Travis picking

**Shadow of the Sun** · 09-18-2010, 05:30 AM

Hey folks. I got a question!

Does anyone here practice travis picking? I mean, okay, basic pattern picking would NOT be suitable for jazz, but I think travis picking could be developed into very good fingerpicking for jazz. A bunch of people who I really respect- Tommy Emmanuel, for one, Merle Travis, the inimitable Chet Atkins, and, of course, Lenny Breau, were all influenced by travis picking (most of them through Chet as it may be).

So, anyone here practice/use travis picking?

**Soco** · 10-27-2010, 09:10 AM

I do a little bit, I am pretty new to the technique. I don't use a thumb-pick.
Me and a friend did "I'll see you in My dreams" at a concert last year, it was played by Mark Knopfler and Chet Atkins. I also messed around with "Mr Sandman" (not to mention "Enter sandman") and a couple of other things.
It is a fun technique, in the beginning I din't even understand how it works, it gets easier.
Here is our video, my friend is playing the acoustic nylon, I am playing the electric. The sound-quality isn't the best.

**derek** · 10-27-2010, 10:53 AM

Very nice playing. It doesn't sound exactly like jazz, more like western swing to me, but I still dig it. Very nice playing indeed. Thanks for posting.

**Soco** · 10-27-2010, 11:30 AM

Originally Posted by derek

Very nice playing. It doesn't sound exactly like jazz, more like western swing to me, but I still dig it. Very nice playing indeed. Thanks for posting.

Thank you Derek, I am definitely throwing in some country licks in there.
It was a lot of fun playing in that style.

**reventlov** · 10-27-2010, 01:33 PM

Nice playing, Soco

I love this approach to guitar playing - it's not a style I've played much in public but I've done a lot of home recordings using an Atkins influenced approach - another great player from this background is Jerry Reed, he was possibly the jazziest of the country players.

**brad4d8** · 10-27-2010, 01:43 PM

Originally Posted by Shadow of the Sun

A bunch of people who I really respect- Tommy Emmanuel, for one, Merle Travis, the inimitable Chet Atkins, and, of course, Lenny Breau, were all influenced by travis picking (most of them through Chet as it may be).

Just a small nit to pick, but I'm assuming you know that Merle Travis was the influence on Chet, it is, after all, named for him.

Brad

**reventlov** · 10-28-2010, 12:22 PM

Thanks for the nice comments

The guitar used on that track is an Epiphone Casino, with P90 pickups.

**bass2man** · 10-28-2010, 07:21 PM

Great playing..very nice!!

I have friend who plays in this style and its really cool....he's been focusing on his technique for the past 5 years and it really shows..hre plays everything from "Bare Neccessities" from teh Junglr Book to Star and Strpies Forver to "Loonie Tunes Theme" to "The Clap"/Steve Howe...not to mention Blues and Ragtime..

Like anything guitar, it takes a lot of practice....cant do it myself.

Earl Kluge did a few solo guitar albums with Jazz Standards if you want to here some jazzy tunes in this style.

**markf** · 11-09-2010, 02:17 PM

This guy is pretty good:

**Shadow of the Sun** · 11-09-2010, 02:29 PM

Probably because, like was mentioned earlier, he invented it!

**backliner** · 11-09-2010, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by Shadow of the Sun

Probably because, like was mentioned earlier, he invented it!

Actually Merle always was quick to point out he had learned the style from a black man in Piedmont, NC. I forget the name though.

**matt.guitarteacher** · 11-09-2010, 05:01 PM

Dude! I'd never seen him play. He actually has three fingers spread out, resting on the pick guard. Thanks for sharing.

**monk** · 11-09-2010, 05:17 PM

Originally Posted by backliner

Actually Merle always was quick to point out he had learned the style from a black man in Piedmont, NC. I forget the name though.

Merle Travis actually learned by watching Mose Rager and Ike Everly (father of Don & Phil, The Everly Brothers) in Central City, Kentucky, located in Muhlenberg County, in the western part of the state.

Mose and Ike were influenced by Kennedy Jones and an African-American guitarist/fiddler named Arnold Schulz who also had a profound effect on Bill Monroe.

Regards,
monk

**markf** · 11-09-2010, 05:48 PM

I think Merle Travis is a monster. and he makes it look very easy. major gift he had.

I completely can see the influence of one of those solo blues guitar players from those days, in the twenties or thirties.

The huge sound that can be gotten by one of those top players, out of a single six string acoustic guitar, is something.

**ausninja** · 11-16-2010, 09:05 AM

I practice this style quite a bit. Coming from a country music background,
its a staple to fill in on stage with things like freight train, waltzing matilda.
Over here in Aus, Tommy Emmanuel is a household name, so you seem
to get a lot more fingerpickers here.

Its all about thumb independance. The more independant the thumb, the easier it is to get the melody out.

**jazzguyfromnc** · 11-22-2010, 12:42 PM

Actually I use travis picking quite a lot. I like the mellow tone you can get chording, comping, etc. I also use it for octave work as well, and I like the sound.

There's a little of it here: YouTube - Kanaal van ilikejazzalot