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Author Topic:  Tele pickers; suggested start learning materials
Dave Van Allen


From:
Doylestown, PA , US , Earth
Post  Posted 10 Jun 2005 6:04 am    
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learning material for a beginner?

I seem to have bought a Tele on ebay- don't ask how these things happen -
and am looking to find the best starter learning materials towards learning twangy Don Rich style pickin'.

any recommendations appreciated...

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Marty Pollard

 

Post  Posted 10 Jun 2005 6:50 am    
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Yeah, look up Terry Couch at guitartricks.com

Lots of annoying popups from this site however.

Some country boy w/a vidcam and a potload of useful hotlicks.

BTW, I'm just assuming that you already know open and barre chords. If not, maybe Mel Bay?

[This message was edited by Marty Pollard on 10 June 2005 at 07:52 AM.]

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D Schubert

 

From:
Columbia, MO, USA
Post  Posted 10 Jun 2005 6:51 am    
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Spend some time hanging out at the Telcaster Discussion Page...
www.tdpri.com
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Dave Van Allen


From:
Doylestown, PA , US , Earth
Post  Posted 10 Jun 2005 7:16 am    
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Marty
Mel Bay may not be a bad idea
When I was a kid I wanted real bad to play guitar, but by the time I could afford to I had gotten sidetracked by the sound of a pedal steel and that took addictive precedence

I know barre chords (A & E maj & minor form) and several "cowboy" position chords, but have never officially "played" guitar per se... never owned one before to practice on.
noodled on friend's in high school but that's several decades ago.

I know many chords by shape 'cause I've had to follow changes watching so many guitar players thru the years...

I grew up around some of the best Tele pickers in DC so I never really felt the need to play myself; but I got the bug bad watching the Buckaroos "Ranch Show" videos to try and make that sound.

I have no illusions about becoming a multi instrument utility guy; PSG is my axe. I just want it to twang around on and have around the house... & something my boy might take up if he's inclined to....

I have all the peripheral stuff, oodles of various sized Fender amps, and the music theory... so why the heck not?
Not gettin' any younger.

D Schubert- I have been lurking on the tdpri for a little while, and the Fender Discussion Pages...
thanks guys for your input
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Marty Pollard

 

Post  Posted 10 Jun 2005 7:31 am    
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I got serious about tele 3 yrs ago and am totally addicted.

My advice is to use your finger picks and dig in; you'll get that twang.

It's a small leap from knowing your basic chord/scale positions to learning cool chromatic and double stop licks.

Have fun!
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Jerry Hayes


From:
Virginia Beach, Va.
Post  Posted 10 Jun 2005 9:08 am    
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Hey Dave, I agree with the fingerpicks thing! I played lead guitar as my primary instrument full time for over 22 years and always used a thumb and fingerpicks on guitar as well as steel. You'll find you can get some things that just won't happen with a flatpick. If you can find any of the old Hot Licks Videos by Albert Lee or Ray Flacke they'll do you a lot of good and they're easy to follow.....JH in Va.

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Livin' in the Past and Future with a 12 string Mooney Universal tuning.

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Terry Sneed

 

From:
Arkansas,
Post  Posted 10 Jun 2005 10:08 am    
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Dave, Elderly.com has a bunch of country guitar courses. There are a lot of beginner and intermediate courses on the website.

Terry

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[This message was edited by Terry Sneed on 10 June 2005 at 11:14 AM.]

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Dave Mudgett


From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
Post  Posted 10 Jun 2005 11:05 am    
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Primarily, I've been a guitar player most of my life, steel came lately, and Teles are my favorite. There are really two issues here.

The first is basic guitar technique. There are so many fine books and videos out there it's hard to recommend just one. I like "The Wolf Marshall Guitar Method, with CD included". The Basics series comes in three volumes, and really covers the fundamentals for most styles. This is what I got for my kid when starting guitar after a few years of classical piano. This series is clear and methodical, starts from the beginning, but is not dumbed-down, IMO. Marshall is known primarily as a rock player, but he can play/teach about anything, I think. It should be possible to find and take a look at this in a local music store, certainly is here in State College.



