Welcome to my new Travis Picking Essentials guitar course! This step-by-step series of lessons will help you get up to speed with the basics of Travis-style fingerpicking on the guitar, assuming no prior fingerpicking experience.
This is a style of guitar playing used by artists such as John Prine, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Guy Clark, Towns Van Zandt, and so many more. Over the past decade, I’ve daught dozens of songs using this type of fingerpicking. It’s become one of my favorite ways to make music on the guitar, and in this course I’ll be sharing everything I’ve learned.
As of late April 2026, this course is in a pre-release phase. It’s not fully complete, and there are plenty of additional videos (and PDFs) I will be adding over the next month or so. While it’s not fully baked just yet, I did want to share what I currently have compelted — as I am confident this existing set of videos will provide a lot of value to those of you anxious to learn this style of guitar playing.
In addition to expanding the modules teaching The Pinch and Melody, I also want to add a few different songs lessons… where I plan to teach them in a few different skill levels. Another thing that’s missing is PDF downloads for each lesson, which include tabs and diagrams where appropriate. This is something that’s coming as well.
This course was intentionally crafted to be watched from beginning to end. Each module builds on what came before and sets you up for what is next. Especially if you’re new to Travis-style fingerpicking, I suggest watching the lessons in order.
Each lesson in this course includes a main video that’s usually a few minutes long. Most lessons also include a few exercise videos to help reinforce the skills taught in that section. These exercises are zoomed in, begin with a two measure count-in, and usually don’t feature any talking or instruction. They each show me playing over a small portion of music that you’re meant to practice yourself.
I strongly recommend spending time with each exercise as you watch the main lessons. That extra practice helps build muscle memory and lets each technique feel natural before you move on to the next step. This takes time! Any technique that’s practiced over multiple sessions usually gets much easier.
I absolutely encourage you to send in any feedback you have about this course! Whether it’s about the lessons I’ve made so far, or lessons you hope to see in the future, or general questions — all of it’s appreciated and welcome. The best way to reach me directly is via email me at [email protected].
Likewise, you can post feedback in the community forum post. Each lesson in the course has a dedicated discussion thread, which can be accessed from each lesson page. Members are encouraged to share any comments, questions, or feedback they have for each lesson on these forum threads.
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