Chords for The LEGENDARY picking pattern - 'Travis Picking'

Tempo:
68.25 bpm
Chords used:

G

Am

C

A

E

Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
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The LEGENDARY picking pattern - 'Travis Picking' chords
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Hi my name is Paul Davids and today we're looking at the most legendary [D#] fingerpicking pattern of all time
[E] Travis picking [F] and how it can turn three simple chords into something wonderful
It's named after the great Merle [F#] Travis and although there's a ton of variations on this [G] pattern
what they all have in common is the thumb
It's a bass pattern that starts on the root note, in this case the G
and alternates to another bass note to give the illusion of a bass player accompanying us
And if we were to move to another chord, let's say A minor, I simply grab that chord
[A] and move my thumb to the new root note, the open A string
So [Am] if we want to add another chord we can add the C major for example
[C] and we don't have to change anything because the root note is already on the A string
Great, now we can move back [G] to the tonic, the G chord
We play each chord for two bars so in total we've got this
One, two, three, four
And [A]
[C] I'm slightly palm muting the bass notes with my right hand
[G] Sweet, but the beauty of Travis picking isn't here yet
You see we create a nice and elegant play between the thumb
and the index and middle finger [Gm] of my picking hand
On beat one we add the second string to the pattern
[G] One, two, three, four
I'm playing it with my middle finger
One, two, three, four
One, two, three, four
On the first afterbeat, the one and, I play the third string with my index finger
Here we go
Let's slow it down a little bit
So this note falls on the offbeat exactly in between the thumbs like this
All right
Let's add one more and this one falls exactly in between the second and third beats
And it is the B string again
And we play this twice on the G chord and then we move over to the A minor chord
[Am] And we play exactly the same
Only make sure your thumb moves up to that A string
Wonderful
And when we move to the [C] C chord, our picking hand doesn't change at all
We simply grab the C major chord and we play it twice again
[G] And back to G
And now we have eight bars and let's speed it up again
Something like this
[Am] [C]
[G] All right
And this is the fundament of our little fingerstyle part
[Gm] But we can add a lot of little things to make it sound even more magical
For starters, let's add a melody that runs [G] through this harmony
The first bar stays exactly the same like this
But halfway bar two, our melody walks up from the B via the C to the D
fret one and three on the B string that is
And these melody notes fall exactly on the offbeats in between the thumbs
So play it a few times to get the hang of the timing
And don't forget to keep that thumb going
Awesome
So it's really turning into a song instead of just three chords
Now move to the A minor and [Am] we do exactly the same
But now our melody walks up from C via D to the high E string
And the [A] timing is [Am] exactly the same
Wow, this is so good
But we have to go on
We go to the C chord
But right before we get there, [A] we play the open B string
After which we hammer on into the [C] C
Like this
And now let's add the pattern back
[Am] So it transitions from A minor to C
[C] Great
So now we have to move back to G
And let's walk down via the B note, the bass note
[G]
And just before we go to the G chord, let's add a B string again
Like this from C
[C]
[G] That high B string is lovely
So now we've got eight beautiful and vibrant bars sounding like this
[Am] [C]
[G] Sweet
So the little ending I played is a sort of a turnaround
[Am] Which is the notes A, B [C] and C and back down
Played on the afterbeats
[G] And there we are
Each finger has [Am] its own basic role
But combined it's an intricate play of notes that just [C] sounds wonderful together
And there's a few ways we can [G] spice this up again
We can add some rolls to make it more dramatic
[Am] [C]
[G] Or we can add the slap of course
So we add some drums to our playing
[Am] [C]
[G]
[Am] [E] [C]
[G] All right, so that was the legendary Travis picking pattern
All the tabs are available at [Am] my Patreon page
And I want to thank you so much for watching
It really means a lot
And what would even mean more is if [C] you like this video
Because it tells me you enjoyed watching it as much as I had making it
And besides it's also good for [G] karma
Talking about karma, subscribing even gets you more points
So just before we roll into the new year
Make sure to hit that subscribe button
[Am] Thank you so much
Have a wonderful day
This was Paul
And I see you next time with another video Cheers
[C] [G] [D] [G]
Key:  
G
2131
Am
2311
C
3211
A
1231
E
2311
G
2131
Am
2311
C
3211
