The Flat-Picker's Guitar Guide: An Advanced Instruction Record

Guitar player and instructor Jerry Silverman offers an intriguing instructional album with The Flat-Picker’s Guitar Guide, one of four instructional albums he produced for Folkways Records in the 1960s. He provides spoken word instruction and musical examples of various guitar strumming techniques. Among the songs performed is the artist’s arrangement of the traditional folk song “Cindy,” the Carter Family classic “Wildwood Flower,” and the traditional folk standards “In the Pines” and “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow.” Liner notes from this 1966 recording augment the spoken word instruction with illustrated tips regarding how to hold the guitar pick and different playing techniques such as hammering-on, the church lick, and the bluegrass run.

Track Listing

101	The Pick and How to Hold It	Jerry Silverman	01:56
102	Church Lick: Johnson Boys / I Never Will Marry	Jerry Silverman	04:20
103	Hammering-On: I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow / Brown Eyes	Jerry Silverman	05:07
104	Church Lick with the Blues Wrinkle: Crawdad	Jerry Silverman	02:13
105	Typical Bluegrass Run: My Home's Across the Smoky Mountains	Jerry Silverman	02:22
106	Barre Chords: The Muffle / Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms	Jerry Silverman	02:22
107	Barre Chords: The Shuffle / Bill Bailey	Jerry Silverman	01:14
201	Carter Family: Wildwood Flower / Bright Shines the Moon / In the Pines	Jerry Silverman	06:27
202	Single String: Everyday Dirt / Mountain Dew / Red Rocking Chair / Cindy	Jerry Silverman	03:07
203	Cross Picking: Jesse James	Jerry Silverman	02:16
204	Syncopation in the Carribean: Que Bonita Bandera / Love Alone	Jerry Silverman	03:59
205	Fancy Stepper: The Unorthodox Church Lick / Na Kone Voronom (On a Raven-Black Horse)	Jerry Silverman	03:32