Good on you, Ross, for pursuing a genre for the sake of enjoyment. I've done the same for myself with learning traditional Irish music these last few years and I find it totally rewarding. A question: You mentioned Bryan Sutton's course at ArtistWorks. How did you decide where in that curriculum to start? I have taken ArtistWork courses before (they're fantastic) and remember modules being split up into difficulty levels. Do you start at the very beginning, or find another entry point?

First 3:28 blablabla blablabla blablabla....

Could anybody get this tones?

Salad to keep mummy happy - ah those mothers . So easily manipulated . That’s why we have such a push for women in “power” - a push from the people really in power . They generally vote dems and dems seem to vote for women.

The first 30 seconds of this video forced me to pick up my guitar lol

What resources / Books / Albums / Players would you recommend someone check out to get into learning/absorbing this style? And what are you practicing to get it under your fingers specifically?

Holy crap! I never knew about those Nashville charts. Would be kind of fun to work that part of my brain to figure out how to that.

Great video Ross - maybe do a side channel following your trials and tribulations with learning this new style - warts and all? I got obsessed with Gypsy Jazz about ten years ago , my goodness that's hard but I made a fist of it and even gigged in a quartet for a year or two , totally out of my comfort zone!

Interesting stuff Ross I wish u all the best in Nashville bro take care and cheers from Ireland 🇮🇪.. Arron Jackson is a beast of a player listen to his cliffs of Dover acoustic version it’s unreal and the tone he is getting is phenomenal I think it’s d28 he’s playing ..be well my man .. 🇮🇪🇮🇪🎸🎸

Congrats dude! Becoming an acoustic player in addition to your already awesome repertoire will totally open up your world and musical versatility. Some of the best and most well-educated (musically speaking) guitarists I’ve ever met, and with whom had the opportunity to play, are flat-pickers and acoustic players. One suggestion, that was made to me years ago by a pro, is to have your capo sit as close behind the fret as possible to minimize any fret buzz when picking or strumming open strings. So if you’re going to capo on the fourth fret, place it as close as possible to that fret. Yeah, it can cramp your finger positions a bit if you’re going to capo higher than the third fret, but you quickly get used to it. I will also say it increases the downward tension on the fret as well, which can increase the sustain of those open strings. You’re really rocking it, man, and I’m digging all the new content. All the best in your endeavors!👍🏻

I loathe acoustic guitars 😅 As Lemmy once said, "Youll never hear an acoustic at a Motörhead gig" and he was mostly right!

Just in case, you get borred on playing bluegrass licks one day, try out to learn some Gypsy Jazz. You will love the challenge ;-)

Hey Ross, I recognize this backing track, it's from the ElevatedJamTracks channel! I started playing at 36 and have made some progress so far. Recording myself has really helped me identify areas for improvement. Right now, my biggest challenge is incorporating faster runs like the ones you played in the intro, and I'm not sure where to begin. I noticed you gear your content toward intermediate players, and while I’m not sure if I’m at that level yet, I still enjoy watching your videos and love your playing.

Are you going to extend your acoustic playing to finger picking style also??

Hard to make it in Nashville without good acoustic skills. You will pick it up quick Ross and it will help you be a more complete musician 😊

Great choice on the Yamaha!! Love them!

It is just a different world, like a rally driver getting in a formula 1 car or vice versa, yes it’s a car but so different. as a blues-rock electric player I always sit amazed at Irish folk and bluegrass players in pubs. The music is front and centre, no one is trying to play the best solo or be ‘the best’. Comically…. I have been sat there when they all swap instruments - guitar, banjo, accordion etc. then All play equally as well, just how is this possible 😅. You just have to be devoted and immersed in that world for that level. One of the purest forms of musicianship, Finger picking and playing open tunings are a required skill too. Saw Tommy Emmanuel 2 months ago and yep, this just solidified my thoughts. I play electric (30 years) but actually know little of true guitar.

I got into bluegrass about 2 years ago, bought a D-18, and put 13s on it. One of the best guitar decisions I've ever made. I've been loving this new journey!

Dude recording acoustic guitar is so humbling. All the buzz, accidental resonance. Clean acoustic players are fuckin beast

Which Yamaha model acoustic is this, Ross? Sounds richer and more powerful than Yamahas I've heard or played before.

I"d love to suck as good as you at acoustic and bluegrass lol

Listen to the pizza tapes album for some inspiration. Jerry Garcia, Tony Rice and David Grisman doing the bluegrass style. I share your insecurity with the flat picking/ bluegrass style, the open note solos and right hand flat picking is really difficult to get the hang of !

Ahhh, now you're really getting the Nashville experience. You may not be used to acoustic but you still pissed all over me and many others in that clip. 😉 If I do finally get back to the US and get to Nashville to catch up with Tommy, I'll introduce you to him. You should definitely meet up with Joe Robinson too, who prodigy'd with Tommy & Phil as a kid. Nice Yamaha. Very similar to mine. 😊

Probably really hard to find any good players in Nashville, huh? :-P Ive heard more than one person say that while barhopping there, they said "That's the best guitar player I have ever heard" three or four times in one night !!!

Awesome.

