As far as players I echo what many others said, especially regarding Del's rhythm skills. After watching your video, very cool song and performance by the way, I'd say he's playing Barre chords throughout which makes it very hard to do the traditional "Boom-chick". I play at an open "pick" on a regular basis. When non-bluegrass guitarists join us they often play more "Strummy" than "Boom-Chick-y" if that makes sense. That Boom-chick gives the playing a little space because there is not a constant guitar chord ringing and if done right gives the song some drive or punch. Generally most BG guitarists are mainly playing chords with some open strings. The cowboy chords if you will. Many learn I-IV-V and the associated minors in the G and C positions inside and out and try to use those shapes no matter which key. This is part of the reason they are so hooked on using capos, to take advantage of those open chord tones. Many guitarists I play with capo up 1 step to play a song in the key of D from a C position, despite how easy it is to play D,G, and A. In most other genres players would consider capoing for the keys of D and A silly or overkill but it is done a lot in this genre. This might not be the best example, but it looked like that song was in G-minor, which I would probably gravitate toward a Barre myself in any other genre of music. If the tune was mainly Gm, Cm, Dm he might consider capoing on 3 and playing out of open Em and Am open positions for the I and IV chords. Another option would be to play an open G with a Bb switched out for B note either on the third or fifth string, admittedly harder, but a chord shape Jimmy Page and Neil Young have often used. That way the open position Dm is still there for the V chord. Like I said the key of G minor might not be the best example. In general when I play BG rhythm guitar I am holding down the low end with the bass player, notes the fiddle, mandolin and banjo don't have, by playing the One and Five low tones, usually single notes on the 4th, 5th and 6th string, on the 1 and 3 beats and mini-strums (the 3 or 4 high strings as a group) on the 2 and 4 beats. I would also add that many bluegrass guitarists have their guitars set up with slightly high action and heavier strings, medium gauge (13-56-ish being the heaviest by most manufacturers. I don't know why they are not called Heavy) to get that punch and ring. I actually keep my old Alvarez strung up with 12's and standard action for all types of playing and fingerpicking and my Martin D-18 with 13-56 strings and what I'd call medium-high action for Bluegrass mode. I came to playing Bluegrass with other musicians mostly in the last decade but I have been listening to it for 35 years +/- not counting the Beverly Hillbillies era. I play some guitar, bass, mandolin and lots of banjo. As a long time Rock and Roller, user of the whole neck, using any chord shape and noodler with Jazz and Swing, the Bluegrass methods took some getting used to but it's a system that does have some great sonic results and that "traditional" sound no matter what the material. I actually like playing Led Zeppelin, Tom Petty, U2, etc... in a Bluegrass mode. To be honest I thought that some of these traditional ways were a form of laziness or stubbornness, since I could play at least 5 different positions of a G or C or D chord between the open position and twelfth fret but, as with many other things in life, once I actually did it for awhile it started making sense and feeling and sounding right. If you watch videos of Del McCoury, Brian Sutton (when he is in rhythm mode otherwise all bets are off), etc... you will probably recognize a lot of these techniques. Of course the hard part might be laying these ideas on him as in "Can you change your approach to playing in a major way?". As somebody who has been in bands I sincerely wish you "Good luck".
, probably from years of accompanying himself while singing. It's a great way to add interest to solo guitar, but in a band setting it muddies the low end and neglects the lovely ringing notes to be had on the higher strings.
