Guitar Lesson: Travis Picking

[RHODOAN]

Travis picking was the first thing I learned on the guitar, even before strumming, thanks to a girlfriend and boss who both played. I learned it using the thumb and three fingers, 'though. It helps if you can learn to do it without bracing your hand with the little finger, giving you more freedom to shift the picking hand for different tones, etc.

[myautomobilefunk]

what is the difference between travis picking and chicken picking?

[jah60025]

Can't figure out why "MucusFelidae"'s post was flagged out -- he's right. This style is just a classic arpeggio style -- go listen to any Spanish classical or flamenco guitar. Simplified maybe, but my classical teacher introduced Dust in the Wind as a fun song to play AFTER I had been studying arpeggios for a while. And the hallmarks of this "style" sound a lot like what Robert Johnson was doing, and Travis's playing traces directly to Arnold Shultz...FWIW this vid is excellent, though!

[brotherWes]

Among the best lessons on YouTube. Thanks for the clarity!

[missliss1992]

Thank you! This is best description of Travis picking I have found.

[FullEffectDJ]

Super Incredible video... I have actually played through Dust in the Wind... and this makes it all make sense. Click on my name to see some of my Classical Guitar Videos. You Rock on Classical!

[explosivejohnny]

great lesson! thanks! much needed!

[TheKhannon]

Seriously, that was the greatest video about th etravis picking that I saw on the youtube. I'm from brazil and play guitar has a 1 year. Here I finally learned how to do it. Thanks man.

[startrekkin1701]

ahhh thank you so much for this!!! it revolutionized my guitar playing :D

[FaceAcheMusic]

holy god, ur fingers look like a musical spider when u play fast. im jelous and this video really helps alot in finding out how to play like this. im trying to broaden my acoustic horizons and this is a beautiful style of playing so i thought, why not? haha

[OldFoggieJr]

This was the best Travis picking video by far.. you really teach well, a lot of people can play but to teach is a gift...Thank you for sharing your talent...Sandi Ps already practicing this!! !:>)

[NoPainNoGain128]

3:56 = D

5:27 = C

6:54 = G

The times when he play to chords in one turn.

Thanks for the good lesson :)

[luddekl]

when i do it fast it doesn't sound like when you do it, i can't get it right even if i pick all the strings right, how can i make it sound right, and what am i doin wrong?? plz answer

[TigerundPfau]

@luddekl if you are using a steel string guitar then it will sound different becouse he is using a nylon string

[luddekl]

@TigerundPfau I am using a nilon guitar !!

[beccamorrisfifteen]

Thanks for this, would the first pattern work with the Fleetwood Mac song 'Landslide' ? Fantastic Video :)

[meizlovely]

would this technique work on steel string guitars?

[EstevanMusic]

@meizlovely It will work on any guitar.

[AUM1LLER]

@meizlovely yes

[SuspiciousPatriot]

I've taught myself a different version of this style, using a pick.

Pick - between thumb and index

Middle and ring finger - then used for the alternate picking.

[mrdtrotter]

What is the benefit from this style over the usual finger picking I have seen online, Thumb E, A, D, 1st finger G, Middle for B and Ring finger for top E ? I assume I'm missing the point, seems I would be learning 2 techniques that currently seem almost identical to me !

[LadyMation]

He's playing an acoustic Nylon string, not steel string. Steel strings have a pick guard, his doesn't.

I'm very excited about this video. I've wanted to learn this technique for a long time. Thankyou for posting it^^

[wagemeister]

That guitar sounds great Andrew! Of course, a good player can make almost any guitar sound good!

[rapanoela]

thanks



[rapanoela]

thanks

[fuckamericanidiot]

7:25

[RockySindre]

I love your thoroughness! Thank you!

[poppyseller1]

Check out Martin Tallstrom,

He does the real chet atkins and Jerry reed style of Travis picking which is based on rag time piano. Their take on travis picking sounds like drums , bass, rhythm and lead guitar being played all at the same time with just 2 hands. Sorry but eddie vedder is no travis picker, A good finger style picker maybe. This guy [ andrew ] is an excellent theory teacher even if I dont exactly agree with his assessment of Travis picking. But only love here no hate friend

[pertwang]

such clear explanation and demonstration, nice. thanks

[lorez99]

Thanks Andrew! really cool lesson, clear and concise. and the little bonus country swing turn around is excellent!