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Hi my name is Paul Davids and today we're looking at the most legendary [D#] fingerpicking pattern of all time
[E] Travis picking [F] and how it can turn three simple chords into something wonderful
It's named after the great Merle [F#] Travis and although there's a ton of variations on this [G] pattern
what they all have in common is the thumb _ _ _
It's a bass pattern that starts on the root note, in this case the G
and alternates to another bass note to give the illusion of a bass player accompanying us
_ And if we were to move to another chord, let's say A minor, I simply grab that chord
[A] and move my thumb to the new root note, the open A string
So [Am] if we want to add another chord we can add the C major for example
[C] and we don't have to change anything because the root note is already on the A string
Great, now we can move back [G] to the tonic, the G chord
We play each chord for two bars so in total we've got this
One, two, three, four
And [A] _ _ _ _
[C] I'm slightly palm muting the bass notes with my right hand
[G] _ _ Sweet, but the beauty of Travis picking isn't here yet
You see we create a nice and elegant play between the thumb
and the index and middle finger [Gm] of my picking hand
On beat one we add the second string to the pattern
_ [G] One, two, three, four
I'm playing it with my middle finger
One, two, three, four
One, two, three, four
On the first afterbeat, the one and, I play the third string with my index finger
Here we go _ _ _
Let's slow it down a little bit
_ _ _ So this note falls on the offbeat exactly in between the thumbs like this
_ All right
Let's add one more and this one falls exactly in between the second and third beats _
And it is the B string again
_ And we play this twice on the G chord and then we move over to the A minor chord
[Am] _ And we play exactly the same
Only make sure your thumb moves up to that A string
_ Wonderful
And when we move to the [C] C chord, our picking hand doesn't change at all
We simply grab the C major chord and we play it twice again
[G] And back to G
And now we have eight bars and let's speed it up again
Something like this
_ [Am] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _
_ _ [G] _ All right
And this is the fundament of our little fingerstyle part
[Gm] But we can add a lot of little things to make it sound even more magical
For starters, let's add a melody that runs [G] through this harmony
The first bar stays exactly the same like this
But halfway bar two, our melody walks up from the B via the C to the D
_ _ fret one and three on the B string that is _
And these melody notes fall exactly on the offbeats in between the thumbs _
So play it a few times to get the hang of the timing
And don't forget to keep that thumb going _ _
_ Awesome
So it's really turning into a song instead of just three chords
Now move to the A minor and [Am] we do exactly the same
_ _ But now our melody walks up from C via D to the high E string
And the [A] timing is [Am] exactly the same
_ _ _ Wow, this is so good
But we have to go on
We go to the C chord
But right before we get there, [A] we play the open B string
After which we hammer on into the [C] C
_ _ _ _ Like this
And now let's add the pattern back
_ _ [Am] So it transitions from A minor to C
_ [C] _ _ _ _ Great
So now we have to move back to G
And let's walk down via the B note, the bass note
[G] _
And just before we go to the G chord, let's add a B string again
Like this from C
[C] _ _
_ _ [G] That high B string is lovely
So now we've got eight beautiful and vibrant bars sounding like this _ _ _ _
[Am] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ Sweet
So the little ending I played is a sort of a turnaround
[Am] Which is the notes A, B [C] and C and back down
Played on the afterbeats
_ [G] _ _ _ _ And there we are
Each finger has [Am] its own basic role
But combined it's an intricate play of notes that just [C] sounds wonderful together
And there's a few ways we can [G] spice this up again
We can add some rolls to make it more dramatic _
_ _ [Am] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _
_ _ [G] _ Or we can add the slap of course
So we add some drums to our playing
[Am] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [Am] _ _ _ [E] _ [C] _
_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ All right, so that was the legendary Travis picking pattern
All the tabs are available at [Am] my Patreon page
And I want to thank you so much for watching
It really means a lot
And what would even mean more is if [C] you like this video
Because it tells me you enjoyed watching it as much as I had making it
And besides it's also good for [G] karma
Talking about karma, subscribing even gets you more points
So just before we roll into the new year
Make sure to hit that subscribe button
[Am] Thank you so much
Have a wonderful day
This was Paul
And I see you next time with another video Cheers
[C] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ [D] _ _ [G] _ _

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