Printable Version of Topic

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Feb 27 2011, 08:56 AM

"Eric prefers to alternate pick most of his pentatonic ideas. He describes his slightly unconventional picking technique as alternate picking where he holds the pick at an angle to minimize friction and facilitate speed."

Check out Sinisa's new lesson, "http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Eric-Johnson-Toneseeker/", and then post a reply to today's topic.

Sinisa's quote above describes Eric Johnson's technique on holding the pick. Is there a way that you specifically hold the pic? Why?

Posted by: Sean_1234 Feb 27 2011, 11:54 AM

I generally hold it with my hand... (a)

Quite interesting topic, I'd like to know how everyone hold his hand while picking. some people pick like David used to, with the closed fist, while other keep it all the way open, or change positions (Pavel)

Posted by: Ben Higgins Feb 27 2011, 02:23 PM

I've always held my pick between thumb and the side of my forefinger (basically the most 'normal' way) and over the years I've changed between resting my fingers on the guitar and keeping more of a Paul Gilbert style fist. Nowadays I don't rest rest my fingers on the guitar and only recently I've angled the pick so it attacks the strings at roughly a 45 degree angle. I heard people talking about it for years but never bothered with it... now I wonder why I never tried it before !

Also another thing I discovered which probably helps Gilbert etc is to keep your hand mainly at the top of the bottom E... instead of moving your whole wrist when moving to the higher strings, keep your wrist on the bottom E but just point your knuckles and pick down towards the floor. This way it stops unnecessary movement of the wrist and arm and probably saves on energy.

Believe it or not, I didn't notice this until I saw one of Maharzan's vids.. I realised then that its what people like Muris and PG do.. so thank you Maharzan for that !

Posted by: Jerry Arcidiacono Feb 27 2011, 03:06 PM

I'm using a pretty standard techinque, with the pick between thumb and the side of the index finger.

Posted by: Sickz666 Feb 27 2011, 03:29 PM

Between my thumb and side of the index finger, with my palm closed.
No fingers sticking out or anchoring.

Posted by: dark dude Feb 27 2011, 09:41 PM

I hold it between the thumb and the side of my index finger. To angle the pick, I curl the index until the angle's good for what I'm doing. My hand rests on the bridge, the rest of my fingers fan out most of the time (my hand feels less tense this way).

I'm liking Ben's observation, will try it out.

Posted by: spacebran Feb 27 2011, 10:31 PM

My picking style is consistently evolving. I used to hold it between my thumb and the side of my index finger, but more so towards the tip of my finger (rather than the conventional style where it is between the tip and the knuckle on the side of the finger). I also kept the rest of my fingers 'fanned' out loosely. Eventually, I realized my picking technique was really limiting my playing. I noticed that my middle finger sometimes brushed the strings and would create unwanted noise and I wasn't as fast as I could have been.

I eventually came across an instructional video by Paul Gilbert where he explained his picking style and I've adopted the way he picks into my style. Basically, when I am playing metal rhythms and generally riffing, I hold the pick on the side of my index finger between the knuckle and the tip, with the rest of my fingers loose (since I noticed my problem of the fingers brushing the strings, that doesn't happen anymore, I guess because I'm more aware of it and I've made some minor adjustments to stop it from happening). Sometimes my loose fingers (I think mainly my middle finger, I don't have a guitar in my hands to check ) act as an anchor depending on what I'm doing. Also, the pick strikes the strings at about a 45 degree angle. When I am getting into more technical stuff and soloing, I tend to use a mixture of what I just explained and a closed fist style, very similar to Gilbert.

Here is the video:



edit: did the video work for anyone? It's not showing up for me, but here is the link anyways: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpJNUGHxC3M

Posted by: thefireball Feb 28 2011, 04:55 AM

I hold the pick with my index finger and thumb with my other fingers dangling freely at the side.

QUOTE (spacebran @ Feb 27 2011, 03:31 PM)

Posted by: Justin Myrick Feb 28 2011, 09:24 AM

QUOTE (Ben Higgins @ Feb 27 2011, 02:23 PM)

I've always held my pick between thumb and the side of my forefinger (basically the most 'normal' way) and over the years I've changed between resting my fingers on the guitar and keeping more of a Paul Gilbert style fist. Nowadays I don't rest rest my fingers on the guitar and only recently I've angled the pick so it attacks the strings at roughly a 45 degree angle. I heard people talking about it for years but never bothered with it... now I wonder why I never tried it before !

Also another thing I discovered which probably helps Gilbert etc is to keep your hand mainly at the top of the bottom E... instead of moving your whole wrist when moving to the higher strings, keep your wrist on the bottom E but just point your knuckles and pick down towards the floor. This way it stops unnecessary movement of the wrist and arm and probably saves on energy.

Believe it or not, I didn't notice this until I saw one of Maharzan's vids.. I realised then that its what people like Muris and PG do.. so thank you Maharzan for that !

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Mar 4 2011, 01:32 AM

Using several different techniques can be useful. For faster passages, clean wrist movement, with the palm semi-anchored to the bridge can produce very good precision. Playing with more dynamics require some picking from "the distance". In all cases, when hand is completely relaxed, it gives out the best tone. Using the palm weight when picking can also sound very natural.

Posted by: Todd Simpson Mar 4 2011, 01:38 AM

This is a great question. I get this one all the time. I finally took a picture of how I hold the pick when doing high speed/alternate picking/economic picking, etc. It's way easier than trying to describe it How you hold the pick, and how you address the string is crucial.

QUOTE (Kristofer Dahl @ Feb 27 2011, 02:56 AM)