How Do You Hold A Pick?, Pictures welcome Options

[Ayen]

I was wondering how everyone here holds their picks. I hold mine in my own way, but that might not be the best for speed. Could anyone show me a different way to hold it?

[shredmandan]

I hold a pick like this. My thumb leaves about 20-25% of pick visable fo picking and my first finger goes across the back of it.I also play with a open hand letting the rest of my fingers lay out to help with mutting when needed.Hope it helps.

[Ayen]

Sure does, thanks for the picture. I usually held the pick on top of my curled index finger, with the bottom side of the thumbs knuckle resting on top. I'll try both my way and yours on and off to see if yours fits better. Thanks for the help, Dan!

[fkalich]

I was wondering how everyone here holds their picks. I hold mine in my own way, but that might not be the best for speed. Could anyone show me a different way to hold it?

look on some older threads. most here I think hold it with the index finger and thumb nearly horizontal to the strings, the pick tucked in with only the bare tip exposed. actually my index finger points up a bit. it feels uncomfortable at first, but you get used to it, I can't imagine holding any other way now. I used to hold it in similar fashion shown above. Ryan will remember the discussions we had on this.

[shredmandan]

Sure does, thanks for the picture. I usually held the pick on top of my curled index finger, with the bottom side of the thumbs knuckle resting on top. I'll try both my way and yours on and off to see if yours fits better. Thanks for the help, Dan!

Cool
Glad it helped.You know some actually play with a closed hand aswell,meaning that they do not let there fingers hand out .You can see this in some of pavel's lessons.It is said that its the fastest way to be able to pick,but i have did this way so long very hard to play closed fist and im more accurate this way.Also Kirk Hammet holds his pick this exact way.

[Ayen]

look on some older threads. most here I think hold it with the index finger and thumb nearly horizontal to the strings, the pick tucked in with only the bare tip exposed. actually my index finger points up a bit. it feels uncomfortable at first, but you get used to it, I can't imagine holding any other way now. I used to hold it in similar fashion shown above. Ryan will remember the discussions we had on this.

Thanks, I'll start looking through the pages now, I've got hours of time ahead of me. Oddly enough, the idea of looking around never even occured to me .

Cool
Glad it helped.You know some actually play with a closed hand aswell,meaning that they do not let there fingers hand out .You can see this in some of pavel's lessons.It is said that its the fastest way to be able to pick,but i have did this way so long very hard to play closed fist and im more accurate this way.Also Kirk Hammet holds his pick this exact way.

Cool, I'll try with the closed fist as well. Thanks!

[fkalich]

Thanks, I'll start looking through the pages now, I've got hours of time ahead of me. Oddly enough, the idea of looking around never even occured to me .
Cool, I'll try with the closed fist as well. Thanks!

this may sound narrow minded to you, but I think there is really only one basic way for a shredder to hold a pick. the need really shows up when you start pushing 200bpm 16th AP notes. You can get by holding in other fashions on sweeps, and other things, but it will be easier to get to high speed alternating picking if you hold it the way I am describing.

I was stubborn about doing so myself, but gave in, and it was a very good decision. look at articles about pinch harmonics. those usually describe this method. as I said, it feels uncomfortable at first, and you may not want to hold it that way. but you will get used to it, i assure you. and you will be able to play faster.

Andrew (the theory guy) held it in a different way for 20 years prior to coming to this site, but he change to the described method.

This post has been edited by fkalich: Aug 31 2007, 03:05 PM

[Ayen]

It doesn't sound narrow-minded at all, fkalich. Just sounds like experienced advice from another person to me. From the way it sounds though, I hold the pick the way you're describing already. My explanation might not sound like it, but it seems it to me.

Sadly, I don't have a camera to show you, but I could make a quick scribble in Photoshop if you want.


As weird as it sounds, a lot of things I say come off sounding like I meant it in a sarcastic manner, something I assure you is not intended. Not to imply you see it this way, it's simply an observation I made, and a misunderstanding I'd like to avoid.

Edited for misspellings.

This post has been edited by Ayen: Aug 31 2007, 03:27 PM

[fkalich]

It doesn't sound narrow-minded at all, fkalich. Just sounds like experienced advice from another person to me. From the way it sounds though, I hold the pick the way you're describing already. My explanation might not sound like it, but it seems it to me.

Sadly, I don't have a camera to show you, but I could make a quick scribble in Photoshop if you want.
As weird as it sounds, a lot of things I say come off sounding like I meant it in a sarcastic manner, something I assure you is not intended. Not to imply you see it this way, it's simply an observation I made, and a misunderstanding I'd like to avoid.

Edited for misspellings.

i did not take you as being sarcastic.

here is a video some talked about last week. it shows you the basic way I am talking about. now I curl my index finger up even more than this personally. the key is holding it against the side of your index finger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFSgY8Be6Bw...ted&search=

maybe you already do this, as you say.

This post has been edited by fkalich: Aug 31 2007, 04:01 PM

[Ayen]

Oh, I think I see what you mean here. I was way off. That video and Dan's picture clearly show what I need to be doing. Thanks guys, now I'm off to bed.

[Juan M. Valero]

It's not really important how you hold the pick, the most important is that you feel confortable. There are a lot of guitarrists that hold the pick with a horrible position, for instance Marty Frieman, hehehe, and that's not a problem for their picking.

