GREENWOOD, Ind. — The song started with a constant rhythm, the heavy bass strings resonating with a thump.
Dean Phelps kept the beat with his thumb, waiting a few notes before kicking in with a sweet melody of bluegrass and folk.
Other musicians might need two instruments to play like this. But for a thumbpicker like Phelps, it's all done with one guitar.
Phelps has been singing, playing guitar and performing for more than 30 years. During the past few years he has developed a new skill: thumbpicking. The unique musical style creates toe-tapping beat combining bass, lead guitar and rhythm into one.
Along the way, Phelps has earned local and national recognition for his guitar playing, such as a ?rst-place finish in the national thumbpicking guitar contest at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, Ark.
The Greenwood musician's latest CD project, Picking the Faith, is in production and marries the thumbpicking style with traditional hymns and gospel music.
"I haven't played anywhere where I don't find people, even if they're engaged in conversation, tapping their foot or nodding their head a little bit. You've clicked on a beat for them," he said.
Thumbpicking is a style of play in which performers use their thumbs and their fingers. The thumb pick sets the backing rhythm, and the fingers pick out the melody notes.
The resulting sound is an old-timey up-and-down sound that seems like taking a stroll down a country road.
"It's old. If you go upriver enough in music history, it comes out of the blues tradition," said Carl Adkins, music director for the Ozark Folk Center. "We're a park that specializes in preserving these older traditions like thumbpicking."
A full-time pastor for Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Phelps has picked up music as an extension of his spiritual life. He has recorded three albums and is getting ready to release "Picking the Faith" in mid-August.
The 53-year-old performs solo and with two groups — Unbroken Circle, a folk music trio, and the Champions, a group of award winners in various instrument competitions.
Phelps started playing guitar when he was 9. He learned from his father, who had the reputation of being able to master any instrument with strings.
"I had his guitar and was just banging on it one night. He told me to put one finger here, and one finger here, and that was a G chord," he said. "I've been playing in G ever since."
A short time later, Phelps was watching television when he became enamored with a commercial teaching guitar over the course of 39 weeks. His parents recognized his interest, bought him the books that went with the program and set him loose.
He played with other people and started picking up different sounds and techniques from others. Performing with other musicians, particularly those that he considered more accomplished, pushed his own talents. Folk music caught his ear, particularly the melding of gospel and acoustic guitar that was so popular with songwriters such as James Taylor and John Prine.
Phelps' tastes grew from there, expanding into traditional artists such as Doc Watson and Chet Atkins.
Thumbpicking became Phelps' focus when he and his wife, Debbie, moved to Indiana in 2005. He met a retired pastor who had learned the unique musical form from the brother of pioneering picker Merle Travis.
"I was just fascinated by the general style," Phelps said. "He gave me the thumb pick and asked what I thought I could do with it. It was like falling in love with the guitar all over again."
Phelps had done some playing in the past where he used his thumb and fingers at the same time, but nothing as intense and difficult as full-fledged thumbpicking.
He spent four years mastering the style, spending hours at home playing around with the style and the feel of the guitar before he would openly admit that he was a thumbpicker.
"The ideal person for a musician to marry is another musician or an athlete. I married an athlete, so she came into it with the understanding that, to develop a skill, you do it over and over and over again," he said. "She sat there in the other room, blissfully ignorant to the fact that I was playing the same lick for 15 minutes trying to get it right."
As Phelps has learned more about the music, he has fallen in love with some of America's first authentic music — the folk and gospel from the late 1800s and early 1900s. The haunting melodies and hopeful lyrics seem to bring a positivity that appeals not only to Phelps but to the audiences, as well.
He entered his first competition in 2010, winning the thumbpicking title at the Indiana State Picking and Fiddling Championships the same year. He entered the National Thumbpick Guitar Championships at the Ozark Folk Center the following year, winning third place, before taking the championship this past spring.
Judges listen for how cleanly musicians play, if they maintain the alternating bass thumbpicking is known for, and if they stress the playing with the thumb. Though it doesn't factor into the score, Phelps set himself apart not only with his performing but for his actions, Adkins said.
"The main thing that sticks out about Dean is what a gentleman he is at these contests," Adkins said. "He helps other competitors, coaches them and helps them get their stuff ready backstage. He proved himself to be such a gracious competitor."
While the competitions allow him to showcase his skills to his peers, the get-togethers also allow Phelps to take part in the thumbpicking community. Musicians gather and play together on the side.
"You meet up with other folks who love the music and get together to play it. We're scattered all over the country, so you have these once-a-year opportunities. When you do, there's always pickin' involved," he said.
Information from: Daily Journal, http://www.thejournalnet.com