Merle travis lesson stefan grossmans guitar workshop. The technique is used by countless guitarists from john lennon to. Merle travis guitar may have been the first bigsby spanish electric guitar ever built, but the second one appears to have been the first to feature the headstock silhouette that is probably a large part of discussions concerning the earliest californiamade solidbody electric guitars. Remember, the more you practice and the more theory you know. But knowing this doesnt teach you anything does it. Adding finger syncopation is next, then well examine a progression using our basic pattern. Merle shined a light back on it and showed that they were real people. Classic jazzrock guitar compositions of sadip shahi. Merle travis style video core lesson by doug boduch. Let me show you an example of a guitar practice plan i had used. Merle travis was virtually without peer as a guitarist and songwriter.
How to use a merle travisstyle picking pattern acoustic. More often than not, you can generate new ideas from familiar ones by. Sweeping metalcountry arpeggios lesson the sound guitar magazine vol. Jim deeming talks a bit about the history of merle travis and his guitar playing. Bach the parts of the guitar there are three main types of guitars,the steelstring acoustic, the nylon string or classical guitar, and the electric guitar. It was impossible for me to spend 34 hours each day on the guitar due to my studies commitment. Acoustic fingerstyle guitar travis picking etude guitar lesson. One of the most popular fingerstyle folk guitar techniques is known as travis picking. Merle travis guitar lesson taught by michel lelong michel. Bolts of travis picking named after the countryandwestern guitarist merle travis, its a. Travis picking is a very complete use of the guitar. In this series of eight lessons, andy gurley will introduce you to the picking styles of chet atkins and merle travis. All the michel lelongs english guitar lessons on merle travis, chet atkins and jerry reed styles was published by stefan grossmans guitar worshop in the 8090 notice. Guitar rag lesson merle travis part 1 how to play guitar rag.
Two merle travis originals on folk songs of the hills have become standards. This one focuses on the legendary merle travis, and the extremely useful travis picking st. By mark kemp a kentucky educational television documentary, merle travis. The guitar built by paul bigsby for legendary picker merle travis in the late 1940s is one of the icons of solidbody electric guitars. If you are reading the pdf version of the book, you can zoom in to. His style was characterized by quick, snappy, alternating bass lines played with the thumb. Sixteen tons, a catchy ode to the tough life of a coal miner, would be resurrected by tennessee ernie ford in 1955 and become a number one hit on both the country and pop charts. Merle travis style by doug boduch video core lesson. The brilliant mike dawes is back with another incredible lesson. This one focuses on the legendary merle travis, and the extremely useful travispicking st. Merle travis the merle travis guitar vinyl discogs. Merle travis is one of the legends of fingerstyle guitar a. All the michel lelongs english guitar lessons on merle travis, chet atkins and jerry. An example is the am dm e progression used with the beginner in lesson 2 which can also be utilised in order to develop students ability with relation to playing bar chords and developing the facility to play guitar solos using the am pentatonic scale perhaps the favourite scale of guitar players and teachers around the world.
Named after legendary country guitar virtuoso merle travis, travis picking. Guitar players such as arnold shultz, kennery jones, mose rager all had in common the same fingerpicking method in which the thumb pluck two bass notes while the finger play the top strings. A little surprisingly, although chet atkins and merle travis had played together before the january 1974 session resulting in the atkinstravis traveling show, theyd never done so for an official release. Memphis blues guitar tab by merle travis with free online tab player.
Listening plays an important role in the guitar class. In next the video, well put the melody on top of that. The basics and variations merle travis, notes, in the. Click here to download a printable pdf of this lessons notation. I took the idea from the great merle travis i transcribed the original travis arrangment in my my book. This page, hosted by randy buckner, promotes the memory and legacy of merle travis and his music. All of the marcel dadi and other guitar tablatures shown below are in tabledit format. First up is the basic picking hand motion, then youll start developing the use of your thumb. He became interested in the guitar early in life and originally played one made by his brother. When i started to take my guitar playing seriously, i was an undergraduate doing full time studies for a degree in engineering. Named after countryandwestern pioneer merle travis, its a style of. A forum about guitar playing and all things related to guitar playing, with special emphasis on fingerstyle and country blues. Named after countryandwestern pioneer merle travis, its a style of fingerpicking characterized by the steady thump of an alternating bass that underscores rhythmic patterns and melodies on the treble strings.
Click the link above to donwload the complete tab pdf for this etude. Merle travis brilliant fingerpicking style inspired chet atkins and generations of country, folk, bluegrass and rock guitarists. There are 6 exercises on pages 115 118 of session 8 on the merle. A unique stylist, he was respected and prominent enough to have an instrumental style travis picking named after him, and only chet atkins even comes close to the influence that travis had on the way the guitar is understood and played in country music. Your guide to an effective guitar practice plan for learning.
