Travis

willem
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Sun Sep 09, 2018 2:03 pm

Do we have exercises for travis pickin, special for my thumb?


TGNesh
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Sun Sep 09, 2018 2:13 pm

Hmmm....not sure what Neil would have in store 'somewhere', but i do recall having included a few Travis Picking excercises + tabs in the 'Let Her Go'-lesson (Passenger). That should help you out. :)

Then again not sure what you mean by 'special for my thumb'. I mean, the thumb has only one job, alternating between two or sometimes three different strings. There is really not much more to it and i'm pretty sure you're very capable of doing so too.

willem wrote:
Do we have exercises for travis pickin, special for my thumb?


familyman4
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Sun Sep 09, 2018 2:16 pm

Hello Willem,

I would like to make a suggestion for you:

Starting with the thumb only, play the bass notes in you chord. So, with an open G chord, play the 6th then the 4th string, back and forth. Then change to a C chord and play only the bass notes. Then to a D, do the same.

The key is to only play the bass notes of whatever chord you are playing at first. Use a metronome so you can stay on the beats perfectly.

Do this while you are watching TV or just setting around the house. Your muscle memory will kick in eventually and then you can start adding the other strings.

Try it, it works....

Have fun!
Bart


spinland
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Sun Sep 09, 2018 4:07 pm

familyman4 wrote:
Hello Willem,

I would like to make a suggestion for you:

Starting with the thumb only, play the bass notes in you chord. So, with an open G chord, play the 6th then the 4th string, back and forth. Then change to a C chord and play only the bass notes. Then to a D, do the same.

The key is to only play the bass notes of whatever chord you are playing at first. Use a metronome so you can stay on the beats perfectly.

Do this while you are watching TV or just setting around the house. Your muscle memory will kick in eventually and then you can start adding the other strings.

Try it, it works....

Have fun!
Bart
Sounds like excellent advice, Bart; thanks! :side:

Mark


dean1342
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Wed Sep 12, 2018 10:45 am

Hi Williem,

One other quick point. Bart is right on about the metronome, but remember to set it at a pace you can play accurately. Slow is pro! Speed will come.

Dean


willem
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Wed Sep 12, 2018 11:10 am

Thx, well when I play only my thumb alternating the bas strings that goes fine but when the fingers come in I can really lose my thumb,, mmm

B) Willem


ps it is my brain I guess,, :laugh:


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auntlynnie
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Wed Sep 12, 2018 4:46 pm

Willem,
After practicing the bass notes, as Bart suggested, play a treble note along with the bass note of the first beat. Many Travis picking songs have a bass and treble note played together on that first beat.

I suspect that Neil has some songs he would recommend for beginning to slowly add the other fingers after you get the bass notes.

Lynn


tombo1230
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Wed Sep 12, 2018 7:30 pm

willem wrote:
Do we have exercises for travis pickin, special for my thumb?
Streets of London, Willem. ;) :)


Tom N.


TGMax
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Wed Sep 19, 2018 12:21 pm

Hey guys, for anyone interested in this I just finished a few lessons by Mississippi John Hurt. These are all based on Travis picking and should really help anybody looking to improve in that area of fingerpicking.

Another helpful tip is make sure that you can play eighth note pulses with your thumb easily with very little effort. The idea being that if the metronome is on 60BPM, that you are playing 120BPM with your thumb as a means of practicing. You always want to be able to play things easily which means practicing a harder version than you will actually need. The easiest way to achieve this is by striking the string with your thumb and then coming back immediately and muting the same string with your thumb again. By muting it, you are by default, preparing your thumb to strike again. Remember you never want to strike the string from the air (swiping at it), but rather always want to be planted on the string and push through from that position. Muting the string before striking forces you to be in a prepared position rather than floating above the string.


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TGNeil
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Wed Sep 19, 2018 5:29 pm

Another good exercise is to simply play the 4 alternating bass notes evenly and start with your index finger playing on the 'and' between them. Then do the same with your middle finer, then ring. Then alternate 2 fingers, etc.

Neil


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