How much effort to unlearn how I hold my pick?

I've been playing for many years, but not particularly well, so I joined GT to try and up my game a bit. But I know I have lots of bad habits I may need to unlearn.

One of them involves holding the pick. I got into the habit of holding the pick with both the forefinger and middle finger opposite the thumb. Suspect I am also holding it too hard.

Everything I've seen suggests that this is really not the best way to hold a pick. I'm trying to figure out how much of an issue it is and whether there are some specific drills that would help me learn the correct way of holding it.

Thanks for any ideas anyone has on that score.

If you have been playing for years like that it will almost certainly take a lot of effort to change it. If it were me I would just carry on with my usual practice routines (scales, chord changes, song practice but at slower tempos etc.) but while consciously holding the pick between the thumb and the index finger. You will almost certainly be tempted to swap back to your usual style of picking because it is more comfortable for you but aslong as you are mindful it will eventually become the new normal. There will not be a quick fix, just mindful repetition.

I would also try holding the pick the way you want to while watching tv or listening to music to increase your familiarity with it on more of an unconcious level.

Please feel free to take my advice with a grain of salt, as I have only been playing for a couple of months. I do have experience with successfully unlearning bad habits from other disciplines though, so that will hopefully lend my advice some credibility :).

I hope this helps a little.

Originally Posted by: nixonpca

I've been playing for many years, but not particularly well, so I joined GT to try and up my game a bit. But I know I have lots of bad habits I may need to unlearn.

One of them involves holding the pick. I got into the habit of holding the pick with both the forefinger and middle finger opposite the thumb. Suspect I am also holding it too hard.

Everything I've seen suggests that this is really not the best way to hold a pick. I'm trying to figure out how much of an issue it is and whether there are some specific drills that would help me learn the correct way of holding it.

Thanks for any ideas anyone has on that score.

You've seen the way to hold a pick between the tips/ends of the index finger and the thumb. It probably doesn't feel natural to do so now if you try it. I'd suggest to help you over that hump is to do what I call the 'pickless pick hold'. That is to say; look at a video of how to hold a pick, emulate that but, strum the guitar without the pick. Don't whack at the strumming doing that because you don't want to shred your fingers!

I don't always want to play with a pick (for various reasons) but I do this and still strum as normal like I had a pick. What this will do us get you used to holding your fingers in the proper way without the frustration of the pick getting pulled from between your fingers. Just don't make this your primary way of playing. Don't wait too long to introduce a pick.

Something else you'll want to work with is; how much of the pick tip do you expose from between your thumb/index. I don't let a whole heck of alot of the pick expose. If you let too much expose, physics takes over and the pick wants to come out. So, you want to work with that a bit.

Just take your time and mess around with not only what fingers you use but how you hold the pick and at what angle the pick comes out between your fingers and so on.

The shorter answer is; you gotta mess around in order to get to the right place.

How much effort to unlearn...???

A LOT!!

I hold the pick just like you do and I have tried numerous times to change because everyone says its not the best way. I have tried intermittantly changing, or working on the change, but always revert back.

Finally I asked myself (it took me awhile) exactly why I wanted to change.[br][br]Some background on me.... I began playing in the mid-80s while in the service. When I got out after 4 years I just stopped. I just decided to get back into it in December of 2019. All that time I was completely self taught and developed (I'm sure) what most would consider many bad habits.

The thing is... They work for me. And, I've ingrained them from all that playing years ago. Holding a pick "normally" still just seems awkward and "wrong" to me. I lose a ton of accuracy and even lose a bit of speed if I try to hold a pick normally now.

Just yesterday I was working on my pinch harmonics because I had never done that before and was concerned that my "incorrect" pick position would make them impossible. Nope, works just fine. Then I was (a little) concerned that, well, somehow I'd never be particularly fast with my pick position. Currently I'm not all that fast. Then I read that Paul Gilbert for years held the pick exactly the way I do. In case you don't know him, he is widely considered one of the fastest, if not THE fastest alternate pickers. So, obviously I can get plenty fast with my non-standard pick position if I work at it.

Long story (somewhat) shorter.... Change is fine if you feel the way you are doing it now is in some way holding you back. It will be hard and take a lot of work, but it can be done.

On the other hand, I'd be hesitant to change just because someone tells you its wrong. If it works for you, seems most natural for you, and you aren't really giving up anything by staying with your "incorrect" position then I'd be hesitant to put all that effort into making a change that may not really be needed.

Just my 2 cents and food for thought....