In this introductory lesson, Greg provides you with the basic skills you’ll need to play Norman Blake–style guitar. Norman’s genius was to take Maybelle Carter’s approach to playing a melody on the lower strings along with strums on the upper strings and then take it up a notch. Using simple arpeggios and scales, Greg shows you how Norman takes the quarter-note bass/strum pattern, adds eighth-note strokes and strums, harmonizes the melody in double stops, and embellishes it all with hammer-ons and pull-offs. For this lesson, you will play everything in C position—with or without a capo, which is consistent with Maybelle Carter’s playing. (For more on basic Carter-style playing, check out Cathy Fink’s Peghead course Maybelle Carter–Style Guitar.) In this video, you’ll review the fundamental components of Blake’s style and learn the basic Norman Blake double-pick/strum roll. Greg points out that in this style, the rhythm doesn’t swing and should be rhythmically dead-even to produce Norman’s signature drive.
