Word.ws English Dictionary

Travis picking

Travis picking noun: a guitar fingerpicking technique in which the thumb plays an alternating bassline while a syncopated melody line is played with the index and/or middle finger.

Noun

Travis picking (uncountable)

  1. A guitar fingerpicking technique in which the thumb plays an alternating bassline while a syncopated melody line is played with the index and/or middle finger.

Origin of Travis picking

Named after US bluegrass and country musician Merle Travis who popularised the technique.

Questions about Travis picking

What does Travis picking mean?
Travis picking means a guitar fingerpicking technique in which the thumb plays an alternating bassline while a syncopated melody line is played with the index and/or middle finger.
What part of speech is Travis picking?
Travis picking is a noun.

Words near Travis picking in the dictionary

  1. Travia
  2. Travieso
  3. Traviesos
  4. travis
  5. Travis County
  6. Travis picking
  7. travises
  8. travois
  9. travoise
  10. travoised
  11. travoises

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Travis picking (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “Travis picking.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/travis_picking. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.