"The Fox" Crosspicking TAB Workout

Just uploaded a new video to the FPHO and this time I chose "The Fox" -- one of my favorite traditional folk songs. I used Nickel Creek's studio version to back me up. I like their arrangement for two reasons:

• It's a really, really great version of the tune.
• Sean Watkins does very little but strum along (and not even that until over a minute into it) which leaves plenty of sonic room to be creative while playing along.

I always thought the intro where Thile sings and percussively chops out the beat on the mandolin was cool but felt the guitarist should have been doing something there as well. It occurred to me one day that maybe some crosspicking would fit in there nicely so I started messing around with that idea and came up with what you hear in the video. I like the extra dynamic it gives to the otherwise sparse intro and it has become my standard crosspicking workout/exercise song -- great for keeping your right hand in shape -- and I thought I'd share the TAB for it. Here's a direct link to the video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=212soGvTM5I You can find the TAB in the FPHO archive as well but here are the links to it directly from my personal webspace: Here's the TablEdit file for the crosspicked intro: http://home.comcast.net/~jpittman2/sandbox/TheFox_Intro.tef And here's a .PDF file of the same: http://home.comcast.net/~jpittman2/sandbox/TheFox_Intro.pdf For the most part, the fretting hand does very little but hold some chord fragments leaving the picking hand to do all the hard work. I might add that "crosspicking" doesn't just mean the basic "1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2" string picking pattern to me and the TAB reflects that sentiment. Sometimes I just endlessly roll triplets "1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3..." (which creates a nice, syncopated feel) or intentionally hit the middle string instead of "crossing" over it back to the low string if that's what feels right and keeps the timing how I want it. Have fun!

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Jamey Pittman - Flatpicking Instructor - Snellville, GA [url]http://www.youtube.com/user/jameypittman[/url] [url]http://www.flatpickerhangout.com/my/jameypittman[/url] [url]http://flatpick.ning.com/profile/JameyPittman[/url] I offer online, personalized flatpicking lessons via Skype!