I Break a lot of Picks!

Try holding 'em closer to the tip, and not so tightly.

Why not try a different brand? I use Dunlop Nylon .60mm picks, and they are thin, but don't break. Jim Dunlop USA Nylon

I've also heard some good things about the Jim Dunlop Ultex pics, but haven't had a chance to try them out yet. They come in .60mm also, and claim to be "indestructible". Ultex Pics

Dan

I remember the one thing that helped me with this - concentrate on keeping your picking hand relaxed. I switched to thick, stiff picks too though. Ya never know, it could really help

Try holding the pick like this:

So that you are using the rounded edge instead of the pointed edge.

Thank you all & Happy New Year. I'm sure this all will come in handy!

I used to use a really thin pick, then I moved up to a slightly thicker (but not too much) pick.

I also hold my pick as Nexion showed, which slowed down the breaking of picks. 8)

JimmyJazz,
The suggestion to relax your grip on the pick is right on. When we grip it too tightly, the attack angle changes and the force is on the leading edge of the pick. I also use Fender light picks. I just prefer the sound it makes on the strings. When I first started playing I spent about a third of the time holding the guitar upside down and trying to shake the pick out of the sound hole. That was an easy way for me to figure out that I was holding the pick to lightly. The good news; picks are the cheapest thing about the guitar.

...The good news; picks are the cheapest thing about the guitar.

If you're REALLY tight on cash you could always cut a pick out of old credit cards and the like.

Try holding the pick like this:

So that you are using the rounded edge instead of the pointed edge.

Thought I was the only freak that used that part of the pick! I use Ultex exclusively.

Same thing here! I went through a dozen in a week. I like the thin picks because:
1) Sound better (unless I'm flatpicking)
2) I can strum really fast

I don't think I'm gripping it to tight, I don't like turning it and using the other end.

This could be normal.

Bob Jessie

I use the Fender Mediums and what happens to mine is the rounded tip gets pointed. It's like I'm wearing away the sides of the tip. :roll:

Switch to nickel silver fingerpicks. They last a long time.

And they make you look like Freddie Kruger Lite.

I've noticed that guitarists go through a progression in choosing picks - and I don't know any pro who hasn't taken exactly this progression:

1. We start with medium picks because they're a) available everywhere and b) we don't know any better.

2. We switch to thin picks because we want to play faster. Like clideguitar said, you can strum really fast.... then we discover that thin picks break pretty easily. Heck, sometimes you can even make 'em shatter!

3. At that point we start re-thinking the thin pick thing. And we start to question the assertion that we sound better - a little experimentation tells us (and our developing ear) that we don't; it sounds kind of scratchy and thin when you play with a thin pick. We end up playing with heavy picks.

I don't know a single pro who doesn't use heavy picks.

Thin pick = fast is actually a fallacy; the flexibility of the pick hides the flaws in your technique. But at that stage of the game, you don't have the control to avoid digging too deep with the pick. When you get the control to play fast without digging deep, you find a heavy pick doesn't slow you down at all, and it gives you a much better tone.

When I was in the "thin picks let me play fast" stage, if I didn't have a pick at hand, I'd use a matchbook cover. One matchbook will get you through one or two tunes before it shreds. Now I'll use a quarter - it lasts all night :)

That's funny, I have always used medium on electric and thick on acoustic. I have never bought a thin pick and never will - I played a friends and absolutely hated it.