Travis Finger Picking

Some guitarists use only a thumb pick and one finger.  The one finger is usually the first finger. This is called "Travis picking" after the well known Merle Travis.  Merle Travis, was born in 1917, and basically thought himself how to play the guitar.  His father’s banjo playing was all he had to give him any direction.  So he incorporated his father’s banjo technique in his guitar playing.  He learned how to play on a home made guitar built by his brother.  Is that cool!  He later used an old wind-up phonograph to help him learn songs.  Those were different times and different people.  But you can certainly see their love for music coming through.  [Click here to learn more about Merle Travis (new window)].  Please take to heart this about Merle Travis.  He was a man who was determined.  The man was truly a wonder and a legend of his own time and he has been a wonderful influence on musicians even to this day.  He even has a style of guitar playing named after him.  People like me often refer to "Travis picking" guitar work.  

Please understand that the way that Merle Travis actually played isn’t what is necessarily meant by the expression “Travis Picking” today.  Personally I would hesitate to class it as "finger picking" when someone only really uses but just one finger.  However, the alternating of thumb to finger and the changing of strings as you go is what has become known as "Travis picking."  So this is what many people mean when they refer to "Travis picking."  Not the use of just one finger.  So then on this web site when you’re learning “Travis” picking patterns, I WILL NOT be teaching it exactly like Merle Travis did it.  Rather it will be the style of finger picking guitar that has become known today as "Travis picking." 

However, there are those artists that play just like Merle Travis did.  They use only one finger and thumb.  Finger picking guitar using just one finger does have its appeal because of its freedoms.  However, it has some drawbacks and limitations too.  These drawbacks are what I try to avoid by teaching finger picking with the use of three fingers.  Let me explain about this. Usually Travis picking (done as Merle Travis did it) is not as clean because the artist tends to be sloppy with all his 'freedom.' That is the guitarist lacks precision in pick placement and the result is that he 'accidentally' hits strings and notes he didn't intend to from time to time.  This is a natural and common problem with people doing Travis picking.  Especially at faster tempos!  This happens because it's not just the thumb but also the one finger that has to be alternating between the different strings.  This makes for mistakes that can be very distracting, strange sounding and downright embarrassing at times.  

So this style of Travis picking is usually slower in tempo. This is because when using only the one finger the guitarist must slow down, moving his finger, sometimes even his whole hand up and down to hit the correct strings.  In contrast to this, when using three fingers the way I teach, one finger is "assigned" or "dedicated" to just one string.  This allows the hand position to be more or less "stationary" and only the fingers assigned to the string needs to move directly to that string.  The only “moving” part of the hand is the thumb which alternates on the bass strings. The result can be a much cleaner, consistent and precise sound that can be picked at a much, much faster tempo.  The guitarist can do this because he has better control now with his hand being more stationary.  Also with this better control comes the ability to accent particular notes more clearly and precisely then with other styles of picking.  This will make the over all sound of the music to be a more pleasing experience for everyone involved.  That is for both you and your audience.  With this method that I teach, you are actually still be playing the same notes as with original Travis style, so it is still referred to as "Travis picking."