Finger picking exercises, pattern 1
          ------------------------------------------------------

The intent of this set of exercises is to develop a style of finger 
picking referred to as Travis pick.  In this, the thumb plays an 
alternating bass on two or three strings while the middle, index and 
ring fingers play melody or alternating fill notes on the remaining 
strings of the chord being played.  The first step in this development 
is to become comfortable with the positioning of the right hand necessary
to eventually play comfortably at much faster speeds.  
The right hand should remain very steady, not moving as the fingers and 
thumb move.  This provides a stable platform for the fingers, allowing 
them to find the strings quickly and strike the string with the desired
intensity.  In the first exercise, plant the index, middle and ring 
(from here out referred to as i, m, and a) on the body of the guitar to 
insure the right hand does not move, as the thumb (which will be re-
ferred to as p) picks the bass.  The thumb movement should come from the
joint nearest the hand, not the knuckle.  Watch for any movement of the
right hand and work to correct it before continuing on. 

                             Exercise 1
                             ----------

Exercises 1-8 will use the D chord, fingered as shown below:

   E  A  D  G  B  E
   +==+==+==+==+==+   - nut
   |  |  |  |  |  |
   +--+--+--+--+--+   - 1st fret
   |  |  |  1  |  2
   +--+--+--+--+--+   - 2nd fret
   |  |  |  |  3  |
   +--+--+--+--+--+   - 3rd fret
   |  |  |  |  |  |
   +--+--+--+--+--+


First exercise is bass only.  Plant 2 or 3 fingers of the right hand
firmly on the guitar top just behind the sound hole such that the thumb
may pick the bass notes near the rear of the sound hole.  This is only
to steady the hand so as to train the thumb to do all the movement, keep-
ing the hand steady.  The left hand will hold a D chord, although since
we're only playing one note of the chord only that note needs to be held
so the pattern can be played for an extended time.  The entire focus of
this exercise is the right hand thumb and the steady placement of the
right hand.  In fact, you can play open strings if need be just to focus
on the right hand.  Each note below is an eighth note.  The letters 
below the tab are finger notation.
p = thumb
i = index finger
m = middle finger
a = ring finger

+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
+------2-------2-------2-------2---+------2-------2-------2-------2---+
+--0-------0-------0-------0-------+--0-------0-------0-------0-------+  REPEAT
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
   p   p   p   p   p   p   p   p      p   p   p   p   p   p   p   p 
   
Practice this only as fast as it can be controlled.  Practice it until it is
steady and smooth before increasing speed.  Listen for unevenness between
the notes on the 4th and 2nd string, or differences in sound level.  Any 
differences in volume or tone that are not intentional should be fixed now 
before moving on.  A good target to shoot for is a metronome setting of 
'eighth note = 144'.


After becoming fairly comfortable with exercise 1, gradually remove the
fingers of the right hand from the body of the guitar, watching for any
movement in the right hand.  If you notice the hand moving, put them back
and keep working.  Exercise 1 is exceptionally boring, but you'll need to 
have it right before moving on.


                             Exercise 2
                             ----------

Exercise 2 continues the thumb bass line from exercise 1, but adds another
note from the D chord a sixteenth note after the 4th beat of each measure.
This note will be played with the 2nd finger (m) of the right hand.  It's
still ok to steady the right hand with the pinky finger for reference, or to
check the movement of the right hand.

+----------------------------2-----+---------------------------2------+
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
+------2-------2-------2-------2---+------2-------2-------2-------2---+
+--0-------0-------0-------0-------+--0-------0-------0-------0-------+  REPEAT
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
   p   p   p   p   p   p   p m p      p   p   p   p   p   p   p m p 

Extensions of exercise 2 add the new note on the high E string between the
other bass notes until finally it is played between every bass note.  As it
becomes more second nature, begin keeping track of which beat you are on in
the measure. 

+------------2---------------2-----+----2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2-+
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
+------2-------2-------2-------2---+------2-------2-------2-------2---+
+--0-------0-------0-------0-------+--0-------0-------0-------0-------+  REPEAT
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
   p   p   p m p   p   p   p m p      p m p m p m p m p m p m p m p m


                             Exercise 3
                             ----------

Exercise 3 adds the index (i) finger playing the notes on the 2nd string. 

