How to Travis Pick a Baritone Ukulele, presented by Dennis Anthonis.

In this video I hope to inspire ukulele (and guitar) players who rely mostly on strumming to give this video tutorial a chance to open up another whole outlet to your repertoire. It's only a simple, one bar (measure) to memorize, and you can do that tonight. Then tomorrow, you pick up your instrument and reacquaint yourself with the pattern and then continue playing it over and over again. Eventually, it will become engrained and muscle memory will allow you to focus on speed and accuracy. As you expand your chord vocabulary, your ability to change chords more quickly and smoothly becomes automatic. It is then that you will find the true joy of Travis picking any song you want... as long as the songs are in 4/4 time that is. You will also need at least four strings (can't do it on three). Good luck; I hope it helps.
The ukulele is a a Mainland baritone from Nashville, Indiana. It is in standard baritone tuning, ie, 1st string is E, 2nd string B, 3rd string G, 4th string D.
Feel free to comment, like, or share my videos. Peace and love to all. Remember, music is the universal language that enables us to communicate.

[@edgreenberg7912]

Very simply and gently taught. You are an excellent teacher. Thank you.

[@DennisAnthonis]

Ed Greenberg ... Thank you Ed. I appreciate you stopping by and taking the time to comment.

[@brendamartin9178]

This has been the best tutorial on Travis Picking I have seen to date. Thank you.

[@DennisAnthonis]

Well, thank you very much for your kind words. Learning to Travis pick can be a daunting task, especially in the beginning. Getting the thumb and fingers to essentially move in opposite directions at precise times in a coordinated fashion is a slow process. But when you finally get it, it’s one of the most rewarding things you’ll ever do enhance musical repertoire. Cheers my friend. I have other tutorials for guitar. Check them out!

[@johngaunt2102]

Brilliant and beautiful, thank you

[@DennisAnthonis]

Thanks John, for watching and for taking the time to comment. I appreciate your kind words.

[@elinthomas7060]

Thanks for the great tutorial!

[@DennisAnthonis]

...You’re welcome Ekin. I’m glad it was helpful. Merry Christmas.

[@vincesato7144]

Hey, thank you very much sir. Great video

[@DennisAnthonis]

You’re welcome. I’m glad the lessons are helpful. ❤️🤝

[@joebian4065]

Very good instruction video..clear and precise..thank you!

[@DennisAnthonis]

joe bian ... Thanks very much for stopping by and taking the time to comment. I’m glad you found it helpful. Cheers from St. Louis MO.

[@SmallDays1]

Nice one, Dennis, I enjoy finger-picking a Uke myself - both baritone and 'standard'. Great to see you teaching - well done, All the Best, Dave

[@DennisAnthonis]

SmallDays1 Natalie Davis and Dave Merrick ... Thanks very much Dave. I appreciate you visiting and taking the time to comment. Cheers my friend.

[@Crushin123]

Just got a baritone uke a week ago...normally a bass player..LOVE playing it and wow great video. Subbed. Cheers from Toronto

[@DennisAnthonis]

Thanks for subscribing; I appreciate your support. Take your time learning this, focusing on precision and timing in the beginning. Speed comes later, almost automatically. Check out my other tutorials on Travis picking too as they will help. Cheers my friend.

[@thatcarartist7322]

Keep up the great work! You're a very good teacher!

[@DennisAnthonis]

Meepstr ... ❤️

[@Bobjtx]

Dennis this sounds really nice, and is one of the best presentations on Uke Travis picking that I have seen. I have tried to pick this up from other videos, but never understood the timing (beats) that go along with the picking. You make it very clear. Much appreciated! Also, are you using Nylon guitar strings on your Baritone? I didn't see any wound strings, so was wondering...

[@DennisAnthonis]

Bobjtx ... Two of the strings are wound. I’m glad this video helped you. Stay tuned; I have more I’m working on. Thanks for listening.

[@FedericoBorluzzi]

This is a good and inspirational tutorial.

[@DennisAnthonis]

Federico Borluzzi .. Thank you Federico. When comments come from musicians such as yourself, it always means so much more. Cheers my friend.

[@PeterS-lt6cv]

Excellent, the Travis style pattern picking is my next goal and hurdle. I found a home. thank you.

[@DennisAnthonis]

Thanks Peter. Once you learn the pattern, you’re home free. It then becomes a matter of becoming familiar with the chords in the song and being able to change between those chords briskly and crisply and accurately, with fluidity. Check out my lesson on how to play “Caravan of Fools!” Also, stay tuned; I’ve been working on Bonnie Raitt’s song “Just like That,” another wonderful Travis Picking song. I hope to post a lesson on this next week. Nice to meet you.

