POLL! What is your pick grip?

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[shadybrain]

I learned my pick grip from a Paul Gilbert instructional dvd that came with my guitar, so naturally i was taught to tape it to a power drill.

[AkisM]

Troy, you are the biggest contributor to guitar teaching and figuring out the guitar in general that there has ever been. The very first guitar enthusiast to leverage technology, accessibility to information + the internet to bring everything we know about the guitar together and shed light on grey areas and areas of conflict that people didn't bother offering much insight into before. People always used to talk about left hand techniques and scales and stuff but noone ever dared to put this much effort into compiling and assessing all the techniques there are in the right hand which for most guitarists is the confusing part due to all the conflicting teaching advice.

You are the pioneer of the new age of analyzing technique.

[nagyashwanth]

" Sometimes you jus wanna be held. Especially when you are a guitar pick. "

Now I know why my pick asked me to watch this video.

[Brovioli]

I have always held the pick with my thumb, pointer, and middle finger, having the extra finger there allows for more tone control, while also allowing for speed and accuracy. so I've just always done it like that. It has always worked for everything for me.

[craigcarroll]

Just wanted to say thank you for your countless hours and analyzing to help us. I'm still struggling w the pick slanting and still getting pick stuck in strings but have moments where it feels like I'm getting it. I promise that if it weren't for you I would have given up. But I'm going to keep trying until I get it. You are invaluable to people like me who aren't natural guitarists Thank you

[TechMetalRules]

I'm all about classic rock showmanship...

I hold the pick with my teeth.

[rockwellspipe]

i use one of the dull sides of the pick. I dont't use the sharp tip to pick the strings. It happened when I first started playing, and i wore down the sharp tip to a round soft shape. Ever since then it feels akward and unsmooth to use the sharp point of the pick, although it does darken the tone a bit.

[Mars-]

This video is really underrated. Thank you for relativating the freedom in gripping techinque. I used always a grip with my fingertips. The "more articulated way" i think you mentioned. I never read it it just felt comfortable always. I mean the function of the pickholdingtechnique is to hold the pick without loosing it. As long as it works and you can play everything the technique is the right for you in my opinion. I´m playing now for over 18 years and never used the "proper" way of holding it, even during gigs. Everyone always told me i hold it wrong. I use sometimes the mittlefingergrip and the same with the indexfinger, mostly with the indexfinger (creating a "O" shape with my fingers). Just works pretty well and i can articulate more with the movement of my fingers too. So i dont use too many angles...

[TheScmtnrider]

First grip desc, then comment beneath.

Pad of thumbtip against side of index fingertip. Pick tip generally in line with index finger is my comfort zone.

Blade of hand on bridge for orienting on acoustic, fingertips in body...or nothing... for my Jackson and Kramer electrics.

Troy,

I'm 55. I've played since 1974 at age 14. 25 years ago at age 30, I hit a wall figuratively speaking... I could not progress more than by nano-steps. 25 friggin years of frustration!!!

Then I blundered across Cracking the Code!
Your evolution, path to consistency, analysis of pick techniques... whatever the label, it resonated with me like being punched in the face by Connor McGregor...twice! 😉

I'd been completely awed and mystified by Yngwie's superpowers for years. There was no way I could ever comprehend his magic, much less enter that ballpark to save my life!

How the hell YJM could do what he does, while his pick barely seemed to move, made me wanna just head on outside and shoot myself...;)

Still, with my many years of life experience, ability to think critically and desire to get over that wall? I had neither the realization, intuition nor insight to consider and examine years of ignoring my picking, unthinkingly allowing instinct and picking habits to carry the overused hammer-on's and pull-off's I had naturally installed for speed.
Completely clueless was I!

And then... One fateful day watching YouTube, revelation! Troy Grady's downward pickslanting took the inconsistent stumbling away. It took a few weeks to get used to it but just as depicted in your transcending CTC video, "Holy Shit! Did I just do that...?"

The unforeseen benefit was this:
Muscling through my inefficiencies took away from seeing the very patterns and paths of melody.
Muscle memory infected everything I regurgitated at speed!
After your hard work resulted in my concerted focus on my neglected picking? NOW, I can see the pathways emerging way ahead of time as I improvise. I can visualize the anchor notes and paths to melodic destination through the octaves without stumbling and I can do it with blazing speed, accuracy and fluency. Friends and family are now noticing the changes.

Troy Grady, you have truly enriched my life. Renewed my passion and afforded me playing abilities, far far beyond anything I've ever imagined since I was 30.

