The Chetboard

He could always play so well I did notice that he had on some kind of fingerpicks on his right hand. I guess he has weak nails like me. At some point I believe he switched to acrylics for his right finger nails. To the best of my knowledge, he always used a thumb pick Rather than switch off to a straight pick like Tommy Emmanuel many times it seems to do or even bare thumb which the likes of amateurs like myself do.

Rich, the most outstanding aspect of Richard's playing that stands out to me is the fact that he never rests his pinky or any other "anchor fingers" on the body of the guitar when he plays. I understand the principal of the freedom of range of motion and have talked with him many times about it, and I wish I could do the same, but it seems impossible for me and my accuracy immediately plummets within the first few notes whenever I try it. I wish I could.