Developing Rhythm Guitar
Lesson DR2a - Introduction to Travis Picking
Travis picking is a style of finger picking guitar in which the fingers play melodies under a thumb which alternates between bass notes. Some people calls this 'clawhammer' style guitar. It is used in a lot of folk music, both english and american, and has become popular again in the last few years with the resurgence of interest in folk music in general.
In this lesson, BGL tutor James Mullan looks at three simple travis picking patterns to use over chords with roots on the 4th, 5th and 6th strings. Try to learn these patterns before going on to our later lessons in which the patterns get more complex.