You can see these video of my friend Toni Lloret (http://www.tonilloret.net/).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M64tpyluNg
(Toni is a great guitar player from Spain, but it isn't his best video XD, but for this question is interesting)

[fkalich]

It's not really important how you hold the pick, the most important is that you feel confortable. There are a lot of guitarrists that hold the pick with a horrible position, for instance Marty Frieman, hehehe, and that's not a problem for their picking.

You can see these video of my friend Toni Lloret (http://www.tonilloret.net/).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M64tpyluNg
(Toni is a great guitar player from Spain, but it isn't his best video XD, but for this question is interesting)

I don't agree.


Regarding the video, he sounded crappy when he held it in bizarre manners.

[MickeM]

It's not really important how you hold the pick, the most important is that you feel confortable. There are a lot of guitarrists that hold the pick with a horrible position, for instance Marty Frieman, hehehe, and that's not a problem for their picking.

You can see these video of my friend Toni Lloret (http://www.tonilloret.net/).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M64tpyluNg
(Toni is a great guitar player from Spain, but it isn't his best video XD, but for this question is interesting)

I'm second to disagree. Been there, done that, held it the wrong way for years and years and thought it was right. But I felt staggered and changed my way of picking, very uncomfortable at first but after a while I noticed speed and accuracy increased enormously!
I have posted a picture of my holding the pick somewhere, anyone who's eager will surely find it.

[Juan M. Valero]

Ok, wait a moment please XD
I want to explain that Toni Lloret always use the first position that he did in the video. The other weird positions are improvised, so probably that was the first time that he plays with. And the conclusion is that it doesn's sound too bad. (of course, his natural position sounds infinitively better).
Why doesn't it sounded too bad? simply what I wanted to say is that the most important isn't how you hold the pick. The most important is the movement of your wrist. Without a good wrist move you cannot find a good sound.

[Andrew Cockburn]

Andrew (the theory guy) held it in a different way for 20 years prior to coming to this site, but he change to the described method.

Yes, I agree totally with fkalich - I got a lot more control and eventually a much more relaxed way of picking by changing to this method. Relaxation is incredibly important in high speed playing, so if you are even slightly tense it will impede your progress.

Now I thought I was totally fine with the way I held the pick until others convinced me to try this way. Your mileage may vary, and it may not suit everyone, but if I hadn't tried it I would still be limiting myself, so you owe it to yourself to be aware of different ways out there and to try a few. If you then go back to your old way then fine at least you tried. For me, even after 30 years of playing, changing the way I held the pick wasn't a huge deal, I was used to it in a week or two. Then a little while after that I suddenly got a huge relaxation in my playing that helped me a lot.

[KRmachine]

I've changed my picking hand twice, and i think for the better both times.

First I started out holding the pick between the "fingerprint" parts of my thumb and index finger, with the hand floating free. This gave me a really uneven attack on the strings and wasn't comfortable at all.

Second I started holding it as described in this thread (against the side of the index finger, index parallel to the strings), but with my pinky and/or ring finger anchored on the bridge/bridge pickup. This was better, but still gave me an uneven picking angle and motion for all strings, and I couldn't really pick fast.

Now I'm holding the pick same way as before, but with my other three fingers tucked in and not touching anything, and my palm placed on the bridge, usually muting one or more strings, using my wrist to pick. I find this is really good as I can pick fast while at the same time muting strings, plus the picking motion is about the same for all 6 strings.

[Jared]

For someone just starting out, is it a good idea to go ahead and hold it as described and get used to it?

Right now I'm trying it but since I'm still relatively new I'll probably have to have my pinky on the bridge as an anchor (as KRmachine described).

[MickeM]

For someone just starting out, is it a good idea to go ahead and hold it as described and get used to it?

Right now I'm trying it but since I'm still relatively new I'll probably have to have my pinky on the bridge as an anchor (as KRmachine described).

That's a difficult question. If you can find the correct technique to satart with and develop it from there it's an advantage of course (disregard any typos, I'm using a different keyboard and can't get it right... maybe with some practice it will turn out to be faster than my regular keyboard lol)

Holding it wrong tpo start with and change and nbotice improvement is proof of success. Starting with the right technique and improvement would probably come at such a slow pace it won't be noticable.

I think you should really think about how you should hold your pick, starting now. Then after a few years you can try to improve it but if you get that part right no, the effort in the future wong be so hard, a change won't have that much impact.

[Pavel]

It's best if you start and get used to one certain style. Than you won't have to relearn later! It's not good to plan on changing picking style or any part of technique. Every change is a pain in the ass and a waste of time so better learn it one way and stick to it for the rest of your life.

[shredmandan]

It's best if you start and get used to one certain style. Than you won't have to relearn later! It's not good to plan on changing picking style or any part of technique. Every change is a pain in the ass and a waste of time so better learn it one way and stick to it for the rest of your life.

Yes it is a pain
Its very difficult for me especially to do something a certain way for 10 years then change.almost makes it impossible. Because once you get used to doing it this way the longer you go the harder it is to change.Thats why to all these new guitar player's out there i say learn it right the first time.Dont rush and get something down half-ass get it down perfect.Even if it takes you more time you will be thankfull later because there nothing harder than changing bad habbit's.