Well, if Rick and I are talking about the same thing, you play the bass notes with the thumb pick and lightly brush up on the top two or three strings with your index finger for the chord part. The chord should just be heard as fill between the more prominant bass notes. This allows one to back fast hard driving tunes without tiring the struming hand so quickly. I prefer the attack provided by the flat pick but it means after each bass note the pick must be lifted clear of the strings for the light down and up brush stroke of the chord.

The technique in "The Black Book" is called the Carter Family Scratch because it mimics the sound of the guitar and the autoharp played together. I used to use that quite a lot because I started out playing finger style and only learned to use a flat pick later on. I'm also fond of the Carter Family's music so a picking style that provided that Carter feel was just the thing for me.

Rick, is your thumb and finger technique different than mine?

      - Mark