The second relates to how you're going to play. For guitar, I use a flatpick and fingerpicks on middle and ring fingers. If you want to try that approach, I recommend James Burton's Hot Licks video. He uses the flatpick and just the middle fingerpick, but you get the idea. He starts out with the Susie Q riff and moves from there to lay out his chicken pickin' style. His tone is so good, and runs the limit from his red 50s to paisley 60s to 80s JB signature model.



That's not the only way to do this of course. Brent Mason has a good Hot Licks video out on the thumbpick and fingers approach. I like the Hot Licks country guitar series in general. Arlen Roth in particular lays things out very clearly. Danny Gatton, Ray Flacke, Albert Lee, all cool, though I don't see Ray's and Alberts videos listed anymore. Descriptions are here: http://www.hotlicks.com/countryguitar.htm



There are tons of other instructional materials out there. Nothing against the old Mel Bay series, but I would have given my eye teeth for the Wolf Marshall and Hot Licks videos when I started out. I agree, tdpri is cool.

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Leslie Ehrlich


From:
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Post  Posted 10 Jun 2005 11:12 am    
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Listen to James Burton.
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Tom Jordan


From:
Wichita, KS
Post  Posted 10 Jun 2005 2:48 pm    
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Yeah, listen to James Burton and also check out truefire.com. Truefire will let download a few freebies in MP3 and PDF format. This is home of the Helecasters and will get you right into the meat of twangin'.

Tom Jordan
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Mark van Allen


From:
Watkinsville, Ga. USA
Post  Posted 10 Jun 2005 2:48 pm    
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One video I haven't seen mentioned is the often-overlooked "Country Jazz Guitar" on Hot Licks with Joe Dalton. He really disects the modern country guitar styles using combinations of major/pentatonic/minor scales. Loaded up with far more info than the usual star videos, in my opinion. When I was playing Tele in country bands it was a tremendous help to me.

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Eric West


From:
Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.
Post  Posted 10 Jun 2005 3:08 pm    
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DVA. I posted a similar query a few months ago and got some GREAT answers. Were I not on the way to a gig after working today I'd search for it.

There are some good'uns.

EJL

[This message was edited by Eric West on 10 June 2005 at 04:09 PM.]

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Tim Harr


From:
Dunlap, Illinois
Post  Posted 10 Jun 2005 3:14 pm    
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I have been a Tele Picker for about 25 years..

Get any Buck Owens LP, Merle Haggard LP or anything with James Burton, Jerry Reed, Brent Mason, Danny Gatton, or Albert Lee ..
There are a TON of good licks on there.

I feel you need to listen to this style to get the hang of it. It is in fact just that, a style or maybe even a "technique".

Learn to play with a thumbpick or with a flat pick and your fingers.

Just because you have a telecaster doesn't mean you will achieve this sound...but I am sure you have found that out.

There is a book called "Masters of the Telecaster" It has a CD and all.. You can get going with something like that.

I also suggest that you find someone to get together with locally. This can be a big help.

Good luck.

Tim
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Jeff Garden


From:
Center Sandwich, New Hampshire, USA
Post  Posted 10 Jun 2005 3:31 pm    
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Check out Steve Trovato's instructional material (do a google search and I'm sure a lot of his books/videos will show up at various music sites). Also, check out his website www.stevetrovato.com although it looks like it's in the process of being updated

Johnny Hiland www.johnnyhiland.com also has a series of CD's, books, and a video on chicken pickin
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David Mason


