Hold the C chord while playing each of these examples. Try playing these patterns with different songs you know.

The first three patterns use the Travis Picking style, in which you alternate your thumb between the 4th string on the counts of 1 and 3 and play the 3rd string on the counts of 2 and 4. So, in Travis Picking, your thumb plays on every beat (1-2-3-4). Since it’s a distinct style, I created a category for “Travis Picking” and a different category for “Fingerstyle.” They’re both fingerstyle techniques, but in the “Fingerstyle” category, we’ll typically use one of the other patterns.