[@BaritoneUkeBeast4Life]

Thank you for this much needed and awesome video that has finally taught me how to properly Travis Pick. You are an excellent teacher and explained the Travis Pick method in a very thorough and detailed way that is easy to follow and learn. I am quite new to the Baritone Uke and only started learning it over the past 2 months. I started out learning the acoustic guitar a few months prior but found it a bit too difficult of a musical instrument for me to begin with. I then moved over to the Tenor Ukulele which was smaller, more forgiving on my fingertips, and only had 4 strings to juggle, but the sound and reentrant tuning wasn't my cup of tea as I really desired that deep guitar sound. When I stumbled upon the Baritone Uke, it was love at first sound. It is everything I am looking for in an musical instrument and it sounds so damn good to boot. It is building up my confidence and skill so that in a few years when I am ready I will also incorporate the guitar back into the rotation and play both wonderful instruments. Oh, and I just subscribed to your channel here and look forward to all your other instructional videos and tutorials.

[@DennisAnthonis]

Thank you my friend for your kind words. I try to emphasize the importance of picking up the ukulele (or guitar) every day at least 15 minutes each day. You’ll be amazed at the benefits this produces, as opposed to practicing only on the weekends, even if it’s for 2 or 3 hours. Thank you for subscribing. I’ve got some irons in the fire so stay tuned. I’ve had some hand issues lately that have prevented me from completing the lessons. As a matter of fact, I just returned home from having two fingers injected with cortisone. Have a great new year.

[@BaritoneUkeBeast4Life]

@@DennisAnthonis I'm sorry to hear about your difficulties with your fingers, I am guessing its arthritis related. I hope the cortisone helps you immensely. I am 57, retired with nothing but time on my hands and usually spend a total of 2 to 3 hours each day playing my baritone uke's. I have about a dozen songs I practice daily and spend at least 15 minutes or so with each one. I also like to hear the sound difference between my different baritones as they each have different tonewoods and one is an 8-string version. I do that about twice a day and I also practice doing strumming by itself, and chord changes throughout the day. I will now start adding your Travis Picking method to my daily practice starting today. I hope you have a great year as well.

[@MusicWorldKaraoke]

some beautiful chords my dear friend! like :-)

[@DennisAnthonis]

Aura Guitar Music ... Thanks my friend. It was fun putting this together I appreciate your continued support.

[@SkeeterMcGraw]

Thanks for the hot tips Dennis. All I need now is a baritone uke...:-)))

[@DennisAnthonis]

Skeeter McGraw ... Thanks Skeeter. I’m having fun with it.

[@keithjohnson5190]

Nice video and it is easy to follow. One thing that I noticed is that every beat that you count is done with the thumb, that should help with the count or timing. Keep strumming.

[@DennisAnthonis]

Yes Keith, the thumb plays the downbeats (1,2,3,4), while the fingers generally play the higher strings on the &’s, in between the downbeats. The stumb strikes the strings in a downward pattern (hence the term “downbeat.” The fingers pluck upward. Don’t give up. Once it happens, it’s like an epiphany! You’ll find yourself playing it unconsciously. Sometimes students get a little ahead of themselves and try to proceed with speed prematurely. Keep it slow and steady in the beginning; Speed comes later, automatically. Good luck my friend.

[@Bystander929]

The baritone uke is an ideal crossover instrument for guitarists because of the tuning, I'd never heard of them until about 3 years ago, I promptly bought one. Good starter lesson Dennis and Pink Floyd were great weren't they.

[@DennisAnthonis]

ThumbStrummer . Thanks my friend. I wasn’t necessarily into Pink Floyd when they first arrived. I this because I felt that Syd Barrett leaned too heavily into psychedelic music and a little too much off the deep end. When Gilmour came aboard and Waters became the principle lyricist, I’ve been hooked ever since.

[@denisenadeau5243]

dennis this is great best travis picking lesson . whats the name of that baritone??

[@DennisAnthonis]

denise nadeau ... Thanks for listening. The ukulele is a Mainland baritone ukulele. It’s made and distributed from Nashville Indiana. Please see my post “uncasing my new Mainland baritone ukulele” for a pretty complete description of its construction and features. Stay safe out there my friend.

Like, very good video. Done + bell on. Thanks

[@DennisAnthonis]

Tomás Morgado ...Thanks Tomas! I appreciate you stopping by and taking the time to comment. I’ll check out your channel.

[@phuoccuocsongduc]

Nice music, new friend with new súp, stay connected

[@DennisAnthonis]

Traveling and Garden ... Thanks so much. I appreciate your support. I’ll check your channel. ❤️

[@chasealexander9263]

Hey thanks Dennis! What are those chords?

[@DennisAnthonis]

D, G7, D, G7 (x2) D, E/D, A7, D, Dsus2 D, G7/D, D, G7/D (x2) D, E/D, A7, D, Dsus2, D7, D9 Chorus: G, A, C, G, G, A7, C, G, Bm7, Em7, A7

[@jadeh4474]

Hi Dennis.. can you share the lettering of the chords? Thank you 😊

[@DennisAnthonis]

Jenny Hernandez ... sorry I missed this Jenny. I’m usually better at responding. The chords are D, G7, E/D, A7, Bm, maybe one more. Anyway, thanks for stopping by.

[@djailes7767]

😉