drop your pick once in a while

[MandoJam]

Hey guys,

I have been telling my beginning students that if they never drop their picks when strumming, they are holding on too hard. Most beginning students hold on so hard that it keeps them from having good tone. I first started playing guitar and I remember breaking strings on my poor instrument. Do ya'all think that is good advice?

[Bertram Henze]

You'll find out when it's raining picks in your class

The target is to learn to apply enough force on thumb and index finger but leave the rest of the body relaxed; whatever helps to reach that will do.

[foldedpath]

I have been telling my beginning students that if they never drop their picks when strumming, they are holding on too hard. Most beginning students hold on so hard that it keeps them from having good tone. I first started playing guitar and I remember breaking strings on my poor instrument. Do ya'all think that is good advice?

I like the way Chris Thile describes it on his instructional DVD. He talks about how your hold on the pick should be like the shock absorber in a car, with the pick being the tire. That was a good mental image for me. It describes a hold on the pick that's firm enough for good control, but with a little allowance to let the pick move on its own, while passing through the strings.

My hold on the pick is a little more firm for things like tremolo or Irish triplet ornaments, so it's not always a fixed amount of pressure.

I'm not a teacher, but if I was, I think I'd avoid telling students that it's okay to drop the pick under any circumstances. That could come back to haunt them later, if they end up performing for an audience. Good pick control should include hanging onto the darned thing.

[John Kinn]

I thought you meant "drop your pick" like in "lay the pick aside for a while". Why not a little fingerpicking on the mando...that would be a small challenge.

[MandoJam]

Hey Foldepath,
Not dropping the pick forever. Students learn the right amount of pressure over time

[Mark Walker]

Sort of related... Our band's been performing for several years now, and last Saturday evening at a gig, our mandolin player (doing a great 'chop' rhythm at the time) lost her pick during my guitar instrumental break. (My lone guitar sounded pretty naked for a moment!) She quickly recovered her pick from the stage floor and jumped right back into the rhythm!

That's never happened to any of us on stage before, and we've done a fair number of gigs. So I guess it could happen to anyone at anytime! (I know a lot of guitar players with those little stick-on 'pick holders' strategically placed on either their instrument or a nearby mic stand for just such an occasion!)

[STEViE Simpson]

I'm only a strummer, I don't pick. I'm happy with that. I've dropped picks on occasion but these days rarely use one apart from a couple of songs, problem solved though my index fingernail is fairly worn down but the skin below it does toughen up after a while.