I agree completely on your devices, PG--As per the bass/treble thingyou have to change voicings a lot in order to provide some texture, so it is important to learn to keep that stead beat on a treble string while moving around in the bass, as well as learning how to play a steady bass while moving around on the treble strings--

Also, it is probably worth noting(for some of the folks who are trying to learn this stuff and just sorting it out) that ragtime picking is different from Travis picking--the ragtime features a "four beats to the measure" feel,, accent on the 1st and 3rd beats, while the Travis picking features a solid "Eight-to-the-bar" feel--