkins, who begat Nashville, who inspired those like Tommy Emmanuel -- and inspired a new generation of jazz/fingerstyle guitarists like Adam Rafferty -- who are carrying fingerstyle to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL. WOW, what Merle could do with 2 fingers... most of us couldn't do with four and a band behind us. :-) Try something new, you can change the world! :-)
bigdood 2 years ago
Haha. Fingerstyle guitar had been around quite some time prior to Merle Travis. I guess I just disagree with your history a bit, bloke. Classical guitar had already been in the making for some time, with Segovia playing in a four finger style some years before Travis came along. Traditional Spanish guitar had been played for many years, too. Let's not forget the American delta, either. Son House, Charlie Patton, all fingerstyle, too.
WatchOutForTheLogos 2 years ago
Respectfully, Segovia did not use fingerstyle guitar as practiced by Chet Atkins, Tommy Emmanuel, etc. Spanish classical guitar is a whole DIFFERENT genre of music. It's semantics, really -- just because one uses right-hand fingers on the strings does not necessarily cast the music as "fingerstyle". Fingerstyle as practiced by Atkins, Emmanuel, Rafferty and others is characterized by a running bass lick using the thumb -- but again, lets just agree to disagree -and enjoy ALL acoustic music! :-)
bigdood 2 years ago
Naturally.
Forgive me for assuming that playing with one's right hand fingers leads to the classification "fingerstyle". Now that I think about it, it's a rather silly assumption of me.
WatchOutForTheLogos 2 years ago
Unfortunately there's no good term for that style of fingerpicking. Travis Picking ignores the fact that acoustic players had been playing the basis of that style for decades before Merle Travis came along. Thumb picking ignores the other fingers. Cotton picking doesn't communicate much worthwhile information. Stefan Grossman has several excellent DVDs that teach the style and cover a bit of the history. Traditionally the index finger was the only non-thumb figure used. I don't know why.
glockdoc 2 years ago
alternate bassline is the most commonly used "style term" for this playing style. I do agree that earlier blues and acoustic players used a style similar to his, but Merle was probably the most proficient player of the style to hit the mainstream . I moss hearing guitar playing like that. Another great player of this style was Chet Atkins, although he used it only occasionally.
airborneassasin 2 years ago 2
@bigdood Actually, Merle didn't invent it, he learned it from Mose Rager ... :/
APerchedDove 2 years ago
You are right, APerched and I stand corrected. Mose Rager actually worked with Travis and Travis carried it from there... I spoke with Mose several years ago. They used to play at a radio station near here in Mayfield KY WAYYYYY back when.... it was a kick to hear from him, tho. And, to be honest, I didn't even know who he was until I spoke with him, but he educated me reaaal quick. :-) PEACE from Western KY.
bigdood 2 years ago
Then Chet Atkins perfected it
chinton90 2 years ago
@chinton90 you are so right about Master Chet - but much repect and credit to Merle Travis he is the Aces !!!
PavaoPaul 1 year ago 2
whoa thats skills :)
Anima2174 2 years ago 2
just two fingers too most people need 3
Anima2174 2 years ago
Yeah. I was always told that in order to Travis pick you need 3, but here I am. In dismay of what I see. The inventor of Travis picking travis picking with two fingers. On fuckin' cannon ball rag.
everennui1 2 years ago
It differs, some people can do it with just thumb and index finger (like Travis himself, and Doc Watson), some people use thumb index and middle, Jerry reed used every finger except his index oddly enough. Doesn't matter really.
bigdjindustriez 2 years ago
i want that guitar...
FreedomFighter1103 2 years ago 2
It is one beautiful piece of work :)
Xithon 2 years ago
oh god that guitar is awesome.
worth thousands.
Villa1291 2 years ago
you say thousands..i think it's worth allot more. i mean..look at the fretboard...it has merle travis name on it
muantboy 2 years ago
$ 20,000 on Ebay . without the tremalo . and no ivory inlay. and not actually owned by Travis.
billga2007 2 years ago
I forgot . This guitar was custom modified for Merle as well . See Merle Travis -Yesteryear in Nashville on Youtubefor the story .
billga2007 2 years ago
I think 'Guild' made them originally, they only made 3 for Merle. The last one in existence is owned by the guitarist of 'Cheap Trick' I think...
Jim1490 2 years ago
@Jim1490
I have one of the three.
tristarshredding 1 year ago
lol
bratblaster 2 years ago
Amazing playing here
Batman001 2 years ago
must type too fast
hindview 3 years ago
a hillbilly most be twice as great to get half the credit.
hindview 3 years ago
Looks like he only uses two fingers? :O
on his right hand, that is...
