Chords for Learn This EASY Travis Picking Pattern - Beginner Fingerstyle

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[C] _ _ _ _ _ There's a [G] reason that Travis picking is so popular.
This finger picking style is versatile and sounds great.
In this video, I'm going to show you an easy pattern [C] to get started with that you
can use in lots of songs.
_ [G] _ _
_ _ _ [Gb] Welcome back to Relax and Learn Guitar.
I'm [G] Kevin.
This is Maggie Mae.
[Ab] She loves herself some Travis picking.
My wife Vicki's behind the camera.
Hello.
Let's get started on this lesson.
Travis picking is made famous by [Eb] Merle Travis, hence the name.
Like [Gb] most things with the guitar, you can make it as complicated [D] or as simple as you like.
This lesson's more of a beginner style version [Gm] and [F] a great way to [Eb] start in the world [C] of Travis picking.
You can use this pattern and [Eb] this style in _ so many great [D] tunes.
Blackbird by the Beatles, [Ebm] Bob Dylan, John Prine, _ _ Kansas, Doom and Glowing in the Wind.
There's just a lot you can apply this [N] to.
This is a great place to start.
So Travis picking boiled down is when you're using your thumb to play alternating bass notes.
So your thumb's going to move around when you play this way.
And then your fingers play the notes in between those bass [A] notes.
And that can be as [Ab] simple as plucking strings [D] or playing an entire melody.
[E] _ For this, [Gb] it's really important to get [Eb] the thumb down first.
So we're going [Gb] to kind of start [Eb] there and work [Db] our way up.
[E] The _ patterns change depending on the chord you're [C] playing.
So you need to [Gb] know the roots of the chords.
For [G] this lesson, we're going to stick to a G chord, good old G and [C] a C chord.
And we're just going to alternate between those two chords.
_ [G] Now the thing to know with this G chord is the thumb is going to [Gb] play alternating bass notes.
It's going to play the [G] sixth string and the fourth [D] string _ for the G.
[G] _ And this is also applied to like [E] an E chord would be a six and a four alternating [F] or an
F same thing.
[C] And then the C is a little [E] different.
We're going to use our thumb on the C chord and alternate between [C] the fifth and the fourth
[E] string _ [C] _
because that's a fifth string root.
So that would apply to the C.
It would [A] apply to the A and [B] the B. _
[E] So for the G and the C for the purpose of [G] this lesson, get [C] familiar with those shapes.
And we're going to start with our [Db] thumb.
And all I want you to do is get [E] used to using your thumb to pluck individual [Eb] strings.
So [C] fret that G chord.
[Eb] And we're just [G] going to do thumb on the sixth string, [D] thumb on the fourth [G] string, thumb
on the sixth string, [D] thumb on the fourth string.
[G] One, [D] two, [G] three, four, one, two, three, [D] _
four.
_ So just altering that G chord [G] on those notes.
[D] _ Then [Em] when we switch to the C [C] chord, _ _ same idea, but we're going [D] to alternate our thumb on
[C] strings five and four. _
_ _ _ _ One, two, three, four.
_ _ So [G] do that over and over.
Annoy your friends and neighbors. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [C] _
It's kind of the beginning and the start.
[E] _ Now for [Eb] the rest of our fingers, we're only going to be using our index [D] and our middle
finger for this pattern.
So your index finger is going to rest on the third string [E] and your middle finger is going
to rest on the second string.
And they're always going to play that same string while your thumb [G] moves around.
So for this G, we've kind of practiced our _ bass notes with strings six and [D] four.
[N] Now I want you to add in your index finger.
So that was kind of step one.
Step two is we're going to add in our index finger on this third string [Ebm] in between those
[Db] thumb bass notes.
So on this G chord, we would [G] get this. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [C] So [D] for [G] fingers, we're just doing thumb, one, thumb, one, thumb, [D] one, thumb, one.
[Ab] For the strings, we're [G] doing six, _ three, [D] four, three.
[G] _ _ _ _ _ Take it nice and slow. _ _ _ _ _ _
[D] _ So [E] if you're finding this lesson helpful and enjoying [Am] it, we would really appreciate it
if you'd hit that subscribe button.
[Eb] We've gone [G] from [D] one, two, three, four, to [G] one and two and three [D] and four and.
[A] Then you switch to that [C] C chord.
Do the same thing.
And you've gotten used to moving [E] that thumb from five and four.
[G] Now we're going to add in our index finger on string three.
[Am] So we're going to do, for strings, we're going to do [C] five, [E] three, four, [G] three, [C] five, three,
four, three, thumb, one, thumb, one.
_ _ _ _ _ [E] And then for the kind of final [Bb] pattern for this lesson, we're going to start using that
middle finger as well.
So we're going to [D] build, we've gone [G] from the bass notes _ _ _ to the bass with the index in between.
[D] _ Now we're going to [G] do this. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ That's pretty.
[C] _ You like that?
Mm-hmm.
_ I like this pattern.
And you can use this in a lot of songs.
[G] _ Now Travis [Gb] Pickin can get [Em] really complicated.
This is a great place to start.
But in Travis Pickin, you can get [F] into like pinching notes and playing actual melodies in between.
[Db] _ [Bb] And some people can play it really fast.
So this is a good [G] starting place though.
_ [N] So the pattern that we're working toward here is we're going to do, I'll do the strings.
On this G chord, [Bb] we're going to do thumb on [G] six, _ then index on three, thumb [D] on four, and
then middle on [G] two. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Memorization.
_ Yeah.
The string places are.
It's [A] all [G] that and just like [Bb] muscle memory.
Like the more you kind of do this and takes [G] us a little bit of day and pretty soon your
hand will just be playing. _ _ _
So thumb one, thumb two, _ _ string six, three, four, two. _ _
Switch to that G [C] or C.
_ _ Same idea.
We're just alternating the fifth and fourth string.
So strings five, three, four, two. _ _ _
[G] And you can do, you know, slow it down.
You start getting more comfortable. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [G] _
You can start with these chords, but [C] obviously _ this is for kind of a demonstration purposes.
Run with it.
[G] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
So stick [Ab] with it a little bit each day.
Add this to your [F] routine.
And for [Eb] another lesson on a very [D] another popular [Eb] and good to know [F] finger style pattern, check
out [Eb] this video next.
As [Gb] always, Vicki, Maggie and [G] I appreciate your views and your support here [Gb] on YouTube.
[Em] It's [Dm] been [Db] amazing and we enjoy [F] doing the [Eb] videos.
Enjoy seeing your [Gb] comments.
[Ab] And until next time, always remember, you're never too old [G] to learn. _ _