+----2-------2-------2-------2-----+----2-------2-------2-------2-----+
+--------3-------3-------3-------3-+--------3-------3-------3-------3-+
+------2-------2-------2-------2---+------2-------2-------2-------2---+
+--0-------0-------0-------0-------+--0-------0-------0-------0-------+  REPEAT
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
   p m p i p m p i p m p i p m p i    p m p i p m p i p m p i p m p i


Notice that in every exercise up to this point the bass has remained un-
changed, playing every eighth note just as in exercise 1. 


                             Exercise 4
                             ----------

Exercise 4 is the same general picking pattern as 3 but with a rhythmic
variation.  On the first and third beats of the measure, 2 notes are played
in unison, the bass with the thumb and the note on the first string with the
middle (m) finger.  The rest of the measure remains the same as the last
exercise.  This lends an accent to the 1st and 3rd beats of each measure and
sounds quite different than exercise 3, but the bass notes remain identical
in rhythm. 

+--2---------2-----2---------2-----+--2---------2-----2---------2-----+
+--------3-------3-------3-------3-+--------3-------3-------3-------3-+
+------2-------2-------2-------2---+------2-------2-------2-------2---+
+--0-------0-------0-------0-------+--0-------0-------0-------0-------+  REPEAT
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
   p   p i p m p i p   p i p m p i    p   p i p m p i p   p i p m p i
   m               m                  m               m

                             Exercise 5
                             ----------

+--2---------2-----2---------2-----+--2---------2-----2---------2-----+
+----------------3---------------3-+----------------3---------------3-+
+------2-------2-------2-------2---+------2-------2-------2-------2---+
+--0-------0-------0-------0-------+--0-------0-------0-------0-------+  REPEAT
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
   p   p   p m p i p   p   p m p i    p   p   p m p i p   p   p m p i
   m               m                  m               m

                             Exercise 6
                             ----------

In exercise 6, we'll use two tecniques called 'hammering on' and 'pulling
off'.  In hammering on, notated below as 'h', the right hand strikes the
string for the first note, the left hand finger then brings the finger down
quickly and firmly on the fret to sound the second note.  In pulling off,
notated as 'p' (not to be confused with the thumb symbol p below the tab
diagram), the right hand strikes the string for the first note, the left hand
finger then pulls off the note with a side-ways motion, sounding the second
note.  In this exercise, the left hand pinky will play the hammer on 2nd to
3rd fret and the pulloff 3rd to 2nd fret.

             h       h       p                  h       h       p
+--2-------0-2-----2-3-----3-2-----+--2-------0-2-----2-3-----3-2-----+
+----------------3-------3-------3-+----------------3-------3-------3-+
+------2-------2-------2-------2---+------2-------2-------2-------2---+
+--0-------0-------0-------0-------+--0-------0-------0-------0-------+  REPEAT
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
   p   p   p   p i p   p   p   p i    p   p   p   p i p   p   p   p i
   m       m       m       m          m       m       m       m

                             Exercise 7
                             ----------

This exercise adds a triplet, played by a hammer-on and pull-off played back
to back, with the right hand only striking the first note.  To add detail,
I've expanded the scale of the measure, but it should be played at the same
tempo as the previous exercises once mastered.

     h p                      h       
+--2-3-2----------2--------0--2--------------------+
+-----------------------3--------------------------+
+--------2-----------2-----------2-----------------+
+--0-----------0-----------0-----------0-----------+  REPEAT
+--------------------------------------------------+
+--------------------------------------------------+
   p     p     p  m  p  i  p     p     p
   m                       m

                             Exercise 8
                             ----------

Variation of exercise 7.  Same base pattern, just more fill notes added.

     h p                      h       
+--2-3-2----------0--------0--2-----------2--------+
+-----------3-----------3-----------3-----------3--+
+--------2-----------2-----------2-----------2-----+
+--0-----------0-----------0-----------0-----------+  REPEAT
+--------------------------------------------------+
+--------------------------------------------------+
   p     p  i  p  m  p  i  p     p  i  p  m  p  i
   m                       m