Carter Style

The Carter style is named for Mother Maybelle Carter, in county ’s most famous family group, The . While Maybelle played with a thumbpick and fingers, the style is popular with flatpickers. It is a complete style featuring the lead voiced on the bass strings and rhythm chord strums. The style works in any key but is often played in C and G. The classic is perhaps the best-known Carter style song. Below is a basic Carter style version of Aunt Rhoady. Use all downstrokes. Aunt Rhoady #1 16

Hammer-Ons

Now we’ll learn a left-hand technique and add it to Aunt Rhoady. The hammer-on in the next tune is accomplished by playing an open string and quickly placing your fretting finger down forcibly so that you get a second note. Listen to the CD track carefully to get the right sound. If the second note is muffled, use more speed and force. The hammer-on is indicated in the music with a small arc, called a tie, which connects the two notes. Practice the exercise below. Remember, pick the string only once and allow the hammer to create the second note. The hammers in measures 1 and 2 using the second finger while measures 3 and 4 use the third.

17

13 18 Aunt Rhoady 2

After you learn this arrangement, try playing Aunt Rhoady 1 and 2 together without stopping.

Pull-Offs

Another important left-hand technique is the pull-off. The pull-off is accomplished by rapidly removing your left-hand finger to an open string note creating two notes. Do not lift your finger from the string but pluck the string with a sideways motion - either up, towards the ceiling or down, towards the floor. Pull-offs always move from a higher note to a lower note and are indicated by the same arched ties used to indicate hammer- ons.

19

14 Aunt Rhoady 3

Here is a version with hammer-ons and pull-offs. Listen to the track for the exact sound. Pay special attention to the hammer-on / pull-off combination in measure seven.

20

Crosspicking

Since you know the melody of Aunt Rhoady, it is a good tune to use for the next exercise. is a way to present a melody surrounded by notes of the chord. The right-hand picking usually falls into patterns. Example one belows shows two patterns often called the forward and reverse rolls. The symbols over the music staff indicate pick direction. In measure one, the pattern is down-down-up-down-down-up-down- down.(The V symbol indicates an upstroke.) This is the forward roll. In measure three, the pattern is up-up- down-up-up-down-up-up. This is the reverse roll. Practice these patterns until they are comfortable.

21

15 Here is a crosspicked arrangement of Aunt Rhoady. Pay close attention to the pick direction symbols.

22 Aunt Rhoady 4

That was a hard lesson! Here is a fun exercise that will have you playing up-the-neck. This exercise involves only the top four strings. The third and fourth strings change while the first and second strings remain unchanged. This is a fun set of chords to strum or to pick as in the exercise. This progression has even been used to accompany songs as in Michael Martin Murphy’s Geronimo’s Cadillac. Pay close attention to the alternating picking beginning in measure five. The movement here is descending thirds in E. Thirds is the name of the musical interval between the two descending notes. 23

16