Flatpicking is the technique of playing a guitar with
a flat pick (or flat plectrum) versus the use of bare
fingers, finger picks, or a thumb pick. The plectrum;
a simple piece of plastic, nylon, tortoiseshell, or
whatever material a player holds, is capable of bringing
certain tones out of a steel-string guitar that nothing
else can.
Guitar in America from the 1800s through the 1930s
was primarily a rhythm instrument. As guitar players
began to play lead breaks throughout the 1940s and 50s,
two main styles emerged--"fingerstyle" and
"flatpicking." The term "flatpicking"
originated with early lead acoustic guitar players in
traditional country and bluegrass music who used a plectrum
to play the guitar. The plectrum of choice was called
a "flat pick." The term "flatpick"
distinguished their technique from "fingerstyle"
players or bare finger players.
Some of the pioneering players, during the 1920s through
the 1950s, who did use the technique which was to become
known as "flatpicking" included George Shuffler,
Don Reno, and Bill Napier in bluegrass music; Django
Reinhardt, Eddie Lang, and Nick Lucas in jazz music;
and the Delmore Brothers, the Blue Sky Boys, Jimmie
Rodgers, and Hank Snow in country music.
During the 1960s and 70s the flatpicking technique
became more widespread as lead guitar became more prominent
in bluegrass, folk, and traditional music. The most
well know of the flatpickers from this era are such
guitar greats as Doc Watson, Dan Crary, Clarence White,
Tony Rice, Norman Blake, Larry Sparks, Charles Sawtelle,
and Russ Barenberg.