I am currently working on your melodic soloing course, after having bought the intermediate guitarist pack. Nice job! And congrats for moving to Nashville

Like your honesty pal 👌

Yeah, I’m in the other camp. Decades a flat picking and acoustic playing and when I get on an electric, I finally just gave myself permission to put heavier, strings and kind of just do semi tone bends and kind of like build out from what I knew. It actually sounds pretty cool. Maybe you’ll end up with kind of your own hybrid style and then that way you’ll be you know unique. Dann Huff never played exactly like Brent Mason. He kinda had his own way so maybe you can too.

Sounds good but I'd have a hard time playing acoustic in the same town as Mr Sutton

Acoustic is another thing! Nowhere to hide when it’s just player and acoustic guitar!! Good vid and intro Ross 🎸

Ross you did extremely well. Play on!!

yup its a completely different instrument! you have talent and you work hard so you sound already EXCELLENT!! Now try travis picking Chet atkins jerry Reed on acoustic...your head will explode...takes years to do that also!! great work

I came from the (Brazilian) acoustic guitar world some ten years ago to this blues-rock oriented world. But for me it's already time to come back: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jp6ni3SIjLKDZpo

yo, i feel this. you study, yeah! it's hard when you need to play "your instrument" and that being the first part ELECTRIC guitar. not much more i can say. rcok on!

Which model Yamaha is that …..? Playing sounds great

"Knowing, that it's best to study your heroe's heroes, I think, you chose the right guys to dive into it. And if you're interested in the John Petrucci-ish "product" of this, you NEED to check out Andy Wood! I'm absolutely sure you know him well! No question! But if you're in that mind set lately, he for sure would be a very, very good choice!" - Random comment from a far more intermediate(ier) player than you who does know less about Blue Grass than you, probably. September 25th, 2024, Markus Dreßen.

That’s sounded good already. Please keep posting your progress. BTW I’m visiting Nashville for a week from Friday, if you have any shows, I would love to see your band.

Can't wait to take this journey with you. I've recently become enamored with this genre of music myself and have already found the community to be welcoming and gracious. BTW, the biggest week in bluegrass is currently underway in Raleigh, NC and will culminate Friday and Saturday. If you want to see bluegrass up close and wall to wall, this is it.

I feel insecure when I have a pick in my hand. I hate it 😅. Why use one plastic when you have 4 at your fingertips?

I remember trying to learn Molly Tuttle's solo on her version of She is a rainbow. She's incredible. My introduction to that kind of vocabulary.

Accoustic guitar is pointless. It’s only useful if there is an apocalypse and there is no electricity

Trey Hensley is a beast. The magic of guitar is that there are so many styles where it can take the forefront of the music with very different techniques.

This intro was sick!! Tabs somewhere?

Are you familiar with John Butler? His song "Ocean" is the reason i picked up a guitar in the first place, and it was the first song i began my journey on. I still struggle with parts of it (it's that difficult), but it's also the most beautiful and soothing sounds I've heard come from my fingers. I suggest watching his live version (i think it's 2010) and you might be inspired to tune into this amazing tuning of Open C. The new pattern to learn on the fretboard is actually super simple with so many repeated roots and 5ths, so it is a great way to start learning finger style. It's also an improvised song that you can play around with. Just give it a try this afternoon. Let me know what you think! There's a guy Mike that has a great tutorial and transcription that are super helpful! Cheers!

I have followed you a bit, and you're a badass , I think you are going to do very well.

Yup, I was the same way. I was a big electric guy, and the longer I avoided acoustic the more insecure I felt about it. So I decided to do something about it, and I started to look for an acoustic. When I picked one up to try it I was completely shocked. I felt like I might as well have been playing a piano or something. It felt like a completely different instrument entirely. I had zero confidence, zero familiarity, and no idea what to play or where to go. I was dumbfounded… But honestly that weakness made me angry and I felt that I had to attack my weakness head on and defeat it. So I found the acoustic I wanted, a used Martin JC-16RE Aura, and I actually put my electric guitars in the spare room where I never go, to sort of lock my security blankets away. I am so glad that I did. Because forcing myself to adapt to acoustic has really improved my overall skill and adaptability. It actually helped me sound better on electric too. It made me think differently, it made me hammer on little pieces if chords more, it made me play triads down the neck more than grabbing the full barre chord like I would on electric. It really did revolutionize my playing. I’ll always be primarily an electric guy, sure, but I find myself reaching for that acoustic more often than not while around the house. You know how we pick a guitar up quickly to get a sound out of our heads, or to quickly explore something we’re thinking about. It has the added benefit of making electric feel even better now. The action feels so slinky and easy now. I am so glad that I finally decided to attack my acoustic weakness! I hope that somebody watching this video or reading my comment might be emboldened to stop saying “acoustic is lame!” and to get yourself one and work at it. It will make you a better player and a better electric player.

Man , I'm sick of electric guitars and broken tube amps, ready to trade in all my electric guitars for some D18 and D28 . Lessons with Marcel and Brandon Johnson. Start listening to Tony Rice and Norman Blake

Molly Tuttle is definitely flatpicking with her wrist anchored on the bridge. She changes up to floating very rapidly for chords.

Great video! I agree completely. Learning a whole new style is motivating.

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