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Bob Dylan - unique open chord voicings & finger picking patterns! (Patreon)

Published:
2026-03-07 12:58:58
Imported:
2026-08
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Content

It's time we got back to some acoustic folk fingerstyle goodness with a study on Bob Dylan’s beautiful and unique open chord voicings and Travis-picking-esque patterns.

I present to you a short but melodic and Dylan-esque piece to learn; in the style of "Girl From The North Country", and full of nice little "must-know" tricks and manoeuvres. We also go over some key ways to practice this stuff to firmly embed it into the muscle memory.

Even if Bob Dylan and folk music isn't your thing, I strongly urge you to have a go at this lesson as these techniques and chord voicings are ever-green and genre-less in my opinion and can be snook into any style of music, even jazz! ;)

Files

Bob Dylan Style Travis Picking - Unique Open Chord Voicings for Fingerstyle Folk Guitar Lesson!

Access all lesson materials by becoming a Patreon at the link below for just a small monthly fee!.. https://patreon.com/AlexFarranGuitar If Patreon isn’t your bag, you can purchase the materials for this lesson alone, directly at the link below; https://smogfalls.gumroad.com/l/jdkfo Book in for a private Zoom lesson to level up your playing, or find new inspiration!.. just choose a slot at the link below; https://tidycal.com/alexfarranguitar/guitarlesson Blues by yourself.. no need for backing tracks or loopers on this one. Guitar playing rarely gets more rewarding than being able to sit down and improvise entire pieces of music by yourself.. and blues is the perfect form for learning how to do just that! As always, we cover a ton of important, fundamental concepts needed to play authentically in this vintage blues style so don’t skip through the lesson in case you miss something profoundly important. Also, stick around til the end to hear how I dialled in my tone for this one. Featuring my 53’ Gibson es125 and my 1957’ Fender Tweed Champ. ⏱️TIMESTAMPS⏱️ 00:00 - Performance Gear used in this video; 1964 Gibson B25-N D'Addario EJ16 Phosphor Bronze 12 gauge strings Neumann KM184 mic Neve 1073 DPX Mic Pre Universal Audio Apollo Twin X Logic Pro Universal Audio plugins Sony ZVE-10 camera Neewer Desktop Tripod Final Cut Pro Thanks for watching! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexfarranguitar/ Buy me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/alexfarran #bobdylan #guitarchords #travispicking #guitarlesson #singersongwriter #fingerstyle #folkmusic #deltablues #blues #bluesbyyourself #unaccompaniedblues #fingerpicking #bluesguitar #country #blues #guitar #guitarist #musician #gibson #vintageguitar #ragtime #guitarra #chitarra #guitarplayer #acousticguitar #acoustic

Comments

Larry Coelho

Looking forward to another great and inspiring lesson!

Ron Culbertson

Good morning England. Thanks for another great start to this Saturday here in California. The guitar is such a wonderful versatile instrument offering so many challenges that you bring forward. The answer my friend is blown in the wind translated practic your ass off and you’ll get this. Thanks again Alex always liked to hear you play.

Michael Collins

Heretofore, I've been always excited when you release a new lesson. It had to happen that I would find one lesson uninspiring. This is that tutorial I find less than meaningful. Sorry Alex - it had to happen eventually.

Minstrel atHome

I think it’s time for me to dig a bit more into Dylan’s catalogue, I have never really listened to his music up to now . Many thanks for the insight and this lesson 🙂

Alex Farran Guitar

Oh blimey Michael, ouch!.. that’s a little harsh but I guess it’s all just a matter of taste! Not sure I’d call it less than meaningful though as these kinds of voicings and sounds are everywhere in popular music and I’ve used these things in almost every studio session and gig I’ve ever done regardless of genre! Evergreen, applicable ideas for sure 👌🏻

MarkF

It maybe hard to remember a time when troubadours and bands alike literally played thousands of shows honing their skills and pushing their abilities as they earned the respect from their audiences. Every great artist I like seemed to come up this way and “Bob” was one of those giants. Great lesson thanks.

Michael Collins

Thanks for answering Alex, I fear the source of my dismay is my profound ignorance of the topic at hand. You said these sounds permeate popular music. My attention hovers within the curtilage of jazz guitar so it stands to reason that I would miss the point. In fact, I have to think hard as to whether I've ever even listened to a Bob Dylan tune except those that came to me through radio broadcast. So, don't feel a sting at my lack of attention.

Brad Wendler

Most of us can't sing, some us can play the guitar, none of as well as Alex, I'd wager. Most of us can Travis pick, so...simply show us the chords.. Right...chords you never thought of fretting, especially if your voice is like Dylan's... almost monotone like the rest of us. North Country Girl IS the dicomity

Brad Wendler

sorry, dichotomy between the plainness of the voice and the beauty of the guitar, something we can all learn from.

Andre Hessels

Amazing lesson again. Agree that the early Dylan voicings and fingerpicking styes are special and I am glad you've done a lesson on this. It's great!

Sam van Ginkel

Hey Alex, as a guitar teacher, I think many of us would love to hear your bigger picture thoughts about effective practice. Learning these tunes is lovely—but how do you think about how to be a well-rounded guitar player? Balancing learning fretboard knowledge, technique, lead, rhythm, improvisation? I think this would be a video or series unto itself, and may not be your thing. But I think many of us look to you as our main teacher and would benefit from such guidance.

Ran Bush

Thanks for the comment Sam, I'd also like to have a practice regimen that I could stay with. I tend to learn songs that I want to sing, and then I add lead guitar solos or filler licks based on the melody of that song. I get overwhelmed with all the "Learn these Diatonic/Pentatonic/Catatonic Scales", and the "Break Out of the Blues Box" lessons that many youtube channels offer. I appreciate what the various youtube Creators offer, but I like Alex's "if you're playing a Swampy Blues, play these chords and licks" or, "if you're playing a Tom Waits' style song, play these Marc Ribot-style sounds".

Enrique Garcia Lopez

I loved this lesson. I love Dylan and I love fingerstyling. Never did the effort to really learn Girl From the North Country but this really motivated me to do so! Thanks Alex

Internal Methods

Funny, I was just practicing "Don't think twice, it's all right" for a show. Lovely as always 🙏

Alex Farran Guitar

Sorry I didn't catch this comment earlier Sam, but yes that's a great question. I will do a video on proper practice routines soon for sure. I've spoken about it in my Q&A videos a bit but could definitely go much deeper. One thing I'll say for now is that I think it's very important that the concepts learned from these "etudes" I put together need to then be re-applied and moved from key to key so as to become part of your own vocabulary. It's important to understand each idea in its own right. I'd always just try and take a couple of your favourite sounds from each video and get to know them inside out.

Alex Farran Guitar

That's such a good point Mark. Even for myself I would say I've learned most of my biggest lessons on the stage.