Guitar Music – How to Hold Guitar Pick
Posted by Vikki Partee on August 20, 2008
You may have played guitar for some years but still think that the guitar music you produce is not perfect. One of the reasons may be you have not practiced enough what you have learnt from the guitar lessons. But holding a guitar pick with wrong method could be the reason too. This little thing is always overlooked by most guitar learners.
Guitar Picks
In the past, animals bone and tortoise shell were the main material to make picks. But nowadays most picks are made of plastic. There are many shapes and sizes of picks you can select. It is a personal choice. You should try different picks to find out the one the is most suitable for you. If you have no idea, I recommend you to try a medium gauge first. You will learn guitar easier with picks of medium size.
I am going to tell you the right way to hold a pick now. There are just a few steps to follow.
Assuming that you are a right handed guitarist, you should use your right hand to hold the pick. Stretch your right hand palm and let it face the ceiling. Clench the fist softly and use the thumb to press the left side of the index finger. You need not cover the hold index finger. Just touch the first knuckle.
You should then find a pick and put it into the gap of the index finger and thumb. It is a good idea to insert it deep. When your are playing guitar, your only need to use the small tip to strum the strings. Also do not use too much strength to hold the pick. A little bit power is alrealy okay otherwise you cannot use the pick flexibly.
The same as you use left hand to practice fingering, you also need to practice how to use the pick. To begin with, just choose one of the strings to strum. You may want to strum it up and down. When you feel more familiar, you can then strum chords. You should also try different strumming patterns. If you cannot hold the pick and it drops, do not be frustrated. Just pick it up and try again. You can finally do it.
You can keep your middle finger, ring finger and little finger touching your palm. You can also extend them. By extending them, you can use them to pluck strings, do tapping or adjust the volume button. It is also your preference. Both of them are correct.
When playing guitar with a pick, some people may hold the pick in different ways. I would say they are wrong but I personally do not like there methods. I would tell you what they are and your decide use them or not.
The first one is using the thumb and the middle finger, rather than the index finger to hold the pick. The second way is putting the pick into the gap between the thumb and the second knuckle of the index finger. And the last one is to hold the pick with thumb, index finger and middle finger. I have tried all of them but I think these methods decrease the flexibility of playing a pick.
That is all about holding a guitar pick. Spend some time on practicing it. You will find this small change helps you produce better guitar music.
