How do you hold your pick?

justinthyme · #1 September 9th, 2006

For 'normal' flatpicking/strumming? Ppl say to hold it perpendicular to the strings, and parallel to them, but I find that doesn't allow the pick to 'glide' over the strings enough. Some say tilt it slightly toward the headstock ... that seems to help. I tend to have the base of the pick pointing slightly to the floor for downstrokes and slightly toward the ceiling for upstrokes. Is that a bad habit? Is holding a pick just an individual thing? What opinions/experiences?

wjp01908 · #2 September 9th, 2006

I reckon your doing it right Ian -if you think about it, the pick needs to slant a bit to the floor or up on down and upstrkes. If it stayed perpendicular it would just stop .

Controlling the degree of slant and the picks resistance to moving off this slant is what gives you a degree of dynamic control.

Am I making any sense?

Will

Random Robot · #3 September 9th, 2006

I use my fingers to hold my pick. I tried using my toes but was unable to get my leg over the side of the guitar and my foot turned back towards the front. So for now I'm sticking with the finger option.

allthumbs · #4 September 9th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Random Robot

I use my fingers to hold my pick. I tried using my toes but was unable to get my leg over the side of the guitar and my foot turned back towards the front. So for now I'm sticking with the finger option.

I saw that coming. That was lame. Get it, lame as in leg.

Couldn't let you hog all the tomatoes.

dougp23 · #5 September 9th, 2006

Do you hold your pick between your thumb and fingertip (last knuckle) of finger 1? Or do you hold it between the 2nd knuckle of finger 1? I have been told it is better to use knuckle 2, though it sure feels odd!

Random Robot · #6 September 9th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by allthumbs

That was lame. Get it, lame as in leg.

So you think with a good leg I should be able to reach it?

Chaotic Kittie · #7 September 9th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Random Robot

So you think with a good leg I should be able to reach it?

Undoubtedly! I used to play with my feet, and with stranger things too!

justinthyme · #8 September 10th, 2006

The mind boggles, Kittie! Thank you wip ... for providing the *one* sensible reply :-) Gee - I was hoping to get a little more help on this one.

OldG · #9 September 10th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by justinthyme

Gee - I was hoping to get a little more help on this one.

Sorry 'bout that, I try and help here where I can... but, as I don't use a pick to play guitar, I can't this time. I do however, pick fast bass - but that different, just a case of diggin' in...

On a side note, I enjoyed the photography/photoshopping on your site - I can appreciate the work that went into them...

justinthyme · #10 September 10th, 2006

OldG - thanks for the kind comment :-)

allthumbs · #11 September 10th, 2006

Seriously, keep relaxed with the pick and the angles will take care of themselves. Choke down on the pick. Many people start by having too much pick showing so it digs in to the strings and sometimes gets ripped right out of your hand. For strumming, I used to hold the pick between my first and second knuckle of my index finger. For playing lead with double stops, I would hold the pick between the tip and first joint of my index finger so my other fingers would be free to do double stops and hybrid picking.

coldethyl · #12 September 10th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by allthumbs

That was lame. Get it, lame as in leg

Your scraping the bottom of the barrel now Marty!

Actually on the subject of holding the pick, I know that some players (eg.Eddie Van Halen) hold the pick between thumb and middle finger, enabling easier access to tapping etc.
Personally, I hold the pick between my thumb and index finger, but sometimes find that if I haven't quite got a good enough grip, the pick slides around a bit when I'm strumming or plucking.
More and more picks are being made now specially designed to be able to grip better. I must get me a few!

EFinFLA · #13 September 10th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldG

On a side note, I enjoyed the photography/photoshopping on your site - I can appreciate the work that went into them...

Yeah those are really nice. Do you do that for a living?

ozboomer · #14 September 10th, 2006

An interesting thing to note from Brian Setzer, that you might like to try... although I think it's kinda unusual:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9qzMpZ9ZGd0

coldethyl · #15 September 10th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by ozboomer

An interesting thing to note from Brian Setzer, that you might like to try... although I think it's kinda unusual:

Yeah, Eric Johnson uses his pick too in the same manner as Brian Setzer demonstrated.