Travis Picking Etude – Mini Lesson: 023

Helpful Tips

Learn a beginner-friendly etude that’s fingerpicked entirely using the Travis picking technique. Travis picking, named after Merle Travis, is a repetitive right-hand picking pattern where the underlying chords continually change.

This etude is written as an introductory piece to this style of playing, but it does include one challenging aspect: the rhythm is swung. If you’re new to understanding the difference between playing with a straight versus a swung eighth note feel, check out this lesson.

Note: Want to learn how this etude was composed? Check out this lesson to find out, along with three additional songwriting tips.