T-Bone Walker picking technique

Playing Technique
#1

Just ran into one of my neglected CD’s - A T-Bone Walker album, Stormy Monday…this sent me off to look at some footage of him.

I’d be very interested in an analysis of his picking technique, as pioneer of the electric guitar, single note solos, extra-ordinary grooves, and stage performance (playing behind his head while doing the splits), and some of blues most iconic tunes his music and technique were foundational for the next generation of bluesmen (BB King, Buddy Guy, etc…).

These live recordings have some very good extended footage of his picking hand…

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#2

Great find. First thing I thought when I saw the way he holds the guitar, lap steel style, is that I bet there are going to be lots of downstrokes. There definitely are!

He’s basically Wes Montgomery with a pick. And Wes is essentially a Gypsy player without a pick, or along that continuum. Here’s a very detailed write up of all these USX styles and how they intersect:

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