Holding the pick

[wag1943]

Hi. this question most likely has been discussed before sorry if I'm going over old ground..


. What is the best way to hold a pick? Tight, loose etc ????

[Johnny60]

Loose gives you much more control (unless you drop the pick!). Too tight can put stress and tension into your right hand and forearm, which is not good.

[AlanN]

And don't forget this nugget from Frank Wakefield:

"Let your hand shake your wrist!"

[wag1943]

Thanks guys somewhere I either was told or I read that you should be able to feel the pick moving .. would that be too loose?¿

[UsuallyPickin]

The gem of wisdom about pick holding goes like this ... " If you don't drop a pick every once in awhile you are holding it too tight". Relax ... poke the muscle at the base of the thumb holding the pick. If that muscle is tight and hard you are holding the pick too tight.... R/

[JeffD]

I have struggled with this. My compromise is to hold the pick tight enough to be in control of it, but not tighter. Tight enough to prevent the pick from moving, but no tighter. (Don't you love answers like that.)

When I get nervous, stage fright or taking a break, I tend to tighten up, which hurts my playing. So I have to be real conscious of it. OTOH I like it when all of the energy of my arm and hand goes into plucking the string, i.e. no energy is lost in errant pick movement.

I have been told that in general I hold the pick too tight. So I think about this a bit.

[wag1943]

I'm gonna try to loosen my grip but I'll prolly have to. Work hard at it when I am in a situation where I get tensed up...

[Mandoplumb]

I have struggled with this. My compromise is to hold the pick tight enough to be in control of it, but not tighter. Tight enough to prevent the pick from moving, but no tighter. (Don't you love answers like that.)

That reminds me of a comment my dad made, listening to several banjo players talk about how much to tighten the head.( Dad played banjo and always had his set up to sound great with his lite touch) anyway he listened to all the other banjo pickers talk about tuning to this note or that note flat etc, then offered this bit of wisdom "I always tighten mine one quarter of a turn before she busts".

[Toni Schula]

Loose gives you much more control (unless you drop the pick!).

If you never dropped the pick you never tried hard enough to hold it loosely.

On the other side:
"Do. Or do not. There is no try." (Yoda)

[wag1943]

Loose gives you much more control (unless you drop the pick!). Too tight can put stress and tension into your right hand and forearm, which is not good.

It seems like the music flows better / easier when I try not to hold the pick so tight ., ??

[Johnny60]

Absolutely. Right hand, arm, elbow and shoulder tension robs you of all subtlety and musicality - with a few notable exceptions.

[Relio]

Hi. this question most likely has been discussed before sorry if I'm going over old ground..


. What is the best way to hold a pick? Tight, loose etc ????

Look at the right hand for 100 quality pickers, and I bet you'll see no two the exact same. My suggestion is start all of your practices doing scale work with a metronome for as long as you can before you get bored and focus on creating solid tone and experiment with right hand grips. You will slowly develop a faster and cleaner technique and find what feels right in terms of grip for you.

[billkilpatrick]

Look at the right hand for 100 quality pickers, and I bet you'll see no two the exact same. My suggestion is start all of your practices doing scale work with a metronome for as long as you can before you get bored and focus on creating solid tone and experiment with right hand grips. You will slowly develop a faster and cleaner technique and find what feels right in terms of grip for you.

Absolutely right. Mini-break throughs are possible with even the slightest shift in the way one holds the pick. With these much harder/denser composite picks (Blue Chip, Primetone, etc.) the pick "click" has become much more evident. As a consequence, I've abandoned the so-called "power grip" in favor of something that might be described as "holding up a dirty nappy" - less of a curl on the forefinger and extended just a little with the pick resting between it and the thumb, closer to the tip of the finger in a pinching posture. Works for me - looser, more delicate "grip" producing a better tone. Even the slightest change can make a big difference.