Top 4 Fingerpicking Guitar Patterns (Travis Picking Style)

Main ideas / lessons conveyed

• What Travis picking is:

  • Travis picking is a fingerpicking approach named after Merle Travis.
  • Its signature sound comes from:
    • The thumb continuously alternating bass notes to keep a steady, consistent low-end rhythm.
    • The fingers filling out chords with patterns/notes above the bass.
    • Optionally, melody can be played on top of bass + chord tones, creating a “multiple instruments at once” feel.

• Why these patterns matter:

  • The instructor presents four common, basic Travis-style fingerpicking patterns as foundational building blocks.
  • These patterns show up across genres and artists—especially in music with a fingerpicking guitar sound (e.g., folk, country, singer-songwriter styles).

• Method for learning the patterns:

  • Each pattern is taught with:
    • Different string groupings (because different chord types use different sets of strings).
    • A common chord progression demonstrated:
      • Slow to hear the function.
      • Fast (double speed) to hear how it works at tempo.
    • The pattern is then shown inside real song context (singing/playing over verses/chorus or a solo).

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Detailed instruction / methodology (the four patterns)

0) Core concept used in all four patterns (bass + string groupings)

• Bass role is constant across the four patterns:

  • For G chord (and generally for any chord): alternate between scale-degree/chord-related bass notes often described as “1–5–1–5” of the root.
  • The instructor describes the bass line for G as: 1–5–1–5 of G.

• String grouping defaults depend on chord rooted string:

  • 6th-string rooted chords: play strings 5, 4, 3, 2
  • 5th-string rooted chords: play the middle four strings
  • 4th-string rooted chords: play the top four strings

• Practical tip on fretting (left hand):

  • Don’t press down fingers you don’t need.
  • For G shape examples, the emphasis is on a simplified grip (e.g., holding down key frets rather than unnecessary finger placement).

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1) Pattern #1: Inside–Outside

• Naming logic:

  • Named by what happens above the bass (because the bass is the same in all patterns).

• Thumb + fingers structure (using a G chord example):

  • Bass alternates: thumb keeps the steady bass role (1–5–1–5).
  • Inside/Outside notes are alternated using upper strings:
    • Inside: the 3rd string (explicitly called the inside note)
    • Outside: the 2nd string (outside tone)
  • Rhythm/sequence (above the bass):
    • base → inside → base → outside → base → inside → base → outside

• Chord root variations (string groupings):

  • For 5th-string rooted chords (example C): play within the set of all four middle strings.
  • For 4th-string rooted chords (example D): play the top four strings only.

• Demonstration plan:

  • Played through a common country chord progression (half-time then doubled tempo).
  • Demonstrated while singing the first verse of “Love’s Gonna Live Here” by Buck Owens.

• Lesson takeaway:

  • Even though it’s “basic,” it works musically and forms the foundation for more complex patterns.

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2) Pattern #2: Outside–Inside (the “flip”)

• Concept:

  • Same idea and same bass; only the order of upper-string targets is flipped.

• Sequence (using thumb + string targets):

  • Bass stays the same.
  • Upper-string alternation is reversed:
    • thumb outside → thumb inside → thumb outside → thumb inside

• Demonstration plan:

  • Same progression, shown slow then double speed.
  • Applied in context to the chorus of “Love’s Gonna Live Here.”

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3) Pattern #3: Pinch Pattern (most common/useful)

• Core idea:

  • The pinch pattern is described as:
    • Two Outside–Inside patterns in a row, with a key modification.

• Pinch motion (defining technique):

  • On the first moment, the instructor performs a pinch:
    • Thumb plucks and the middle finger plucks at the same time, moving “towards each other” in a squeezing/pinching action.
  • Instead of doing base–outside–base–inside as normal:
    • It’s described as playing together so the note “sustains/rests.”
  • Resulting feel:
    • Creates syncopation and a bouncing texture.

• Second half of the pinch cycle:

  • After the pinch, it returns to a normal outside–inside feel.

• Instructor’s preferred variation (important instruction):

  • He often removes the very last inside eighth note to make the rhythm less cramped.
  • Reason:
    • Creates space for faster playing later.
    • Improves right-hand relaxation and helps switch chords more easily.

• String grouping:

  • Uses the same default string grouping approach as earlier patterns (demonstrated on C and D).

• Demonstration plan:

  • Played through the chord progression (slow then fast).
  • Applied to the second verse of “Love’s Gonna Live Here”, with singing to show real-song context.

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4) Pattern #4: Descending Arpeggio

• Core idea:

  • “It does exactly that”: arpeggiates the chord from the top downward.

• Key mechanism:

  • A pinch occurs, then a middle note, while:
  • The thumb bass role never changes—thumb continues its consistent function and becomes part of the descending arpeggio texture.

• Demonstration plan:

  • Shows the pattern on G, explaining it can be applied to:
    • middle four strings, or
    • top four strings (depending on how you structure the chord).
  • Then applies it in context by having a guitar solo over the progression (same progression used in prior sections).

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Overall progression of the lesson (how the content is structured)

• Introduce Travis picking and why these patterns are widely used.
• Define a constant bass framework and default string grouping rules.
• Teach four patterns in order:
  1. Inside–Outside
  2. Outside–Inside
  3. Pinch (built from outside–inside + pinch technique + optional note omission)
  4. Descending arpeggio (top-down chord tone arpeggiation with constant thumb bass)
• For each pattern:
  • Demonstrate on a common progression
  • Apply it to “Love’s Gonna Live Here” in musical context

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Speakers / sources featured (identified in subtitles)

• Jared Borkowski (speaker/instructor; “i’m jared borkowski from soundguitarlessons.com”)
• Merle Travis (naming source for Travis picking)
• Chet Atkins (credited as an example of advanced fingerstyle solo arrangement use)
• Buck Owens (“Love’s Gonna Live Here” used for song demonstrations)
• The Beatles (mentioned as using similar patterns)
• Simon & Garfunkel (mentioned)
• Bob Dylan (mentioned)
• “Chords with Color” / chordswithcolor.com (in-video instructional resource mentioned)