Pick grip again

[John Bertotti]

I am starting to understand why mandolin players use a grip on the pick where it lays on the joint of the first finger and is gripped by the thumb. I usually hold it like I am playing guitar great for speed but lousy for chording. I don't know why but it will rotate bad and walk itself right out of my hand. I just happened to try to hold it like described in some books and dog gone it is easy to chord that way. I did have to re learn how to pick since the location of the pick changed my accuracy is way off, but I think I am finding it to be a worthwhile change.

Basically my grip didn't change much, where once I held it on the tip of my finger now it is moved back by the joint like i mentioned above.

[John Bertotti]

I left out the reason I started this thread. A board memebr here told me maybe I should try to change but at the time it was so odd I just couldn't make it work. Fast froward several years and it just seems much more natural now. I didn't work on doing it this way over the last couple years just decided to try it again and this time it clicked. Ijust thought it funny how that sometimes happens.

[Rob Gerety]

I understand. I've changed my grip too and it has helped with pick movement but it felt really weird and was difficult to learn at first. Still, even today, I unconsciously revert to my old way. But gradually the new way is taking over the old.

[bratsche]

I've been working on being able to change my pick hold on the fly while I'm playing, according to the dictates of the music and what works best when. That is to say, I've striven to no longer be "wedded" to any particular way of holding it. Though my hands aren't particularly big, I use only large triangular shaped picks now, which makes this easier to accomplish than the smaller teardrop-shapes I used to use with a three-fingered hold all of the time. Versatility is key, for me. Sometimes it's easier said than done, but I'm getting there.

(I also still chafe at hearing any hold called a "pick grip", much like "bow grip", both of which seem terms which might subliminally induce unneccessary tension.)

bratsche

[250sc]

"I usually hold it like I am playing guitar......"


??? How do you hold a pick when playing guitar?

"lays on the joint of the first finger and is gripped by the thumb" pretty much discribes my pick grip in both guitar and mandolin. I also rotate a teardrop pick to use either the pointy tip for brighter sound or the "shoulder" for a warmer sound.

[fishtownmike]

My pick grip switches while I'm playing. If i'm playing some fast fiddle tunes I'll use the loose fist power grip type of method but I'll switch to a looser grip that allows some finger movement when I'm playing a song that use a lot of chord work that has some melody in it.

[Richard Moore]

In the light of comments here I've taken a look at how I hold the pick while playing (it becomes an unconscious thing eventually) and like others it may vary a lot between or even during tunes depending on the need.

[Richard Watts]

I have found that if I let just enough protrude from the end of my first joint with thumb on top so my finger doesnt touch the string that I get good pick control I LIKE THE FENDER HEAVY SMALL PEANUT LIKE PICKS

[John Bertotti]

I had a week of no pick holding problems now the darn thing has come back to life and keeps trying to scurry out of my hand. Oh well one step closer!

[mzurer]

I've been struggling with a more power-grippish right hand and I come from a guitar perspective. My main problem is that my index-finger keeps drifting back down towards the strings behind the pick, but a few weeks of mindful practice is helping that out. Even though the mandolin grip it is different, it makes a lot of intuitive sense to me. Guitars are simply louder and you don't need to strike the strings as hard or cleanly to get a nice loud note out of it. My right hand technique has been aimed toward getting a nice clean strong strike, and that is easiest when I have the pick aligned with the strings, and the angle of attack is very, very close to 90 degrees - no speed bevel for me. With this alignment, the picking comes from the wrist, which is also reminiscent of violin bowing - You lead with the wrist and the arm follows, and this keeps the bow perpendicular to the strings. Very different motion from bowing, but leading towards the same relationship where the bow and pick each contact the string. When I try out a fast loud elbow trem the pick is already in the right position as well. I don't think that would work with the grip I use when I play guitar.

[Rob Gerety]

I'm slowly adopting a pretty classic version of the power grip so-called for both guitar and mandolin. I really don't see the need for two different grips. Pretty much all the same issues are present on both instruments I think. Certainly, the grip works well on both.

One thing that took a while for me to develop is a loose wrist strumming style with the new grip. It did come along after a while. Now its starting to feel strange if I leave my fingers extended which is the way I always picked in the past. When I pick up a pick now my fingers just naturally and automatically tuck up under into a loose fist - most of the time anyway. I still catch myself reverting now and again.