Learn The Travis Picking Pattern And Gain Access To Thousands Of Fingerpicking Songs - Part 1

How do musicians know and remember so many songs?

Answer:

They don’t get fixated on the detail and rather, learn the concepts behind the song so they can play it even if they cannot remember every last detail.

This is the difference between a pro and an amateur.

In this video, I show you the concept of travis picking that is behind literally thousands of fingerpicking songs.

You will truly learn and understand this pattern and by doing so gain access to more tunes than you could ever imagine.

The travis picking pattern is arguably the most common fingerpicking pattern of all, and in this lesson I show you each component so you gain a true understanding of the pattern.

We will begin with the most important part, the bass, followed by extremely effective drills for building independency between your thumb and your fingers.

This will set you up great for part 2 of the lesson where you learn variations of the pattern, how to train these, as well as common applications of the pattern so you can easily access it and use it in your own playing.

Check it out below:

Travis Picking Pattern Video Tutorial

Travis Picking Bass Patterns

Bass Pattern 1: G Chord

This pattern is known as a 6, 4, 6, 4 pattern in reference to the strings the bass is played on:

Travis Picking Pattern Example 1

Bass Pattern 2: C Chord

This pattern is known as a 5, 4, 5, 4 pattern in reference to the strings the bass is played on:

Travis Picking Pattern Example 2

Bass Pattern 3: G Chord

This pattern is known as a 6, 4, 5, 4 pattern in reference to the strings the bass is played on:

Travis Picking Pattern Example 3

Bass Pattern 4: C Chord

This pattern is known as a 5, 4, 6, 4 pattern in reference to the strings the bass is played on:

Travis Picking Pattern Example 4

Travis Picking Thumb Independence Drills

The drills below are very effective in getting your thumb working independently from your fingers. This is of upmost importance with the travis picking pattern and fingerpicking in general.

Drill 1

Pluck the first string on beat 1 of the bar, and at the same time have your thumb pluck the open 6th string on each beat:

Travis Picking Pattern Drill 1

Drill 2

Pluck the first string on beat 2 of the bar, and at the same time have your thumb pluck the open 6th string on each beat:

Travis Picking Pattern Drill 2

Drill 3

Pluck the first string on beat 3 of the bar, and at the same time have your thumb pluck the open 6th string on each beat:

Travis Picking Pattern Drill 3

Drill 4

Pluck the first string on beat 4 of the bar, and at the same time have your thumb pluck the open 6th string on each beat:

Travis Picking Pattern Drill 4

Drill 5

Pluck the first string on the "+" of beat 1 of the bar (ie. the offbeat), and at the same time have your thumb pluck the open 6th string on each beat:

Travis Picking Pattern Drill 5

Drill 6

Pluck the first string on the "+" of beat 2 of the bar (ie. the offbeat), and at the same time have your thumb pluck the open 6th string on each beat:

Travis Picking Pattern Drill 6

Drill 7

Pluck the first string on beat 2 and the "+" of beat 3, and at the sane time have your thumb pluck the open 6th string on each beat:

Travis Picking Pattern Drill 7

Learn how to truly master fingerpicking guitar