Crazy

[Mike Neer]

This is a clip from my latest workshop. This arrangement was part of the lesson on block chords. Thanks to Bill Hatcher for building this guitar.

Crazy (Willie Nelson) arrangement for lap steel
https://youtu.be/RXLWNPwOspc

[Chris Templeton]

Very beautiful, Mike! No fingerpicks. Notice the shape of Mike's right hand; like cupping an egg, just how Jeff Newman instructs. I think it gives better tone compared to "flat handers" (I think of a flatlander like Wally Murphy).
Buddy Emmons played without picks for a while and, of course, I had to try it, and after building up callouses on the picking hand fingertips, I found a great tonal variety moving from the callousing to the softer, fleshy part of the finger.
The problem can be, not having the attack that picks can give and was the reason Buddy went back to playing with picks.
Playing without finger picks eliminates the rattle that can happen when a fingerpick plcks on a plucked string,
Pick blocking, like Paul Franklin, can eliminate this, where the rattle can be disguised by picking the next note.
Buddy plays IVL Pitchrider on my "Jamaica Cake" (Buddy's name) without fingerpicks: https://soundcloud.com/bluespruce8/jamaica-cake
and this: https://soundcloud.com/bluespruce8/buddy-ivl
A magnificent looking guitar, Mike!