Had an interesting session with Rick F. recently where I asked him about Piedmont style playing (he refers to it as Inner Mountain, I think, which sounds like a great title for a movie). We had a thread some time ago on Piedmont Blues which began to touch on the technical details, but ran out of steam or something. As far as I can tell, the style involves alternating 4th and 6th strings with the thumb, alternating with the use of the index finger (and/or others) for the higher strings. But that is clearly lesson 1A -- if people here had to talk in more detail about, say, Blind Boy Fuller, or Gary Davis, how would they characterize their styles in a way that might help a nascent player distinguish this style from, say, Travis picking or Mississippi blues?

yours,

Peter T.