Picker, you make some great points about Travis Picking. Definitely true that there is a common misconception out there that all alternating bass tunes are considered Travis Picking - it's just not the case. Also quite interesting that even though he is credited with it, Travis wasn't even the first to use this style...I believe it was taught to him by Ike Everly (who I'm sure probably learned it from someone else.)

As a caveat to what you posted: I learned to fingerpick using just the index and thumb (Merle Travis style). You mention that once you learn to pick with three or more fingers, going to just the index and thumb is difficult. This, I'm sure, is true. But going the other way (learning with just two fingers and then expanding to three or more) is also difficult (I'm in the midst of learning to do just that). I was hoping that I would be able to learn any finger picking tune with just the two fingers and only using the middle and ring fingers for double stops, etc...but I've been told by my teacher that three fingers is the minimum when you start getting into more complex styles (Robert Johnson, Chet Atkins, etc.). Does anyone else have an opinion on this as I sit hear trying to get my middle finger to cooperate with my thumb and index?