Jody Stecher

Downhome Flatpicking Guitar

Jody Stecher has long been America's least generic flatpicker. From the teenage hotshot who won the 1966 World's Champion Flatpicking Cup at Union Grove North Carolina to the mature and reflective artist who was twice Grammy nominated in the 1990s, Jody has always played his own style.

Here he presents the technical nuts and bolts for you to make your own personal style. This lesson is both a roadmap of Jody's development as a flatpicking guitarist of mostly American vernacular music, and a guide to how any flatpicker can expand their expressive technique. Think of it as 'Flatpicking According to Jody'.

It's a graded course starting with basics in which the technical relationship between fingerpicking and flatpicking is made clear. The first few pieces are great songs with memorable melodies but minimal fingering so that right hand fundamentals can be mastered.

With each new tune more techniques are introduced and more of the fingerboard is used, both horizontally and vertically. The second half of the lesson is purely instrumental music and the tunes are more complex.

Titles include: Carter's Blues, It's Hard To Love, I Got A Bulldog, Leake County Blues, Arkansas Traveler, The Dawn and The Ship in Full Sail.