How to Hold a Guitar Pick 1

Holding Your Guitar Pick The Right Way - How to properly hold your guitar pick so that you can maximize control over your volume and tone and become an effective flatpicker.

In this lesson you will learn the 7 essential things you must do to properly hold your flatpick. These key elements will help you control your dynamic range, your tone, and leave you with a feeling of control over your flatpick as opposed to it feeling like your flatpick controls you.

Are you holding your guitar pick right?
Does your pick keep spinning around?
What guitar pick should you use?

[JusticeConstantine]

Holy smokes. I have been playing guitar for over 25 years and this video improved my picking technique immediately. Thank you. - Justice Constantine

[Gutslinger]

You give the most clear instructions out of any of the guitar instructors I've watched on YouTube. After 4 years or so of guitar playing under my belt, I'd say I tend to hold the pick more on the side of my finger, rather than the pad. I also grip it slightly closer to the end knuckle of my index. One thing I would've like to have seen addressed is whether or not it matters if you play with a closed fist or an open hand. I only play with an open hand, but that question was raised in my mind a while back. I feared that I had been practicing all of these years for nothing, and would have to relearn something as basic as how to hold the pick while playing. I found it easier to find the correct strings to pick if I held my hand open and occasionally lightly touch the guitar with my pinky. I also had problems hitting the strings with my finger tips or knuckles when attempting to play with a closed fist. After research and reading many varied and opposing opinions, and reading of musicians who use an open hand, I've come to the conclusion that whichever method you find more comfortable works. But with someone that gives such clear and informative advice, like you, I'm interested in your opinion on the matter.

[ashevillescarborough]

My technique: Grip the pick harder, more volume. Lighter, drop the pick in the sound hole! Ha, actually this is great information-thanks!

[jcbak]

Probably the best description/lesson regarding holding/using the guitar pick on YouTube.

[salientrogue]

This is the best video I've found to describe picking. The thumb action was so clear and immediately helped me improve my mechanics

[shade]

Don’t see how to get the rest of the lessons.

[knotwilg]

The 3 other fingers: should they curl or float?
I often see the wrist or one of the fingers being used as a pivot (wrist on bridge or pinky on protection board). Shouldn't the hand float freely?

[dhaeze]

I've been holdin my flatpick wrong for the last 10 years! LOL thanks for the video man!

[TheIndySmiles]

ARE THESE TABS STILL AVAILABLE? I GET PAGE CAN NOT BE FOUND

[TheRedneckSage]

I have been playing for 20+ years and he is giving great advice here, and I would like to stress a couple of points he made and then add some other thoughts, if you care.

#1 is MAKE SURE your entire arm and wrist and everything in your body is RELAXED. Repeat this again. DO NOT tighten up your shoulders or neck or arm or elbow when you start trying to go at the limit of your picking speed. this will KILL your playing technique and you WILL NEVER GET FAST. Remember, relax. and if you feel ANYTHING tightening up, STOP, relax it, and start over again. if you have already got into the habit of tightening up, it will take 21 FULL days of practicing JUST relaxing to break that habit.

#2 DONT get discouraged. Guitar is one of the most challenging instruments to play. I play Many different instruments including different horns, the bass, the drums, and piano, and GUITAR is more difficult than ALL of them, and by a wide margin. Stringed instruments are just inherently challenging because of the subtle inflections of tone you can inflict on the strings and balancing between which you sound and which you don't.

#3 Guitar playing in the advanced stages is many times more about the strings that you are MUTING than the ones you are playing. there is NEVER a time when you are playing guitar in which you are not muting at least SOME portion of the strings or are about to mute them. You will come to not even consciously be aware that you are muting strings and this takes practice being consciously aware of how you ARE muting them. Muting consists of constantly shifting the palm of either hand or slightly releasing the strings or even just maybe the placement of your hand, or just the edge of it or just a side of your thumb or whatever is most efficient or so that your fingers are just slightly touching only the strings that you dont want to sound. This is everything. study it well.

#4 Eventually learn to be able to perform a strong and expressive vibrato. there are great players that are fast and some that are not, but there are NO great players that do not have a great vibrato. Take Kenny Wayne Shephard or even Pink Floyds David Gilmore. Neither of them play even very difficult or technically challenging leads or guitar work AT ALL, but the reason they both sound like pros, and I would say THE reason they set themselves apart is almost solely because of the quality of their vibrato techniques. Almost any guitar player thats been playing for only a couple of years could probabaly learn and be able to sound the correct notes in just about ANY pink floyd song or solo, but to do it with his vibrato is something else entirely.

#5 Guitar is DIFFICULT, as I have said. It takes time. it takes a LOT of time, and remember, you dont get better playing things you already know how to play over and over again. Im not talking about instances in which you are trying to focus on repeating something working on a particular element of technique you want to refine, I mean, you have to constantly be challenging yourself with things that are difficult to play. thats why getting good is diffiicult, FOR EVERYONE.

GOOD LUCK.

[pete]

Any tips on keeping the pick from spinning? Been flatpicking for a few years and this problem is pretty annoying. Thanks Tony...

[dcfrakes]

Link does not work. Went to you website - could not find the downloads....

[dimwitsadvocate]

Your link to the tabs doesn't go to the tabs or the 6-part course you mention in this video. It just goes to your main page. How does one get a working link? Thank you.

[thelifeofcamila]

This helped me so freakin' much. Big thanks and big hugs from Brazil!

[thomasjohns]

Flatpickicking Quickstart link isn't working. 😔

[podunk]

Thanks, but your link for the tabs doesn't seem to be working. :/

[Dev]

Tony my friend . I have been playing 2 + years . Not a long time but I can play well . Only now am I flatpicking . Learning how to do up and down picking . I dont think this is something that a new player needs to know . It takes a long time .

[theadi]

I guess you deleted the free tabs, etc? when I click on the link in the description says 'page not found'

[DL-cbbh]

I learned travis picking with my bare fingers so I'm finding this extremely difficult

[johnandrew]

You have hidden the other videos. What gives?