Listen and study recordings by Merle Travis, Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed.
Practice thumb picking technique on the sixth, fifth and fourth strings using a thumb pick. A thumb pick feels awkward and uncomfortable at first, but the comfort level comes with practice. Form an E major chord in the first position with your left hand and practice the following patterns: (1) Play the open low E on the sixth string and then play the E on the second fret of the fourth string. The low E is played on beat one, and the fourth string E is played on beat three. (2) Play the same pattern, but play on all four beats --- the low E on beat one, the fourth string E on beat two, the low E on beat three and the fourth string E on beat four. (3) Add the B note on the second fret of the A string into the pattern. Play the low E on the first beat, the fourth string E on the second beat, play B on the third beat and the fourth string E on the fourth beat.
Practice muting the bass strings with the palm of your right hand as you pluck them. Reed incorporated Travis's palm muting technique into his style. This helps to provide a clear and crisp style that makes the bass notes stand out. The major hurdle is developing the right feel. Lightly rest the edge of your palm on the sixth, fifth and fourth strings as you pluck them. The trick is to allow the string to resonate but to stop the vibrations when the next string is played. Play the strings with the palm muting technique and without it and listen to the difference.
Practice arpeggios with your index, middle and ring fingers into the thumb picking patterns. Classical guitar sheet music symbolizes the fingers of the right hand as follows: "p" is the thumb, "i" is the index finger, "m" is the middle finger and "a" is the third finger. As a general rule, "p" plays the sixth, fifth and fourth strings; "i" plays the third string; "m" plays the second string and "a" plays the first string. The easiest way to develop Reed's fingerstyle technique is with basic arpeggios. Form an E major chord and practice the following exercises: (1) p, i, m, a; (2) p, i, m, a, m, i and (3) p, a, p, m, p, i, p, m. At this point the goal is to develop dexterity with the fingers of the right hand.
Add more chords to your thumb-picking repertoire. Add the first position A major chord and the B7 first position chord. Play though a standard I IV V progression in the key of E major. In the key of E, this would be E/A/E/E/A/A/E/E/B7/A/E/E.
Practice playing syncopated notes and double stops. Syncopation and double stops are two trademarks of Reed's style. The trick to syncopation is to play a steady bass part with the thumb and stagger the melody notes in between the beat rather than on the beat. Double stops refers to playing two notes at the same time on the melody strings. Think of double stop patterns in terms of a barre chord. Play a G major barre chord at the third fret. A typical Reed-style double stop is the following: Play D (second string/third fret) and B (third string/ fourth fret) with i and m at the same time. Play G (fourth string/fifth fret) with your thumb. Play the second double stop which is C and E. Play the C (third string/ fifth fret) and E (second string/ fifth fret) and then play the G again with your thumb.
Incorporate banjo rolls into your technique. Banjo rolls were a staple of Reed's style. Reed adopted Scrugg's banjo technique to the guitar, and this made it possible to play arpeggios and guitar runs at incredible speeds. Banjo rolls are produced by using the thumb, index and middle fingers. Play a G major chord at the third fret. Play G (fourth string/fifth fret ) with p, B (third string/fourth fret) with i and D (second string/ third fret) with m. Play a fast triplet. Then use the same pattern on the third, second and first strings. Play B with p, D with i and G (first string/ third fret) with m. Play this as a triplet as well. Practice until you are able to play rapidly with p, i and m. Apply the technique to different chord patterns.