Het everyone - every now and then I feel obliged to obsess on how I am holding the pick - I use Fender mediums to medium/heavys and was wondering if some kind folks could chime in on how they position their pick in hand.
When strumming, I have this tendency to hold my pick in a kind of loose fist hold, keeping the pick pinched between my thumb and index, but some folk I see hold their picks in a kind of "OK" sign...middle, ring and pinky sort of away from the index and thumb...
...does it come down to personal preference or is there some sort of rule for this...I've been playing for over a year, but every so often I see someone else with a different technique than me and think to myself - am I holding the pick the wrong way??
Julius
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I'm in the loose fist crowd... but I extend to the 'OK' formation when I hybrid pick.
Among pros, I think you'll see some variation in pick angle, but everyone I've seen grips with thumb and index - or thumb and middle if you're doing artificial harmonics with the index.
I've seen some folks hold the pick in a three-fingered grip (thumb, index AND middle), but the ones I've seen don't seem to get decent execution like that - I think it forces a hand rotation that's a little awkward.
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If im inturpreteing your descriptions right, I think the second way to hold is generally considered the 'correct' way. I've always thought the pinch type hold was not the correct technique.
However when strumming it doesnt matter so much, its much more about getting the motion/rythem going... Thats what I've always seen, heard n been taught about this anyway.
The ok sign way of holding the pic, if you've never tried it before, is all about how the 1st finger and thumb hold the pick - the other fingers pointing out is something that doesnt feel natural to start but is again as far as I've always known is the 'correct' way unless doing strumming where the rules arent quite so strict.
Well, I'm a closed fist picker also... but I also use the side of the pick, one of the rounded edges, of Fender mediums...
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I use both the loose fist and the OK sign, although I'm not sure that there's a pattern to which I choose.
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well, the way ive learned over many of months of trial and errorm the way that works best for me is u curl ur index finger until it has two 90 degree angles |_| should look like that, and then u put the pick on the meat part next to your nail, and bring ur thumb down parallel with ur tip on the index. the pick should have a 90 degree angle with the tip of ur thumb and index, if u drew a line directly down from the tip of you pick.
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I hold my pick with the thumb, index and middle finger together and keep the other 2 in a loose fist position. works for me.
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For me, it's like laying your hand flat on the table in front of you and then drawing your fingers slowly back toward you until their sides are all lightly touching, including the thumb. It's a 'cupped' shape; the tips of the four fingers are on the tips and the side of the thumb is still flat against the table. Where the pad of the end of the thumb touches the side of the index, that's where the pick goes. It's all pretty loose.
The "OK" shape is better if you hold the pick Santana/Schon style, (also Benson) because they have their picks angled backward from everyone else - leading edge up, following edge actually hitting the string first. Really good for fast picking, but it helps if you have that 'hitchhiker's thumb'. It's also good for going from picking to fast funk style strumming.
I actually started off that way because of my thumb, but changed years ago because it seemed the 'wrong' way to do it. I started relearning with the pick held in the other direction (leading edge hitting the string first), and now when I go back it feels weird.
I guess I should'a just stayed with what I had :)
I also had the "OK" grip but big hands and the problem with fast picking made be change to thumb index and middle finger. works for me. (it did take time to adjust though)
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strumming-loose fist
hybrid strum (with fingerstyle)-ok
actual picking-ok, but I have the tendency, if only playing E A D G strings to hook my other fingers around the high e. I have no idea why and its probably a bad habit, but I know John Fogerty (CCR) does it...he mentioned it in a GWA interview.
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