Hello! [br]I was taught as a classical guitar player, so I didn't use a pick before. Now I'm learning to use a pick for the first time.
I'm not super clear on the correct grip, my pick always seems to turn and to slip out of my fingers, I'm not sure what angle it should be at and I haven't found the answer to that in the video lessons.
please help! Thank you :)
You should hold the pick between your thumb and index finger with the sharp tip straight down. The pick should be parrallel to the strings and not in an angle and strike the strings only with the very end of the tip and not half way the pick.
Don't hold the pick to firm.
What kind of pick are you using? if it is a smooth one then buy a dunlop pick 1mm, they have an elevated printing on them which makes it easier to hold them.
Herman
I've had the same problem .. I'm not quite there but a video I found on the fender pay site covered this pretty well .. think of the pick as an extension of your index finger and put your thumb vertically across to form a cross .. that seems to give a better hold and with the back of the pick resting in the nook on the index fingers joint it seems to twist less .. striking the strings with the tip only takes time, I'm still working on that
Rock, Punk, Blues
On the topic of pick technique maybe you could give me insight on how I could go about finger picking?
I have no problem putting my fingers together to create a pick with my nails. I do, however, have an issue with making singular strings sound clear.
i.e. If I'm playing a G chord and I want to emphasize the G base note on the 6th string with my thumb, it will end up ringing out fuzzy and incorrectly. The rest of the strings will be fine because my finger nails will graze the strings.
Do I need to hook my (nonexistent) thumb nail on the string to make it sound clearer or is it my unrefined technique? I apperciate any and all help :)
If your thumb nail is non existing then you buy a thumb pick and try that but my experience with those is that it cuts of the bloodflow to the tip of your thumb and then you get a numb feeling so for me they only work for one song and then I have to take it of, another way is hybrid picking but you loose the index to hold the pick.
Growing a small thumbnail with a little edge on the left side of the nail ( right handed ) just enough to pluck the strings is for me still the best way.
Herman
1mm+ picks gently sanded with sandpaper helps the pick not slip. I use Ernie Ball Prodigy picks the most. 1.5mm. They aren't cheap as picks go, but they work great for my style of playing.
