Originally Posted by: 6strngs_2hmbkrs this whole time I've been trying to play stairway to heaven with a pick... and just mute the strings you're supposed to skip...

If you want to use the pick for this song and similar styles , you have to use "Hybrid Picking" ... You hold the pick normaly between thumb & index , and use the middle and ring fingers for picking too.
So when you have to play 2 notes to be played simultaneously, one on D-string and the other on the e-string , you'd use the pick on the D-string and the ring or middle finger on the e-string.