Six Strings
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Intermediate · step 8 · Not started · Acoustic guitar only

Travis picking: the alternating thumb

Your thumb marks every beat by alternating two bass notes while your fingers slip in notes between them: it sounds like two guitars at once. Goal: make your thumb automatic, then add your fingers.

This lesson is for acoustic guitar: it doesn’t count in your electric course, but you can still read it.

Time
15 minutes
Before you start
Fingerpicking arpeggios
You’ll be able to
Play an alternating bass on C and G

The idea

The alternating bass, usually called Travis picking (after guitarist Merle Travis), is built on one simple idea:

  • your thumb plays on every beat, alternating between two bass notes of the chord;
  • your fingers (i and m) play treble notes in between the thumb strokes.

The thumb is the metronome. It never stops and never slows down. Everything else sits on top of it.

The two bass notes of each chord

The first bass note is the root (the note the chord is named after). The second is another note of the chord, on a neighboring string.

  • C: A string 3rd fret (C), then D string 2nd fret (E). Both notes are already in the shape.
  • G: low E 3rd fret (G), then open D (D).
  • A minor: open A (A), then D string 2nd fret (E).
  • E: open low E (E), then D string 2nd fret (E, an octave higher).
  • D: open D (D), then G string 2nd fret (A).

On D, the alternating bass climbs up to the G string, so your fingers play the B and high E strings.

Step 1: thumb alone

Fret C. Play only the bass notes, one per beat: A, D, A, D, counting “1, 2, 3, 4.” Then G: low E, D, low E, D.

Keep going until your thumb finds its strings without looking, while you talk or think about something else. This is the most important step: don’t skip it. For a tighter sound, rest the edge of your hand lightly on the bass strings near the bridge.

Step 2: add one finger

Keep the thumb exactly the same. Add your index on the G string, between the beats: “1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and,” thumb on the numbers, index on the “ands.”

Once that flows, alternate index and middle on the “ands”: index on G, middle on B.

Step 3: the pinch

On beat 1, play thumb and middle together: that’s the pinch. It marks the start of the bar and gives the pattern its drive.

Here’s the full pattern. On C, the thumb alternates A string 3rd fret and D string 2nd fret, the index plays the G string, and the middle plays the B string at the 1st fret. On G, the thumb alternates low E 3rd fret and open D, the index plays G, and the middle plays the high E at the 3rd fret. Beat 1: pinch thumb + middle.

e|---------------------------------3-----3-------3-3-----3-------3-|
B|-1-----1-------1-1-----1-------1---------------------------------|
G|---0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------0-----|
D|-----2-------2-------2-------2-------0-------0-------0-------0---|
A|-3-------3-------3-------3---------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------3-------3-------3-------3-------|

Exercises

Two bars per chord. Start really slowly: thumb on every beat at 50 BPM, no faster. Only go up by 5 BPM once you’ve played a full minute without a mistake.

C

Then A minor and E, with the bass notes above:

Am

Common mistakes

Your thumb follows your fingers. As soon as the fingers come in, the thumb hesitates or skips a beat. Go back to the thumb alone, then try again with just one finger.

  • You speed up. The pattern tends to run away with you. Play with a metronome.
  • The bass drowns everything out. The thumb should be a steady background: play it a little softer than your fingers.
  • Your thumb hits the wrong string when the chord changes. Before changing, think of the new root: on G, the thumb moves down to the low E.
  • You want to go too fast. Travis picking becomes automatic over a few weeks, not in one session. Ten minutes a day is enough.

Once the pattern holds, try it with the pentatonic: a thumb on the open A string and a few notes from position 1 on top.

You’ve got it when…