Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

For those of you who have had the good fortune to have seen Roger perform live, I am wondering if he uses finger picks for most of his picking or does he use a flat pick as well. Also, does he use the same style of picking with his acoustic 12 string as he does with his electric Rickenbacker 12 String.

If you catch Roger live, you may see him do either, or both.When I saw him in the country Byrds in 1970, he used only a flatpick.Same thing
in '74 when he was solo.The last 10-15 years
when I've seen him, I'm pretty sure he had the fingerpicks.

Saw Roger several times in '91, '97 & '99 and he used finger picks at all those performances. This is his technique even in his instructional video as well.

Roger has used a 'hybrid' picking method since the Byrds. As a banjo player pre-Byrds, he originaly picked with the typical thumb/fingerpick banjo thing. As he explained to me, with the Byrds , he was also a lead guitar player. He told me that he had no time to change back and forth between picks. So now he holds a flatpick in the normal way, and has finger picks on the middle and ring finger. It took me a while to get this down pretty well, I practiced on TTT, especially the lead break playing the 8th notes. It is pretty close to the alternating thumb roll used in bluegrass banjo. (I play 5 string banjo and replacing the thumbpick with a flatpick was maddening in the beginning)And as Jeff shared above, this is one of the picking exercises illustrated in Roger's 12 string instructional video. I just figured I would expand on it.

Ron: Thanks for your comments and observations. While the Rickenbacker sound certainly got music enthusiasts to sit up and take notice, it was also Roger McGuinn's picking style that captivated Byrds' fans everywhere.

Hi again Peter,

I'm sorry, I did not respond to the second part of your inquiry. Yes Roger uses the same hybrid "Byrds" style picking I previously described on his Martin as well. As it happens, there is one new song (new to me) and I think it's part of the folk den where he uses a thumbpick and 2 finger picks banjo style on the RIC of all things. He uses the 3 finger 'forward roll' pattern (Thumb,index,middle)123-123-123-123 etc. I expect this is done this way to get that effect on the song. I'm not an expert, but I do think it's the only exception to his hybrid style I have observed on guitar in recent times. Possibly someone else can jump in and correct or add to my recall.

Be well ... Ron

Thanks Ron. Roger's great picking style has to be one of the best arguments for taking up the banjo. I am wondering why Roger didn't use the Banjoline more.

His forward roll pattern works well with the solo on 'The Bells of Rhymney'... I tend to think he did more cross-picking on the earlier Byrds stuff but it all will work great--!!

Peter--I am thinking Roger owned a Bantar at one point and its now owned by Doug Dillard; I don't know if it was a deluxe model or not (probably was)....

John you are indeed correct. You can see it here.