Mr Travis was a sick man! Still beats the crap out of later adaptors of his technique, even Setzer.
ZynosOrcah 3 years ago
@ZynosOrcah One finger and thumb. and i promise i know
2t123 1 year ago
hehe, it's Cannonball Rag no doubt :)
TenacMarke 3 years ago
Isn't that the Shiek of Araby? Not the Cannonball Rag?
lesliesrussell 3 years ago
you can see why Chet idolized him. Amazing!
newriko2 3 years ago
This guy's technique is incredible. Nobody took these guys seriously back then, they were just "hillbillies" to most of the public.
You just know Merle Travis must have woodshedded just as much as any jazz or classical musician, plus there were no "schools" for these guys back then.
You learned from your relatives and neighbors. Great talent will out no matter the circumstances.
filthyphillyboy 3 years ago 40
Nobody takes them seriously now, which is a tragedy.
Blue Comet.
ffairlane57 3 years ago 2
Yeah, ffairlane, but at least there's a body of literature that gives these musicians credit. Of course younger people haven't heard of most of these pickers since they're way under the radar. Recently I turned on a young woman I know who sings in a local punk rock band, I cut her into Doc Watson's Nashville Pickin' and Travis' Cannonbal Rag, Pigmeat Strut, and other thumb picking songs. She was amazed by their talent.
filthyphillyboy 3 years ago
the truth to this statement hurts me atleast once a day, or whenever i hear the invention of distortion on a guitar..
rotolo 3 years ago
That guitar was made back in the days when guitar manufacturers took great pride in building and desiging an instrument for artists. I used to own a Gibson ES-175DN and I've never had a guitar that compares since then in the 1960's. Good job on this video!
JerrysTube 3 years ago
my dad passed away 8 years ago and played this song alot. i miss hearing him playing the guitar everyday. he started teaching himself to play when he was only 4. kept playin until the day he died. he was only 56.
jensenacklesfan4life 3 years ago 2
im sorry for your loss
JacksonBradwell 3 years ago
nice guitar
statictwo 3 years ago 2
great style great smile great suit go on merle
callasexperience 3 years ago 3
" my god, knock a hole in your head's and let the poop run out all you merle travis hater's!
hindview 3 years ago
I have a short list of folks that I would want to live forever, and Merle is on it.
Khalilullah 3 years ago 14
@Khalilullah who r the rest?
44eelz 1 year ago
that is the sickest shit i have ever seen how he makes his own bass line
matto902 3 years ago
with his thumb, using the thumbpick
it is one of (if not) the best picking songs there is
shanehennessyguitar 3 years ago
I would marry that guitar.
TheGuv123 3 years ago 2
That's not duct tape. You'll often see Bigsbys from that era without the more commonly-seen black highlighting paint on them... as a matter of fact, Gretsch re-issues its new DSW models with a Bigsby tailpiece identical to the one Merle is using.
reverb11 3 years ago
Dern it I meant "I"
chokengagum 3 years ago
Have you ever seen anyone play this with a thumb and a P like that?
chokengagum 3 years ago
looks more like tin foil to me.
either way it's pretty odd.
dispute between bigsby, and this T.V. show maybe?
seamusfish 3 years ago
it is duct tape, look at it. Somebody ask Bresh.
hadd0006 3 years ago
anybody know why it looks like there is duct tape covering his Bigsby?
hadd0006 4 years ago
Duct tape? On what part of the Bigsby?
funstuff2006 4 years ago
over the tail of it where it usually says "Bigsby"
hadd0006 4 years ago
I think it's just plain metal with embellishment around the outside. Maybe he asked for it to be plain like that, or maybe it's not a bigsby licensed tailpiece. Maybe they didnt do the distinct 'Bigsby' text in there back then. Those are my guesses.
funstuff2006 4 years ago
Well the guitar was built for him with Mr. Bigsby himself and origionally had a Gibson tailpiece, but then he had a custom Bigsby tailpiece with that arm sticking out made for him. This tailpiece has always said BIGSBY PAT. PENDING on it in the early years and once patented said BIGSBY PATENT (whatever #) and there never was a point that Bigsby vibrato tailpieces didn't have either of those written on the tailpiece. I don't know why, but this sure is duct tape.
backstageblues 3 years ago
He uses the same guitar on the Ronnie Prophet show clip, and the light hitting the tailpiece glints off like shiny metal. If that's duct-tape, I'll eat my hat!
funstuff2006 3 years ago
whatever it is i must say it is pretty saweet lookin' i would be temped to mount one on a guitar if ever i found one
guitarsurfercody 3 years ago