[PeterPug007]

I'm almost scared to jump in on this bandwagon. People seem a little on edge!! ;)

But, I'm having a hard time accepting this as Travis Picking per se. It's definitely nice fingerstyle picking but Travis implies (if I understand correctly) that your thumb is playing a repeating bass pattern while the other finger(s) play a melody. A lot of rockabilly is using Travis picking.

Dust In The Wind...sorry amigos, is NOT Travis picking. It's just a nice fingerstyle picking. Dats dat.

[jippie11261]

@PeterPug007 ... Upon what do you base this statement? My Dad is an excellent fingerstylist and he gave me all of his books & tapes from when he studied with fingerstyle legend Happy Traum.

It clearly states in the Happy Traum books that, "Travis picking is the use of any type of preset right-hand pattern or patterns while fingerpicking. An almost identical statement is made on Wikipedia's Fingerstyle Guitar Web-Page.

Again, I would like to know upon what "Authority" you say it is other.

[PeterPug007]

@jippie11261

well, I didn't wanna have to pull this one but I am a fully ordained deputy of the Travis Police and by the Authority vested in me, I hereby state that...

I guess what I'm saying is that Travis Picking connotes a certain style of "preset fingerpicking" that has a particular bassline played by the thumb and melody played by the other fingers. Merle Travis always played this way and that's why its called Travis Picking and not "Jippie-Picking" :)

But if Wikipedia says otherwise..

[creativeguitarstudio]

@PeterPug007

Thanks for the discussion guys... First off, I haven't thought of Happy Traum in simply YEARS. That guy was running ads in Guitar Player magazine for a cows age... Since first jamming with players I've been under the impression that it is a slang term for playing any kind of pattern with a set meter. I've never even thought if the alt. bass should, or shouldn't, be a factor. But, slangs tend to be like languages... It depends where you live.

Thanks for watching,

Andrew Wasson

[luckylongarm1]

@jippie11261 STFU

[SearchInSun]

you know what it sounds like brookeback mountain soundtrack when you play it slow... im not gay but it was a good movie

[wildwestpoint]

This is difficult to learn.. its so tricky. Do you use different patterns for different chords?

[uvasteve]

thanks helps alot

[neuregel]

gosh is there anything about guitars you dont know??

[zacgracia]

great teacher!

[Harbaksh1234]

Such a good teacher and professionally done as always :-)

[moboei]

Great lesson thanks... I love travis picking......

[andysquyres]

Thanks for a really great lesson. Clear, concise, helpful!

[Gregn604]

all whiskys are bourbons, but not all bourbons are whisky. All classical guitars are acoustic, but not all acoustic guitars are classical.

[SpawnofHastur]

@Gregn604

Got that the wrong way round, lad. All bourbons are whisky, but not all whisky is bourbon, as the Scots and the Irish would tell you.

[Gregn604]

@SpawnofHastur Thanks,

but my acoustic/classical still makes sense!

[expressmalta]

@sheebshag You are correct is someway. The definition of acoustic is an instrument producing sound, however when someone says "Acoustic guitar" he/she is normally associating guitar with steel strings. Thus Acoustic guitar/Folk guitar = Guitar with steel strings and classic guitar is guitar with nylon strings. And yes he is playing a classic guitar in this case as it also has a wide neck which is not usually common on Acoustic guitar.

[setretter]

AMAZING TUTORIAL

[ashleydovan]

I'm still confused. this stuff is too new for me

[steveo27545]

Very Good lesson, I am happy you say dust in the wind uses this, I use it in many songs like black bird and it really is not used in black bird , sound good anyway.

Love the turn around sounds like Merle love it.

This lesson is the best I have seen, I had a hard time getting this, so I keep a guitar in my hand and I just alternated the thumb , did this until I could add the other stuff.

Now it is like one of my favorite to do,

Thanks

Steveo

[mjl718]

On the tab in the link, you play the G chord slightly differently (with a D note added on the B string). Great lesson, though. You've just gotten me back into Travis Picking after over a decade. =^)

[BekoByBeko]

You make it look so easy.

Thank you! ^_^

[marrrkeeee]

Andrew, u play that first riff for 2 seconds and the fast version for half a second. If that was the same riff. Hard to tell. Thanks, but it's not long enough to get a feel for it.

[MBlu3]

your guitar looks awesome

thx

[wheetman]

can you please tell us about the nut on this guitar? is it a version of the buzz feiten or the Earvana?

[bangitsmom]

Great Lesson. Travis picking was the first type of playing I was taught because I loved music of the 70s. Even the easiest songs sound impressive to people who don't play. Or even those who don't know how to finger pick. It's a great asset for any player.

