Guitar Lesson - Hybrid Travis Picking - The Basic Pattern

A student asked me about my hybrid Travis-picking so I thought I'd post a basic lesson here so folks can get started on practicing the basic pattern while I work on making a more in-depth lesson on the subject.

Travis-picking is a finger style technique, and most people use three finger picks to play it on acoustic guitar (Merle Travis only used two fingers though). The thumb bounces between roots, thirds, and fifths (depending on the chord) and the other two fingers play melody notes or filler notes in between the bass lines.

The hybrid style i use replaced the thumb with a flat pick (held between my thumb and first finger)and instead of using my first finger and middle finger to play melody notes I shift everything over one finger and use my ring finger and middle finger for that purpose.

In the case of this video, I used an E6 chord to demonstrate, which means my flat pick plays the low-E string, then the D-String, then the A-String, then the D-String again. Just play an E or E6 chord and work on getting your flat pick to play that pattern over and over before trying to incorporate the other fingers. That bass line is the primary part of this sound.

My ring finger rests on the B-string, in this particular pattern, and my middle finger is on the G-string. In between the bass notes I pluck one of those strings, alternating between the strings. Here's the right hand picking pattern over an E or E6 chord:

Low-E (pick) / B-string (ring) / D-String (pick) / G-String (middle) / A-String (pick) / B-string (ring) / D-String (pick) / G-string (middle)

Please post questions below and I'll try to answer them, or maybe even make a new video to answer them!

Good luck!