Published:
2012-04-09
Updated:
2020-02-07
Learning Ukulele with Curt
Alternating Thumb Style, Building a Solid Foundation - The Basics
As the subtitle of this Fingerpicking Basics lesson for Ukulele implies, this lesson's focus is on the alternating thumb part of the style. Commonly called Travis Picking on guitar and Scrugg's Style for banjo. For guitar it’s an alternating bass note style with the thumb playing the lower, bass notes.
Author(s): Curt Sheller Publisher: Curt Sheller Publications Code: ULFP117a-CH-1
Main Category: Fingerpicking Main Instrument: Ukulele
Categories: Basics, Chords, Fingerpicking, Fingerstyle, Technique, Guitar, Picking, Tuning
2026-08-23
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Number of Pages: 8
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As the subtitle of this Fingerpicking Basics lesson for Ukulele implies, this lesson’s focus is on the alternating thumb part of the style. Commonly called Travis Picking on guitar and Scrugg's Style for banjo. For guitar it’s an alternating bass note style with the thumb playing the lower, bass notes. For ukulele, without any real bass notes, the thumb handles the lower two strings, four and three.
The alternating thumb fingerpicking style works in any tuning.
Ukulele
For UKulele the adjacent four strings sets are:
Guitar
Called "Travis Picking" on Banjo, the Alternating Thumbstyle techniques from this series of lessons and the Fingerpicking for Ukulele, Alternating Thumb Style can be applied to the guitar as well.
As the ukulele has only one set of four adjacent strings, the Guitar has three sets of four adjacent strings. This means the same principles are directly applicable to the guitar. And can be adapted to the guitar's adjacent string sets.
For Guitar there are four adjacent four strings sets are:
Banjo
Called Scruggs Style
on Banjo the Alternating Thumbstyle techniques from this series of lessons and the Fingerpicking for Ukulele, Alternating Thumb Style can be applied.
For Banjo there are two adjacent four strings sets are:
However with the standard 5-string banjo has a high string five that you'll mostly use the top (towards your toes) strings for the Banjo Rolls all five strings are used.
End of Lesson - Thanks, Hope You Enjoyed It!
Related Lessons, Videos, Lesson Series, Songs, Books & Reference Charts, Resources & Assets, Workshops are below.
Fingerpicking for Ukulele - Alternating Thumb Style, 2nd Edition
Fingerpicking for Ukulele - Alternating Thumb Style, 2nd Edition is an new expanded edition which focuses on the alternating thumb fingerpicking style through a series of graduated lessons-chapters incorporating your index and middle fingers with the alternating thumb.
Related Related Series
Related Related Series for Alternating Thumb Style, Building a Solid Foundation - The Basics
Alternating Thumb Fingerpicking on Ukulele
This is the common alternating thumb and two finger strumming style utilizing the thumb, index and middle fingers. Commonly called “Travis” picking in the guitar world. This series of lessons explores and adapts this style to ukulele. Travis Picking is a finger-style made famous by Merle Travis and Chet Atkins. This style is commonly played on steel string acoustic guitars.