Now, every guitar player I know as well as any guitar player I meet, gets sent straight to your YouTube channel and Website. I cannot thank you enough for sharing the fruits of your labor of love with us all. I hope you reap fulfillment, benefit, goodwill and gratitude from this, long after you reach my age.

Although I tried, words cannot express the degree of appreciation here. There just aren't any!!!
🎸

[googleboy]

After 60 years I've finally figured out the optimum pick hold. I am so sick of other people telling others things like you have to have ringernails to play guitar (Tell it to Tommy Emmanuel) or you have to learn to read music (Glenn Campbell, Ray Charles didn't). I once went to a music teacher who told me that my fingers were too short to ever play guitar. He was astounded when I played for him, even asking me to show him how I did a couple of licks. Oh, yeah, I made a living playing guitar for seven years. So what is the best way to hold a pick? Whatever feels comfortable and works for you. NEVER let anyone tell you what you Can't do. Failure comes in Can'ts...Success comes in Cans. ;-)) Remember: Can't never did anything. Shalom/gw

[eskilseter]

My natural way of holding it from when I started was the three-finger grip (thumb, index and middle fingers), but it was limiting my range of finger movement so I've consciously moved to holding it between the fingertips (pads) of thumb and index finger. It's just about the only conscious change I've ever made to my technique in my playing "career" :)

Doing this also naturally relaxed my other three fingers, so I've naturally drifted over to very loosely anchoring my little and ring finger blow the strings. Very comfortable way to play (for me).

[SystematicMechanic]

Well one of the reasons I was told to hold a pick with all the fingers curled up almost like a fist was to Help support the Index finger to keep it from moving back and forth every time a string is picked causing long term joint problems. I don't how true that is though. But it does give a nice sold feeling compared to the last 3 fingers out.

[shea_o_keith]

This doesn't have to do with pick grip, but I started using jazz III picks about five years ago and now I absolutely cannot use a bigger or normal sized pick. Anyone else experience this?

[JohnOhkumaThiel]

This is something I’ve been obsessing over lately. So I was sitting here watching this, trying the various grips, and when you mentioned the Eddie Van Halen grip with the middle finger, I lit up. That seems the most stable to me, or rather the most natural for how I play.

[pinionted]

I used to do the 3 fingered grip and rotate the pick so that my thumb was pointed towards the headstock. I came up with this as a teenager to get my trem picking super fast. I was told it was weird and wrong but it had always worked for me.
I only realised since I started watching your videos that this was the reason why I was never able to progress passed a certain point as it made string skipping and other skills pretty needlessly difficult.

I'm 30 now and I've relearned how to approach the guitar by changing that one thing. Cheers buddy :)

[UnityTheorem]

Thanks Troy for making me look at my technique a little more closely. I just took this poll, and found that I must be more of an oddball than I realized. I use the "far knuckle" hold, but I turn the pick 90 degrees so that the point is toward my palm. The more rounded edge goes to the strings. I also extend my pinkie and ring finger and rest them on the body of the guitar as an 'anchor.' My middle finger is curled adjacent to my index finger that holds the pick. Finally, I tend to move the thumb and index finger more than anything, but the wrist +finger movement comes into play when there's more than three strings being played at once of if it is fast chord picking. I feel weird now.

[alancosens]

I use very different grips depending on what I'm playing. Funk-style strumming, for example, is very different from my single note shred grip, and so forth.

[pauloavidos]

I've tried all of different kinds of pick grip. So, I get tired and only use my nails since 1996. I call this "Nailpicking". I've already did an instructional video where I show the technique, which consists in a crossover between classical guitar technique and the picking technique. Now, I'm working in a second video where I'll play the "Moto Perpetuo", by Pagannini with the "Nailpicking technique". Best wishes and congrats for the excellent YouTube channel.

[rickschneider]

So interesting how different people can pick so differently yet all sound amazing! This aspect really does affect what type of pick will work better for you. Trial and error will always stear you in the right direction to find your perfect picking techique. I've always believed that your pick can be your weakest link or stumbling block to your success if your playing depends on it. So thankful Troy Grady has opened up this door of discovery for all guitar players to explore and define their own playing!!

[TheGuitarShawn]

After watching your series, I started to adjust my pick angle from a left-handed approach to the (correct) right handed approach. The hardest part was changing from pad to knuckle. I still prefer the "old way" for strumming, and kinda alternate between the two depending on what I was going for.