Travis Picking Guitar
If you want an all round picking technique for guitar, choose Travis picking. The Travis referred to in the name is Merle Travis, the country guitar legend who not only invented a guitar picking style but also had a few hits with his songwriting. Travis picking originally just used the thumb and index finger but was extended to the use of the second and third fingers by Chet Atkins in the mistaken belief that Travis could not possibly be getting his sound by the use of just one finger.
The basis of Travis picking is the alternating bass. This is because finger picking on the guitar was inspired by ragtime piano playing. It might help you to get the spirit of Travis picking if you remember that.
An accomplished Travis picking guitarist has a whole range of picking patterns he can use to accompany and solo with. To begin your Travis picking journey you will need to learn one picking pattern and get it flowing smoothly. The basic idea is that the thumb keeps the rhythm going while the fingers pick the melody and the grace notes.
To start practicing Travis picking, fret an A minor chord with your left hand and pick the open fifth string with your thumb while at the same time picking the open first string with your second finger. That's your first beat.
The next beat is made up of two movements: pick the fourth string with your thumb (that's half a beat) and pick the second string with your first finger (another half a beat).
Pick the fifth string again with your thumb for half a beat and then pick the first string with your second finger for half a beat.
The final of your four beats is: pick the fourth string for half a beat and then the second string with the first finger.
The tab looks like this (remember you're holding an A minor chord:
e-0----------0-----------|
B-------1---------1------|
G------------------------|
D-----2---------2--------|
A-0--------0-------------|
E------------------------|
Even if you have no experience with guitar finger picking, you should have this pattern repeating itself nicely within a week. Of course, you can try it out on different chords and vary the strings you pick. Don't try to go too fast at first, because you need to be very comfortable with the way your fingers are moving on your guitar before you attempt any Travis picking at high speed.
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