Travis Picking for Beginners

wow that was really helpful. thanks!!!

HELLO.

I would like to invite you to discover a Cuban (and Latin American (known throughout Latin America)) singer-songwriter, troubadour and guitarist named Silvio Rodríguez. In the dozens of recordings that he has, he uses a lot of Travis picking (arpeggios), and other techniques.
I recommend that you start by listening to the album "Mujeres" (Women), from 1978 (Silvio's third album). I think he will like it.

PS: Silvio sings in his native language, which is Spanish, the language of Latin America and Spain; however music is a universal language.

Greetings from Santiago of Chile, South America.

looked at a few others.....this one is the best yet. thank you.

Thanks, slow but for sure.

Is that a folk guitar ?

I was searching for the best explained and here it is, thank you!

travid only used 2 finger thumb and index

thanks . excellant tutorial. most comprehensive

Love that guitar...what make is it?

Gordon Bennet - this is 5 videos I've watched, and none of them sound anything like Travis picking!

Everyone teaches Travis picking wrong.

The best beginner lesson, thanks ❤

thanks again steve... learning patterns with c chord easy..... having trouble learning other chords because do not know which strings to play with thumb and 2, 1 fingers... how do i find the right strings for a given chord to play the same pattern as the ones with the c chord? love the sound. and grateful for your help.

True Travis picking is only the thumb and first finger. Anything else is not true Travis picking. Just watch a video of Merle Travis. He never uses his thrid or second fingers.

Extremely helpful!!

thanks so much steve.. am beginner at this and learning the first pattern is happening.. Appreciate your help with the second pattern.. would u mind repeating it here, saying exactly what i must do? am having trouble understanding it.. really appreciate your help.

Excellent video!
Could you share what and how you played what you played in the beginning of the video?

Great clear and methodical tutorial. Thanks Steve. 👍

Very good tutorial👍

It would help if you would show the strings on line.

Hi Steve, the travis picking is coming along nicely, I've been practicing daily, thanks for the tutorial cheers

An excellent short lesson. Very clear and give you the basics. It was very useful for me.

that LP looks hawt

Thank you Steve. I realize this post is dated but the technique and your explanation are timeless. This provides a great place to start, develop the muscle memory and then integrate in to my playing style.

Thanks so much. The picking is so clear was able to follow

This is such a useful tutorial! Thank you, Steve 😊🎶🎵👍🏼

I find it very difficult to get my middle and ring finger coordinated

Precise, straightforward, very useful... thx

Thank you, Steve. 👍 This Lesson will help me to relearn, refresh and improve. 🙏🌷

So helpful thank you 🙏🙏🙏

There are so many variations to learn....These when starting I needed to know to adjust height of pattern according to based note.
Example:The G major included low E,then when C start pattern on A string..Right?

That was useful for me. Thank you

Thanks for sharing this, this was a great way to explain the Travis picking, I was finally able to pick it up.

Thanks steve,im in fear of damn covid but smileing now i can travis pick alittle,brilliant no sleep tonight,have to get this right,.

Thanks for this. You've approached this and other lessons (the three note per string scales for example) from a different angle to that normally given. It's always good to see different perspectives. Very sorry to hear of your arthritis hampering your fingerstyle playing, must be very hard.

First is third ???

Excellent tutorial Steve, thank you☺🎸

Wow! This actually makes sense to me after watching many videos. Thank you!

Merle Travis, for whom Travis picking is named, did not pick patterns. He played with an independent bass like Mississippi John Hurt and Blind Blake. This pattern picking is fine for loosening up your right hand and for accompanying a singer but it's not Travis picking. Sorry.

So helpful 🙂

Ooh! First finger not first string.

it is easy to understand and follow. thank you

thanks

Very nice!
When I learned Travis Picking 30 years ago it was with a flat pick 'Pick Fingers' playing a steel string flat top.
My old hands are getting harder and harder to play but it nice to see Travis Picking different styles and techniques.

Have seen these patterns demonstrated in separate videos and you demonstrated all three together and your instruction method helped me immensely, and I am confident that I can master all three patterns in short order. Also on the last two patterns you are the only instructor who made the rest between the first two bass notes evident to me, thank you very much for the great lesson

Soo beautiful
Thank you

Thank you very much for this unique tutorial to travis picking variations of patterns. I find it way better than the "classic" approach to separet the thumb first and add the melody fingers afterwards, this makes much more sense and leads faster to real playing. Great job!

Wow that helped me a great deal, Thank you so much..