Flatpicking

• As a guitarist, Norman Blake is best known for his flatpicking proficiency. Flatpicking is when a guitarist uses a pick to strike the strings as opposed to using his fingers, resulting in a snappier tone. The fundamental differences between using fingers and a pick also changes the way a guitarist crafts his music. Building up speed and accuracy when learning to flatpick requires patience and dedication to the instrument. Learn flatpicking guitar passages slowly at first, gradually increasing speed until you can confidently play the part at its proper tempo.
  
  

Alternate Picking

• Blake uses alternate picking to execute the extremely fast bluegrass passages for which he is known. Alternate picking requires you to change the direction from which you are striking the strings with each pick stroke. This is done by always following a downstroke with an upstroke. Although this may feel unnatural at first, using alternate picking is the most efficient way to play as fast as Blake. Keep your picking wrist and hand relaxed when alternate picking.
  
  

String Skipping

• String skipping is a flatpicking technique in which you literally skip strings. This technique is often done while alternate picking. Blake uses this technique to help him approximate the large tonal jumps that are the hallmark of bluegrass fiddle (which Blake also plays). Practice string skipping by jumping to non-adjacent strings while playing scales. Use strict alternate picking while practicing these string-skipping exercises.
  
  

Fret-Hand Techniques

• Blake is best known for his incredible picking prowess, but his fret hand techniques are also impressive. Many of Blake's songs are based off common major and minor chords, but he rarely simply frets these chords. Blake often adds slides, hammer-ons and pull-offs to his chord progressions to spice them up. Hammer-ons are played by picking a string once and then using another fretting finger to hammer a higher fret, thus producing a new note. A pull-off is the opposite of this technique, where a note is struck once and a second note is produced by removing the finger from its initial position. Part of Blake's genius is his ability to seamlessly integrate these techniques into an extremely complicated picking pattern.