If your Travis picking falls apart, it’s almost always because the thumb loses the groove — it speeds up, drifts off the beat, or tenses under pressure. When the thumb goes, everything goes.
In this replay I show a practical way to stabilise the thumb so the fingers have something solid to sit on:
• why the thumb rushes (tension + attention shift)
• a quick reset to get the thumb relaxed again
• two thumb-first drills to rebuild steadiness
• how to add the fingers back in without the thumb speeding up
Simple practice plan:
3 minutes: thumb reset (loose, even, quiet)
5 minutes: thumb-only groove drill (make it musical)
5 minutes: add fingers while the thumb stays locked
Comment below with A/B/C/D:
A) thumb speeds up when fingers join
B) thumb drifts when changing chords
C) thumb gets tense and loud
D) thumb is steady until I try to play faster
Steady Practice Club (optional support):
If you want the extended Q&A after the public clinic and the member support layer, that’s what Steady Practice Club is for. Nothing essential is gated — it’s just there if you want extra help.