Camp Bluegrass favorite, Flatpicker Tim May, has been working in the Nashville area for over 20 years as a sideman, session player, band member and performer. Higher profile projects have included touring with Patty loveless and John Cowan, and working as a regular on the Grand Ole Opry with Mike Snider. Tim was the solo guitarist on Charlie Daniels’ recording of I’ll Fly Away, which was nominated for the Best country Instrumental Performance Grammy in 2005, the same year he was session leader on the critically acclaimed Moody Bluegrass album (he later played on Moody Bluegrass II as well). The Nashville Scene selected Tim the Best Instrumentalist category in their 2012 Reader’s Choice Poll. Tim is co-author of the eight volume course ‘Flatpicking Essentials’, The Guitar Player’s Practical Guide to Scales and Arpeggios, The Flatpicker’s Guide to Old Time Music, and The Flatpicker’s Guide to Irish Music. He has taught regularly at Camp Bluegrass, Kaufman Kamp, Colorado Roots Music Camp, Nashcamp, and the Swannanoa Gathering. He and his wife Gretchen are owners of the Musical Heritage Center of Middle Tennessee.

Tim’s skills and topics covered in his flatpicking class. 

In the flatpicking guitar class we will focus on the tools you need to be a complete guitar player from rhythm to soloing. We will look at bass runs, alternating bass ideas, and how to effectively use dynamics to create a variety of moods for any song from breakdowns to waltzes. We will explore the mysterious world of improvisation and how to implement a simple approach to playing any song by looking at the chords and playing the chord itself (arpeggios) and a major scale (seven notes). Blues found its way into bluegrass, and we’ll look at how to incorporate major and minor blues, with examples from our heroes like Tony Rice and Doc Watson. In an attempt to be successful like banjo players, we will look at how crosspicking (mimicking a three-note banjo roll) can enhance a song and will dive into how players like George Shuffler, Norman Blake and Clarence White approached it. We’ll also introduce techniques for creating and enhancing solos for any song/tune we might encounter: tremolo, harmonized scales, ‘neighbor notes’, folded scales and more: lots of fun to be had, lots of playing time!