Originally Posted by: JeffS65

Originally Posted by: belli.zack

At the tail end of the fundamentals course, good grasp on the cords, still a little slow on the changes. I find I'm having issues with the pick and strum aspects.

Been using the Ernie Ball Everlast .48

I am very new, started this journey at the beginning of October 2020, so it could just be inexperience and practice will solve. I find when I'm strumming I loose pick orientation ( tip will move towards front or rear ). Feeling like I'm loosing grip, I tried a few of the picks with the grip texture and same issues. I may be focusing to heavily on it as well, just looking for some advice if there a tips or exercises to ensure I'm not forming bad habits or if I'm just over thinking it and need to put in more work and I'll figure it out.

Thanks.

-Z

How close is your pick holding to these photos below?

I took a few pics of me holding a pick. Though I've been playing a long time, I either like very small picks (Dunlop Jazz III's) for electric, or for acoustic strumming, no pick. Thing is, playing with no pick acoustically, I may not be as articulate as I'd like. I'd played mostly electric for so long with the tiny Jazz III's, I'd lost my 'skill' with holding a standard sized pick and to be honest, strumming an acoustic song wIth Jazz III's is a bit like using a sledgehammer with set a finishing nail. It's not subtle enough as would be a regular pick. So I've been reteaching myself proper standard sized pick playing.

If you're new, it can be that much harder. A few things you should keep in mind:

--Don't 'over-grip'. That is to say that if you squeeze so tightly in hopes of not dropping the pick, you're gonna drop it. When you strike a string, if there is no give in your grip, the string is going to win that struggle.

--With the photos below, you'll notice that I don't expose an enourmous amount of the pick. That's just natural for me. I also hold the pick under the flesh of my thumb and under the last bone (called the distal phalange...for what it's worth...) of my bent index finger.

--Watch the angle of the pick too. When you strum, if the pick is completely perpendicular to the string, you're going to string the string too hard. It's in Lisa's beginner's tutorial, but the pick should trail a little bit. It's part of the 'grip' issue above. However, instead of stabbing the strings, your wrist should allow for a little give that allows that pick to trail a little bit behind where your thumb/index are gripping the pick.

Just some thoughts.

Even though my relearning using a regular pick makes me feel like I'm using a dinner plate, I still never drop a pick.

Awesome thanks for the advice, the pics hep!