Dammit yer right! Thanks.

Now this ain't no small detail folks. (if yer a guitar nerd) Truth is that a lot of country pickers only used the thumb and index finger. Reverend Gary Davis, Ike Everly, Mose Rager, Blind Boy Fuller (don't know about "Blake" or Buddy Moss or Willie MacTell.....or especially the master of fast pickin', Big Bill Broonzy) Sam McGee appears to use two fingers plus a thumb, but the point is...these wonderful pickers get all the notes they need with just one finger. That one finger is movin' like a son of a gun...and that's where the extra finger comes in. For me, it's simply a little more relaxed (and easier!) with the extra one. Basically the same notes. Chet Atkins and most of the modern players use two. Back in the sixties I read Jerry Silverman's instruction book, and he advocated thumb plus THREE fingers. For syncopated type pickin' I find that a bit of overkill, so I never went in that direction, but if I'm not using picks at all, I go to thumb and three fingers......same notes, just less finger movement.

I just wanna say since the questioner is a bit leary of the complexities of Doc's style.......Don't let all this technical shit throw you. It happens to us after we've been pickin' for a number of years....sort of like someone who knows how to change the oil in their car...gets a little confidence, and then REALLY wants to know how the car works!

When you break it down (Doc's style, not the car) it's not complicated......IF you've got your right hand operating efficiently.....and THAT's the most important part of it.

Rick