The old ones sounded more mellow and in synch with each other. The new ones sound brighter.

Excellent. Thanks for the chord/scale link played here.

A flat! Is the way to play A flat to use an open fingering pattern higher up the neck?

I'm looking for good strums for 6/8. What book is this from?

In the fiddler's circle I sometimes join, guitar is strictly a support instrument to the fiddlers. They play a lot of jigs (6/8) very fast, frequently with several chord changes per measure. Doubling the usual 3/4 strum patterns proves unworkable simply because the fiddlers are going so fast. What I think the solution might be is to find a strum pattern that allows each chord to be heard without having to hit all six beats in the measure. Does that make sense? Same problem comes up when the fiddlers play very fast 4/4 reels and hornpipes, sometimes with 4 chords per measure. The question is not how to play each chord, which is impossible for me, but how to play enough to carry the tune.

Excellent lesson. Thanks.