[EstevanMusic]

I close my eyes, only for a moment, and the moments gone.

Dust in the Wind, great travis picking song.

[mark0248]

I started learning to play the guitar last year and I took weekly lessons up until the end of the year and then I had to stop them to save money but I keep practicing and your videos are amazingly helpful, thanks alot

[dpjpro]

Nice lesson sir!!

[marrrkeeee]

Great! Now I can learn it! Thanks, Andrew Ay?

[solowingzero]

is this style applicable in an acoustic guitar???

[carlitos07way]

well he is playing an acoustic is he not?

[sheebshag]

THAT IS an acoustic guitar. Not only steel string guitars are acoustic guitars, why do people keep spreading this misconception. Acoustic guitars are ALL types of guitars that generate sound ACOUSTICALLY as opposed to electronically.

[pamibeau]

There is a tendency to consider as an acoustic guitar a guitar with steel strings, a guitar with nylon strings and mechanics for tuning as a classical guitar, and a guitar with wooden pegs for string tuning as a flamenco guitar. But they are indeed all acoustic guitars.

[mrbouncelol]

@sheebshag

lol, its funny that this even needs to be pointed out.

[PRTTYFLY4AWHITEGUY]

@sheebshag No you idiot thats a classic. You can tell by the head and the first second and third cord. Acoustic is metal and its head is where the cords wrap not in it but on it.. Retard

[sheebshag]

@PRTTYFLY4AWHITEGUY

Classical guitars are acoustic guitars too dumbass. You obviously didn't read my comment. Or you just didn't get it.

[ripTrEaD]

@PRTTYFLY4AWHITEGUY what an arrogant cunt telling people a load of shite and having no idea yourself what you are talking about. as this helpful guy tried to inform you already - any guitar thats not amplified electrically is acoustic, no matter if classic, western steel string or other. people like you make the world a hard to live in place - sad

[mrbungs]

@sheebshag Technically, it's still a nylon stringed classical style guitar. If you went to guitar center and said, "Show me the acoustic guitars.", you likely wouldn't be shown these. If you said, "Show me your classical guitars.", then you'd see them. It's like that, and that's the way it is.

[KuropatkaJoe]

@sheebshag Actually this statement isn't 100% correct, cause there are lots of ways of guitars' classification. There is well-known terminology that classic and western guitar are two different types of musical instrument. And there is not only string material that makes a difference but also neck and machines' mechanism etc. So a lot of guitarist all over the world call western guitar 'acoustic' and nothing else. And that's not a mistake. That's just another point of view on the classification

[AverySmithGuitar]

@sheebshag its a classical nylon string guitar

[phadedlife]

@sheebshag qq

[RocknRollParadiase]

@sheebshag I don't know, look at the headstock, and the bridge, it really looks like a cutaway classical guitar. and strings don't always matter, I used to use steel strings on my classical guitar for a good 3 years.

[LaBoardum]

@RocknRollParadiase Yeah, I got steels on my classical too. The only problem is that the neck gets warped after a while because it't not supposed to deal with that amount of tension. But I like the sound.

[snloftus]

@sheebshag it creates an acoustic sound but it's a classical guitar, there's a huge difference...

[solowingzero]

@solowingzero i'm sorry guys =)) THANKS for the correction

[KarloR27]

I play some merle travis style with my thumb and 1st and 2nd finger and my other fingers anchored on the guitar. I'm using the basic thumb and three fingers a bit less but I still use it for classical and bossa nova cause you need all those thumb and fingers for that. Great lesson.

[BassDude50000]

is that your thumb that you grew out to be a pick? Because Im thinking about doing it if its what you recommend.

[bangitsmom]

Try it either way. I've been playing for 30 years and I can't use my thumbnail. I like to feel the strings with all my fingertips. I feel like I get more power with my thumb tip instead of the nail. It's definitely whatever is comfortable with you.

[BassDude50000]

yeah thanks i know what you mean

[col33145]

Thanks Andrew ,this was a grate lesson i love this style of playing and music ,

col=uk

[JUMBOpin]

beautiful guitar sir!

[jamesteek03]

I HATE when I accidentally click the stars when I didn't mean to. I clicked two stars by accident.. but I reloaded it and clicked 5 stars a few times. Hopefully that worked.  Anyway.. awesome video. You really are doing a good job with these videos. I appreciate them.

[chrisekelman]

Great Andrew, thanks.