Pick Issue, Need some pointers concering holding the pick |
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Sep 13 2009, 11:21 PM
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Heya GMC!
I've been playing guitar for 2 years now, and I've recently started to really evaluate my playing and searching for flaws and working on phasing them out and such. And it's recently gotten to me that I might not be holding my pick/plectrum the optimal way. Let me straighten things out with a picture. You can find a picture of how I hold my pick following THIS link and another angle can be found HERE. As you can see, I hold the pick between my thumb and index finger and really tuck it in there. When I pick, let's say the E-string, my thumb will be touching the A string, as you can see in the picture. One thing that struck me while practising tonight is that this might be causing unneccessary friction while changing strings, and maybe even when just picking one string while let's say tremolo picking it. I reckon this might be a disadvantage yeah? How should one really properly hold the pick for maximum comfort and speed and such? Please help me figure out how to reposition the way I hold my pick! I've been concerned about the way I hold the pick for quite some time now but I can't figure out how to improve it. Need some help here!!  Thanks in advance! // Frobb |
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Sep 13 2009, 11:59 PM
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You will improve it in time in practice my friend. Just keep it easy and stay focused on your goal. I think the pick should be moved towards the tip of your thumb, and the tip side of your index finger. It may be strange and uncomfortable at first, but in time it will be alright. I believe this would solve your problem with tip of the thumb getting into contact with the strings.
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Sep 14 2009, 09:06 AM
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You're holding the pick very much like I do, I even posted some pictures of it looooong ago if you care to search.
But I have the tip of the pick placed right between the joint of the thumb and the nail, that's perhaps moving it 1 cm further towards the tip of your thumb. I think it's ideal to only have a small piece of the pick sticking out like that. I renewed my technique after say 15 years of holding it like a pen, or something, with a ig chunk sticking out. The new grip (like yours just a tad different) was an enormous improvment for me in both speed and accuracy. So if I should reccomend anything it'd be to keep the pick that way, only move it to right between the joint and the nail. Belive it or not but my picking became a lot more controlled and it's now easier to hit the strings right with only the small tip of the pick sticking out that before when a large chunk of it was out. While holding the hand close to the strings I feel a lot more in control myself. -------------------- My bands homepage
All time favourites: B. Streisand - Woman in Love, M. Hopkin - Those were the days, L. Richie - Hello |
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Sep 14 2009, 12:00 PM
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QUOTE (MickeM @ Sep 14 2009, 04:06 AM)  I think it's ideal to only have a small piece of the pick sticking out like that. I renewed my technique after say 15 years of holding it like a pen, or something, with a ig chunk sticking out. The new grip (like yours just a tad different) was an enormous improvment for me in both speed and accuracy. +1 - I did pretty much the same a couple of years ago when I joined GMC and it has helped me enormously! -------------------- Check out my Instructor profile
Live long and prosper ... My Stuff: Electric Guitars : Ibanez Jem7v, Line6 Variax 700, Fender Plus Strat with 57/62 Pickups, Line6 Variax 705 Bass Acoustic Guitars : Taylor 816ce, Martin D-15, Line6 Variax Acoustic 300 Nylon Effects : Line6 Helix, Keeley Modded Boss DS1, Keeley Modded Boss BD2, Keeley 4 knob compressor, Keeley OxBlood Amps : Epiphone Valve Jnr & Head, Cockburn A.C.1, Cockburn A.C.2, Blackstar Club 50 Head & 4x12 Cab |
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Sep 14 2009, 05:14 PM
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I would also recommend to move the pick more towards the thumbs tip, but I still say there is no absolutely right way of holding a pick, many different ways are absolutely possible and lead to great results, important is that you feel comfortable with it and of course that you are in control over your pick.
-------------------- Guitars: various Gibson Les Pauls / Gibson J 45
Amps: Mesa Boogie Tripple Rectifier / Triaxis / 2:90 Poweramp / Rectocabs Effects: Rocktron Intellifex / Rocktron Xpression Homepage: www.marcussiepen.com www.blind-guardian.com Check out my video lessons! |
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