In the key of e, the three chords used in a basic 12bar blues are e7, a7 and. Merle s guitar player style was developed out of a native tradition of fingerpicking in western kentucky. He has been named as an inspiration to many of todays most well known fingerpickers, including chet atkins and tommy emmanuel. In this lesson, well look at what styles of fingerpicking are considered to be travis picking, and why. This program, which allows you to input tablature for many stringed, and other acoustic instruments, and to print it out, as well as play it through your computers speakers and to export it as a midi file, can be obtained in demo form for free at tabledit. In this lesson, id like to offer a primer on this very useful and fun playing technique. Cannonball rag merle travis page 2 of 6 generated using the power tab editor by brad larsen. The merle travis collection guitar recorded versions. Named for guitarist merle travis, this style of fingerpicking features the thumb taking on a special role in the sequence of events. Les tabs sont maintenant accessibles sur tipeee en format pdf et guitar pro. Use a merle travisstyle picking pattern by robin mansur. Today we will discuss the basics of travis picking, from preparation to technique. What isnt easy is putting that simple definition to work.
When it comes to acoustic fingerstyle guitar, one of the questions i get asked most frequently is, what is travis picking. By learning how to use the travis picking technique on guitar, you can add interest when you play not only folk music, but everything from ragtime to the blues. Even though its not really how merle travis played, as explained at the end of this. Named after country guitarist merle travis, the travis picking technique is achieved. The problem as you progress on the path of guitar enlightenment, youre bound to encounter the term travis picking. Its singlecut body and prefender, stratocasterlike headstock are recognized elements. Fingerpicking guitar techniques part 2 with stefan grossman. Its a lot like playing piano on guitar, especially since many of the syncopations mirror those used in ragtime and contemporary piano. Travis picking for beginners stefan grossmans guitar. Introduction and right hand technique guitar lesson. The technique essentially involves alternating between different thumbpicked bass notes on the lower strings while the fingers pick out melody notes based on chord.
Merle travis guitar lesson taught by michel lelong. He also explains the basics of his right hand technique. Popularized by country legend merle travis, travis picking usually involves the thumb alternating between two bass. Travis picking techniques revealed guitar player world. This is the same coal mining county mentioned in the john prine song paradise. Named after guitar great merle travis, this technique was adopted by tons of. Chordbuddy is dedicated to making teaching the guitar easy and fun for both the teacher and the students. Atkinstravis traveling show chet atkins, merle travis. Merle travis was born and raised in muhlenberg county, kentucky, a place which would inspire many of travis original songs. Acoustic fingerstyle guitar travis picking etude guitar. Our free supplemental materials and guitar lessons plans for teachers are based on feedback from teachers. Merle travis 12 148 standard tuning 1 1 0 4 0 1 0 0 4 0 3 2 4 4 3 0 0 4 0 3 2 2 2 0 2 3 2 40 0 1 0 0 1 0 432 0 1 2 0 3 1 0 0 1 0 2. Cannonball rag merle travis cover and tutorial with.
Be sure to download the tab pdf for this song below. He created on of the most effective finger picking techniques in guitar. These teachers have identified a need for a certain item and chordbuddy responds. In this installment, youll learn how to play acoustic guitar with a merle travis fingerpicking pattern employed in songs like landslide, dust in the wind, helplessly hoping and the painter. Blue smoke tab by merle travis guitar acoustic guitar. This is the guitar lesson on the theme of midnight special arranged in the key of e. Merle travis guitar style travis, merle, flint, tommy on. Does anyone know if the old merle travis lessons from the cassette days will ever make it to a bookdvd. Learn chord progression for the tune, chord shapes and basic picking pattern. This is a tutorial for the live version he did on the porter wagner. The tablaturemusic are in pdf and the audio files in mp3.
Merle travis, doc watson, chet atkins are but a few of the giants of this style. Blue smoke guitar tab by merle travis with free online tab player. With producer jerry reed himself no small country guitar legend adding rhythm guitar on a few tracks, the duo ran through some old favorites muskrat ramble, cannonball rag. Mike dawes merle travis travispicking acoustic lesson. Travis picking is one of the most important accompaniment styles in country guitar, and its a vital component in any guitarists technique arsenal. Click here to view the pdf a pdf will download to your computer. Style of merle travis artist series guitar course from jim deeming.
If you have ever read my blog and watched any of my lessons at guitar domination, you will know how much i love to fingerpick. Michael ochs archivesgetty images named after legendary country guitar virtuoso merle travis, travis picking is the most popular and commonly used fingerpicking technique. Travis picking is named after the legendary guitarist merle travis. Fingerstyle was first popularized on steelstring guitar by the likes of robert johnson, blind blake, merle travis, chet atkins, and jerry reed. Indeed, atkins was initially signed to rca to be that. Highquality online guitar lessons taught by professional guitar teachers and top recording artists. Acoustic fingerstyle guitar travis picking etude tab pdf download. Merle travis is one of the biggest names in the world of fingerstyle guitar. From the january 2019 issue of acoustic guitar by jamie stillway if you have spent any amount of time exploring the world of fingerstyle guitar. I too am interested in travis picking and someone posted some lessons on another thread.