Tags: fingerstyle technique
The Carter Family picking, also known as the thumb brush, the Carter lick, the church lick, or the Carter scratch. This unique fingerstyle guitar technique named after Maybelle Carter of the Carter Family.
This distinctive rhythm guitar technique involves playing the melody on the bass strings, typically low E, A, and D. While playing the bass, you keep rhythm strumming above on the treble strings, G, B, and high E. This technique creates a brief pause in the music, which is quite impressive.
The Carter scratch style bears some similarities to the frailing style of banjo playing. Interestingly, Bill Monroe, the renowned bluegrass musician, adapted this rhythm for bluegrass music a few decades later.
Maybelle Carter was one of the pioneers of this technique, and she played a pivotal role in transforming the guitar into a lead instrument. The origins of her style remain uncertain, but it undoubtedly stands as one of her most distinctive characteristics.
The Carter scratch can be heard in the Carter Family’s inaugural recordings, which were captured in Bristol, Tennessee, in August 1927. Maybelle Carter also acquired a blues fingerpicking technique from Lesley Riddle, an African-American guitarist who met A. P. Carter in December 1928. Lesley frequented the Carter family residence, and Maybelle learned several valuable techniques from her.
In addition to the Carter scratch, Maybelle Carter was also a gifted slide guitarist and later experimented with flat-pick techniques. She was a formidable musical force to be reckoned with.
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