Pick angle.

I suppose there is a "correct" way of doing it. I have viewed youtube vids of pros that hold their picks all different way, & most folks use a combination of positions to attack the strings, depending on what they are playing at the moment.

Personally, I find myself picking just as you mentioned, with the edge of the pick. I like the control/sound that I get with that approach.

There's a tremendous variation in pick angle between players. I don't think there's one 'right' way.

More advanced players will also change the angle to get different tone colors.

For myself, about 90% of my playing is done with the pick parallel to the strings. That gives the most efficient transfer of energy from your hand to the string, so I find it gives me the most control over the tone and dynamics (I also very the tightness of my grip on the pick as an element of controlling tone).

But if I have to play a lot of passages that are very fast, I'll angle the pick - I'd guess it's somewhere between 30 and 45 degrees. This lets the point of the pick sort of 'skate' over the string, rather than picking 'through' it. That reduces resistance, which helps me avoid hand cramps :)

I firstly agree with katmetal, that's right IMO, and he backs it up it with experience, seeing youtube videos of different pick attack angles.

In live venues too, you will see some of the more savvy players changing pick angle all the time, and also varying their choice of "spot" to hit the string wth examples being in the middle, up the neck (like Johnny Cash) or down close to the bridge, for different tone. At the bridge is fun - when players do that, they dig hard and you know it's gonna come out extra loud, down-and-dirty, for a thrill to the ears! There's a Tele player here who also picks above the nut, on so-called 'dead-string' up around the tuners. Whoa, it's not dead at all when he makes them ring like bells, zithers or harmonics.

Not that it matters, but he also frets notes, where it's fretless, like maybe up to the 36th? And slides the pick like a razor.

NoteBoat is a teacher, and I appreciate his good advice as a professional, wow, one who gets paid, and has loads of experience!

I pick as he says, and was already thinking about picking strategies and habits all last week, as I'm trying to become familiar with my G-DEC and new Tele at the same time. It IS a new learning curve, I haven't had 9's for strings, ever since can remember? :shock:

I'm more of a flat picker, and over-use the 180 degree angle, or parallel approach/sweep if too much of one technique is possible? ... because I like to get the flesh of my thumb in there for muting and pinch harmonics. But really, depending on the style, and tone that is called-for, I'm all over the place.

A caution, if you choke up on the pick too much, and combine that with parallel picking, you may have an incident like did at my friend's party, where I was forced to play with his hired band for 5 hours, not expecting it, having celebrated already for maybe 10 hours (thus being tired or not very co-ordinated). I pulled a Tele out of my van, plugged into a waiting Marshall half stack, beat on the thang for 5 hours without changing my attack, and split my thumb wide open like a sausage, sprayed the guitar with an aerosol of blood for all kinds of unique & colorful effects, and got wet, blackened, dead strings. But it sure felt good. :lol:

I ran across this web page a little while back that has some great discussion about pick technique including pick angle. http://www.tuckandpatti.com/pick-finger_tech.html A lot of really good advice and insight on that page. It's written by Tuck Andress who is an awesome player by the way - he and his wife play a local club in my area semi-regularly.

That Andress analysis is really good, and it brings up one more point - how we interpret pick angle. I was thinking of the angle where the surface of the pick meets the string (Andress 1.2.8) but there's also the angle at which you make the string vibrate (1.2.5).

In that he briefly mentions the classical guitar rest stroke, but doesn't get into it in any great detail. That's a shame, because this aspect of picking can really be understood by learning how classical guitarists control tone color. Besides where they pick - close to the bridge (sul ponticello) or over the fretboard (sul tasto) - they can choose what stroke is made, making the picked string vibrate in line with the plane of the strings (tirando, the free stroke) or against the plane (apoyando, the rest stroke).

When a string vibrates in the string plane, the string energy is reflected by the nut and saddle, and the string vibrates longer. When it vibrates perpendicular to the plane, it causes the saddle to rock back and forth slightly... and that transfers more energy to the top of the guitar. The sound won't last as long, but it'll be louder. By combining the two - and by varying the angle between the extremes - classical guitarists can make some notes more or less prominent while still striking all the strings with the same amount of force.

I don't consciously apply that technique to playing steel string guitars, but I probably use it. I know I spend countless hours working with it on my classical guitars - it's really the heart and soul of right hand technique on classical.

Thanks for the replies, folks!

Great find there, Hyperborea! Lots of interesting stuff.