Chords for Travis Picking Guitar Tutorial // Step-by-step & Easy

_ _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _
_ _ [C#] Hey guys, this is Erica and this is my tutorial on how to Travis pick
So I'm gonna give you some basic theory on Travis picking and sort of like what it's all about
It's a picking pattern
But the theory behind it is that it's based off two different
Repeating bass notes that you play all throughout the pattern and you pluck those with your thumb
So [G#] in the G major chord shape, I'm going to
Pluck the low E and D strings in the recurring pattern of EDED
So [Gm] this is what it sounds like
_ [D] _ _
_ _ _ The [G] notes that you pick in the bass line change depending on the chord shape so in C
You [A#] you wouldn't use the low E string because that's not included in the chord shape.
You'd use the next string up
So that's the A string.
So you're using ADAD
[C] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ Just like that
[G]
And it's important to understand [N] how you choose these bass notes
Because it changes depending on which chord you're playing and it kind of just gives you
Like a good place to start when you're starting to think about applying
Travis picking to different songs.
I don't know.
I just think it's fun to know the theory behind it right from the get-go
It's important to be consistent with your
Travis picking and to make sure that your bass note plucking is even and regular in rhythm because these bass line notes are
Actually literally the bass line upon which you build the rest of your Travis picking
But the secret here is to just go slow and practice
Before we start learning the rest of the Travis picking.
I just want to go over like what notes you're going to be picking
With each finger and what each finger kind of does and where they go
So your thumb is picking that bass line that I just showed you
Your pointer and middle finger are the other two fingers that are going to be picking and then uh
I don't know if this is the actual like correct way that you should play but I use my ring and pinky fingers
To ground my hand on my guitar when i'm playing
And I find that this
Just gives [E] me a good grounding.
It's easier than having your hand just float over the strings and it kind of just
[G] Gives you a grounding.
So I usually [C#m] ground like here on the body or like [E] here on the high e string
[C] and it just
_ Like gives you a place to go.
I don't know like gives you a place to rest
[D#] So i'm going to start breaking the pattern of Travis picking into two different parts
I find that it's easier to learn it this way
And it's easier to memorize it this way and then when you learn the two parts you can then just [F#] like merge them in it
It makes everything just easier.
I don't [G] know.
So i'm going to show you both parts in the g chord shape.
So this chord shape right here
G major
The first half of the Travis picking pattern begins with plucking the low e string
with your thumb and
The b string with your middle finger like this
at the same time so
_ And then you pluck the d string with your [D] thumb _
And the g string with your pointer [G] finger
So it's really slowed
[Gm] _ Low e and b at the same time d with your [G] thumb and then g with your pointer finger
And then the second half
Consists of three more plucks, which is three
Plucking the low e string with your thumb again
_ And then the b string with your middle [D] finger separately and then the d string with your thumb _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ Just like that
for both parts, I just suggest
practicing them both a little bit separately and just coming to
Memorize them and make it a little bit more natural and smooth
And then the trick is to put both halves together smoothly without pauses in between.
This is the first half
_ _ First half Second _ half
_ _ First half _
Second half
First _ _ half second half _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ And then this is that recurring bass line that I showed you at the very beginning
_ _ Here how the rest is patterned on top
So i'm going to show you what it looks like in the c chord shape
_ [F] So the pattern is altered only in that as I mentioned earlier the low e string isn't included in the chord shape
so you're using the
A string instead everything else stays [Am] the same.
So you're using these two strings
for the bass line
a [C#m] d a d
So for the first half of the pattern you're going to pluck the a and the b string at [C] the same time _
And then [E] the d string [G] and the g string
[C] So
_ _ That's the first half
In c and then the second half you're just going to do those three more plucks.
So you're doing the a string
and the b string
And then the d
Just like that
so _ _ _
This is both of those halves put together in the c chord shape first half second half _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ And then just the bass line _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [N] And that's travis picking a few tips I have for beginners
The first is to slow down seriously do everything at like half speed
Go like half as fast as you want to go or you think you should go
Like go really slow and then go like half as slow as that go really really slow
because
That's how you really cement the pattern in your head
It's how you start making everything really even and consistent
And it's just good to build upon a really solid base of making everything consistent and rhythmic
and um
On the beat, you know what I mean?
So the second tip I have is to make an effort to keep your picking consistent and rhythmic like I said earlier
Because this consistency is what gives your finger picking grounding and cohesiveness
and it's what
Once you get comfortable it might take a while, but once you get comfortable with travis picking the consistency
um and the regular rhythm is what allows you to
Apply the picking pattern to all sorts of different songs and it's it makes it easier to sing on top of it
If that's your end goal, and then my third tip is as with everything with guitar playing you must practice
Seriously it practice makes perfect
And this type of picking eventually does become second nature
But it might take a while like i've been playing this way for like seven years a while
And it took me a good few weeks or months to really cement it in my head and even longer after that to be able to say
To pick different songs and apply the travis picking to it.
Take a look in the description box below
I've done a few time stamps of different important parts of the
Tutorial that you might want to take a look at
Also, if you'd like to see a song where this exact picking pattern with those exact chords are used
You can take a look at my cover of heaven by brian adams.
I did it a few weeks ago
and it's just a really good example of
Taking a song that isn't normally picked like that and adding this travis picking and it kind of shows you how it
Adds a little bit to the song, especially when you're just playing it solo
So that's my travis picking tutorial
If you liked it, be sure to give it a thumbs up and go ahead and subscribe if you want to see more videos like this
I have a few more guitar tutorials
Planned I want to do one on percussion and adding different percussive techniques to your guitar playing because like
I've learned different ways of like hitting your guitar and um like doing
_ _ Muting kind of techniques.
[D#] I don't know.
It's it took me a while to learn them and it so I don't know
I just thought it would be a good video to do and I thought it would be helpful for people
So again, thank you very much for watching