From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
Post  Posted 11 Jun 2005 12:37 am    
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I'd recommend that you think about learning the guitar neck before specifically becoming a "Tele Picker" with the "Tele" hat, T-shirt, belt buckle etc. I always point people at the book "Fretboard Logic SE" by Bill Edwards. Amazon's got 'em, here's his own site: http://www.billedwards.com/frameset.html
You've got to learn this stuff eventually if you want to play well, you can either spend years figuring it out on your own (like I and countless others did) or buy this book and be zipping up and down the neck in no time.
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Roger Rettig


From:
Naples, FL
Post  Posted 11 Jun 2005 5:00 am    
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Brent Mason, Albert, Ray Flacke, James Burton - all those tapes are great. If you don't mind risking an inferiority complex, however, check out Scotty Anderson's tape (or his CDs) - he's unnatural!!!

RR
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Ben Lawson

 

From:
Brooksville Florida
Post  Posted 11 Jun 2005 5:15 am    
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Dave, Joe Dalton is a good friend of mine and he's putting out instructional DVD's now. He's the guy I work with in Atlantic City and other places when I'm not on the Hayride.I'll see if I can appropriate some material from him.
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Tim Harr


From:
Dunlap, Illinois
Post  Posted 11 Jun 2005 8:55 am    
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I learned a ton from the Steve Travoto tapes...also Joe Dalton video.

These are excellent recomendations!
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Glyn Bone

 

From:
Halifax.Nova Scotia. Canada * R.I.P.
Post  Posted 11 Jun 2005 3:18 pm    
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You could also check out the book ( with record) by Arlen Roth...loads of good Tele style stuff in there....he also has a couple of `Hot Country` videos out

Just my 0.2centimes

Glyndwr.
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Bob Smith

 

From:
Allentown, New Jersey, USA
Post  Posted 11 Jun 2005 5:31 pm    
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Dave, The Arlen Roth stuff is real good and covers alot of ground. Get some good pickin records, Redd V. , Johhny Hiland, Bill Kirchen, Albert Lee, and listen to them all the time. Have fun with your tele! bob
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Glyn Bone

 

From:
Halifax.Nova Scotia. Canada * R.I.P.
Post  Posted 12 Jun 2005 5:19 am    
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Dave...I forgot to mention the title of the Arlen Roth Book.. it is " Nashville Guitar",
I have seen it in several music shops so I know it is still available. there is also a book with two 45rpm records by Mike Ihde called "Country Styles" I think put out by Berkley....hope this helps.

Glyndwr.
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Mike Selecky


From:
BrookPark, Ohio
Post  Posted 12 Jun 2005 9:23 am    
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I came across this site recently for tele video lessons reasonably priced:
http://www.chadmccomas.com/doug/

Also, Truefire used to have a compilation of audio and tab lessons called "Twang Thang" for under $10 - I bought it several years ago after a recommendation from a post on this forum.
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Jeff Garden


From:
Center Sandwich, New Hampshire, USA
Post  Posted 12 Jun 2005 11:57 am    
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Just a heads up if any of the tele videos you want are put out by Hot Licks. These are great videos but only buy them from a distributor that already has them in stock. www.hotlicks.com is still accessible on the Internet but as far as I can tell the phone has been disconnected and the business has been closed since around March 2004. My credit card was charged for 3 videos in early 2004 and after they repeatedly delayed my shipment due to "inventory problems" the owners disappeared with no forwarding info and I got ripped off.
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Pookie Anselmi

 

From:
Galliano, Louisiana, USA
Post  Posted 13 Jun 2005 5:17 am    
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Take a look a www.terrydownsmusic.com

If you like Roy Nicholls guitar playing with
Merle Haggard, you'll like terry's dvd.

He uses a camera approach over his left arm so you can see the neck of the guitar the same way you'd be looking at yours.
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Ben Lawson

 

From:
Brooksville Florida
Post  Posted 13 Jun 2005 5:12 pm    
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The reason that Hot Licks disappeared may be that Arlen Roths wife and daughter were killed in an auto accident a while back and he's been pretty much down since then. I'll check with Joe Dalton since he and Arlen were pretty close.
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