Looking for recommendations on instructional DVD's for learning some flatpicking.

Seems to be a lot out there,
Steve Kaufman - homespun series
Tony Rice
Kenny Smith

Thanks,

I was very pleased with the Bryan Sutton one.

I recently got "Deep Bluegrass Guitar", a book and CD by Ed Dodson which I've found to be very helpful. It's basically about flatpicking licks, straight forward, to the point.
I also liked these DVDs :
"Bluegrass Rhythm Guitar Workshop" by Orrin Star,
"Advanced Bluegrass Rhythm Guitar" with Wyatt Rice,
"Tunes and Techniques" by Kenny Smith.
The Orrin Star one has some good stuff in it but for me spent too much time on technique details. The wyatt Rice one has some great stuff too but is a bit slow in delivery at times. The Kenny Smith is interesting in seeing some of his licks and also it has a few of his tunes you can have a go at.
But I particularly like the "Deep Bluegrass guitar" book/CD by Ed Dodson for the way the licks are put into context with scales, melody line, triad shapes, chord progressions and how they can be applied.

I think there is a great one by Elijah Poon. It may be hard to find, but it's well worth the search.

Kia Manuia,

Dale

Thanks for the help everyone. This gives me a starting point.

A bit late on this thread, but HIGHLY recommended is Orrin Star's "Flatpicking Primer - What the Tab Won't Tell You".

I picked up this DVD last week, and it's literally filled with good stuff that will make you a better player. For ex., while teaching you a flatpickin lead, Orrin explains how to think like a fiddler, then shows you, and then you say to yourself, why didn't I ever realize that?! Time and time again, Orrin gives you advice that can really impact your playing at a real fundamental level. I've got DVDs by Tony, Bryan, and others, but I'd say Orrin's DVD probably will end up making the biggest improvement in my playin.

BTW, he gives some great instruction on one of my favorite tunes, Whiskey Before Breakfast, and that alone was worth the price of the DVD to me.

The Orrin Star DVD arrived and I watched it last night (should say started to watch it). Is it just me, or does anyone else have trouble getting through it? Maybe I'm just going about it wrong, but I cannot get very far into this, or most other instructional media, without losing focus and getting derailed. I'm thinking about putting the guitar away and watching it through once, then starting and stopping with each of the scale drills,, tune variations, etc.

I'd say that this one is very well done, though I wish the slow parts were played more slowly, and I think split screen/closeups would have helped a lot. There's a funny message that crawls across the screen after OS rubs the top of his head!

quote:

I recently got "Deep Bluegrass Guitar", a book and CD by Ed Dodson which I've found to be very helpful. It's basically about flatpicking licks, straight forward, to the point.

Anyone know where to find this one? I've tried googling it, and haven't found anyplace that carries it. Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by Joe Dodson:

quote:

I recently got "Deep Bluegrass Guitar", a book and CD by Ed Dodson which I've found to be very helpful. It's basically about flatpicking licks, straight forward, to the point.

Anyone know where to find this one? I've tried googling it, and haven't found anyplace that carries it. Thanks.

You can order it via the merchandise page on this web site: http://www.woodandsteelband.com/
Any relation Joe?

The DVDs that I've found the most helpful aren't really educational, but are jamming tools. Bluegrass and flatpicking are first and foremost about playing with others, and no amount of playing on your own can prepare you for this.

I HIGHLY recommend the Brad Davis Flatpick Jam DVDs from Flatpicking Guitar Magazine (www.flatpick.com). You can get tab in a variety of places, including this same site. Then you can learn the basics of the tune and jam on them over and over at slow, medium, medium fast, and fast speeds. This gets you playing in time, learing how to come in and out of the rhythm/lead, and allows you to practice your rhythm playing as well. The DVDs show Brad playing his killer Merrill C28, and have a mandolin and bass track keeping time on each tune.

I can't recommend these highly enough. No financial interest, blah, blah, blah.

Dan Miller had volume 4 with him in Winfield last week.

Jam on.

--David

My favorite is Tony Rice "Video Collection" from Merlefest '92 I think. I get more motivation & tricks from watching him play in the band setting than in the instruction DVDs.

quote:

You can order it via the merchandise page on this web site: http://www.woodandsteelband.com/
Any relation Joe?

Muchas gracias. No relation that I'm aware of. If there is, his branch of the family must have gotten away with the lion's share of the musical talent.