[Ohiost13and0]

Whenever i strum i seem to pull my hand away from the guitar, not much but a little. Alos im getting a lot of the pick hitting the strings when i strum when i know i should only be using the tip of it, how do i break these habits, any "silver bullet" or way to stop this habit easily?

[cshude]

Practice- it's the cure for many ills. Once you're aware of an issue in your playing, then you can concentrate on making it right. Also, make sure that when you're strumming with a pick that you are using a lighter gauge pick (although you can use a heavy pick, it's much easier to use lighter).

[Hey]

Just stop doing what your doing wrong, then your going to suck really bad for a couple of days, feeling a little off, but then eventully you will break the habbits. Habbits are terrible things to have in music, can block the creativity. So just, starting write now, if you ever find your self repeating thoes habbits, stop your self and try to play what ever your playing write till its write.

Really, like cshude said, just practise.

[solidwalnut]

Originally Posted by Ohiost13and0

Whenever i strum i seem to pull my hand away from the guitar, not much but a little. Alos im getting a lot of the pick hitting the strings when i strum when i know i should only be using the tip of it, how do i break these habits, any "silver bullet" or way to stop this habit easily?

The "P" word! Practice, practice.

I've used Dunlop .60 mm orange nylons for years. For both acoustic and electric. I've used others, no matter what they were, with good success, too (like if I was out of picks and had to borrow one). I think the secret to using any pick is how it's used!

The secret (at least the way I've learned) is two-fold:

choke up and down on the pick

My starting position is to hold the pick about a quarter of an inch from the tip ('choke up'. 'Choke down' refers to exposing more of the tip).

Many times I'll 'choke up' and only see an eighth to a quarter of an inch of the tip. For light stumming, this guarantees very little pick noise. For heavier strumming, I'll 'choke down' so more of the pick is exposed and rotate it slightly. Read on to see what I mean.



Rotate the pick around the x axis

Or twist the wrist slightly. This has an effect on pick noise, too. The more parallel the pick is to the string, the more surface area of the pick that is on the string, the more pick noise. If you rotate the pick backward slightly (or toward you) and in varying degrees you begin to eliminate pick noise all together. Not only that, you actually get more of a 'snap' on the string(s). The edge of the pick by the tip needs to be used more than the flat part, in my humble opinion.

As far as the arm moving away when you strum, try strumming through all of the strings.

[Ohiost13and0]

Okay thanks for all the help. I have one more question (sorry i feel like im asking a lot) What is your prefrence on guitar picks, or why would you even want to use a 2mm pick when the thinner ones are easier to use? Thanks for your guys help your really helping out a ton on getting me on the right track

[Matty22]

Personally i use .7 JD tortex yellows..

Try picking out a riff on a accoustic, using .5's or thnner, you dont get anywhere near the same attack on the strings..

The thicker picks are generally for bass. Using heavier strings, requires a stiffer pick.

[solidwalnut]

Originally Posted by Matty22

Personally i use .7 JD tortex yellows..

Try picking out a riff on a accoustic, using .5's or thnner, you dont get anywhere near the same attack on the strings..

The thicker picks are generally for bass. Using heavier strings, requires a stiffer pick.

Like Matty says, the real thick ones are better for when picking bass guitar strings.

It's fairly difficult to get any volume out of the real thin ones, and the tendency with the thin picks is to 'choke down' to expose more pick, but by doing that more pick noise is generated. They are nice if you really 'choke up' on them, but there's not much snap on the strings. That's why I like the medium thicknesses. A little bit of the best of both worlds, a little snap on the strings.

Steve