Suggestions on problems with holding the pick correctly
- Thread starter TerryMay
- Start date
TerryMay
Blues Newbie
That's a big ten four, I have been blessed with good health so far and I don't even feel like 66, I have good genes though mom and dad don't live to far from me and they are both in there 90's and doing good.
Silicon Valley Tom
It makes me happpy to play The Blues!
Yes, I was having a bit of a problem with pick slippage, but with the V Picks, that is no longer an issue. I use the same picks for my Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Irish Tenor Banjo, Irish Bouzouki, and Mandolin.
The pick is symmetrical, so it really does not matter how you hold it, as long as you get one of the outer surfaces to point towards the strings!
I have several different V Picks, but the Santana pick is my favorite!
Tom
Silicon Valley Tom
It makes me happpy to play The Blues!
I tell people if you want to lead a long and healthy life, choose the right parents!
Tom
EllenHarvey
Blues Newbie
I've always had issues withthe pick slipping in my fingers, so I play a lot without (electric and acoustic). Ass we get older our skin is much dryer. I get a lot of relief using some hand cream a short while before playing. Its only temporary, but its a quick help. I am searching for the right pick myself. One I am working with now is Herco. It wraps around the thumb. You don't have any room for adjustment, but it does not rotate.
JohnHurley
Rock and Roll
Grab more pick! Those words will always echo my guitar teacher noting you want very little just the tiniest bit exposed beyond thumb tip and fingers!
You should be feeling the strings with your fingers.
I do not use it but heck if you need less slippage you can try gorilla snot.
Seriously theres a product named that. Not quite super glue but sticky very sticky.
You should be feeling the strings with your fingers.
I do not use it but heck if you need less slippage you can try gorilla snot.
Seriously theres a product named that. Not quite super glue but sticky very sticky.
snarf
making guitars wish they were still trees
I used to have a problem with the pick slipping, and switched over to Gator Grips by Dunlop (I think). About that time, I heard that SRV played with the round end of his pick instead of the point, so I spun the pick around and started playing with the pick's shoulder (point facing the neck). I haven't had a problem with it since then. Not sure which of those fixed the problem, but I imagine it's a little of both.
Those are my picks of choice. I go back and forth between the 1.14mm and 2.0mm picks. There are lots of others in the pick tin, but those are the ones that get pulled most often.
gpower
Blues Junior
I'm a Vpick user as well (2.75mm medium rounded). I also really like Dunlop gels (X and XH). The first thing I picked up in your post was about holding the pick right... according to some lesson or other. If you look at vids of many great players you'll see there is no standard way of holding a pick. I found, like most everything else, as you practice your grip will change naturally and work for you.
Pick slipping is the number one thing that is holding me back right now. Similar to the OP I can't get through half a song without the pick rotating out my hand. I've tried a few different picks, I've tried the sticky dots, the picks with the huge rubber grips. The only thing that helps me at all is using gorilla snot which I really hate. Never heard of V-picks but I just ordered four different styles from them. I pray it helps with my situation.
snarf
making guitars wish they were still trees
I tried the V-picks and didn't like them. My problem with them was that they didn't move, and I apparently am constantly moving the pick around ever so slightly. Or at least I'm constantly shifting my fingers. I picked up some of the Anatomy of Sound picks at the guitar show a couple of weeks ago, and had the same problem with them. They felt really good just standing there holding them...groove in just the right spot to plant the thumb. But once I got them home and spent more than a couple of minutes with them, I had the same problem with them that I had with the V-picks...they don't move. So I ditched them as quickly as I started using them.
Eblues (AKA - Herm)
Herm
I also suffer with pick turn, but only when strumming full chords. I have probably tried all the pick options mentioned... Grippy picks, V-picks, knobby picks, holey picks, rounded end, sticky dots, etc. Some are better than others, but none totally solved the problem for me.
John Hurley's suggestion of grabbing so much of the pick that the fingers touch the strings was the solution I naturally gravitated to early on, and that was effective in delaying pick turn significantly. But my thought was this was not an ideal solution, because 1) it does affect tone, and 2) I suspect if one did many hours of playing this way, this would eventually tear up the skin on the fingers. So I was/am hesitant to adopt that as the ultimate fix.
In my case, I've determined that I am letting too much of the pick go below the strings, and also possibly that I don't rotate my wrist properly from downstroke to upstroke, so I'm working on improving those technics. In the meantime, the best temporary fix for me is probably one of the rarest... going to very light picks. I've been using Dunlop Nylon .46 for a couple months or so. It's flexible enough to move through the strings easily, but just barely thick enough to play single notes for solos. I have much less fight and frustration with this pick, and my technique seems to be improving naturally as time passes. Eventually, I hope to be able to move to a thicker pick. Dunlop also has a thinner pick at .38, but that one was just too thin for double duty (chords and solos).
John Hurley's suggestion of grabbing so much of the pick that the fingers touch the strings was the solution I naturally gravitated to early on, and that was effective in delaying pick turn significantly. But my thought was this was not an ideal solution, because 1) it does affect tone, and 2) I suspect if one did many hours of playing this way, this would eventually tear up the skin on the fingers. So I was/am hesitant to adopt that as the ultimate fix.
In my case, I've determined that I am letting too much of the pick go below the strings, and also possibly that I don't rotate my wrist properly from downstroke to upstroke, so I'm working on improving those technics. In the meantime, the best temporary fix for me is probably one of the rarest... going to very light picks. I've been using Dunlop Nylon .46 for a couple months or so. It's flexible enough to move through the strings easily, but just barely thick enough to play single notes for solos. I have much less fight and frustration with this pick, and my technique seems to be improving naturally as time passes. Eventually, I hope to be able to move to a thicker pick. Dunlop also has a thinner pick at .38, but that one was just too thin for double duty (chords and solos).
steve o
Student Of The Blues
This!
I used to have the same problem. The longer you play, the less they turn or get dropped. Unfortunately, that still doesn’t help trying to find one the next day when you want to jam (where the f#%* did I put my pick
)
Easy solution. I ALWAYS have 5 or 6 in my pocket and 3 on my desk.This!
I used to have the same problem. The longer you play, the less they turn or get dropped. Unfortunately, that still doesn’t help trying to find one the next day when you want to jam (where the f#%* did I put my pick
KurtTrampler
Blues Newbie
I know this is an old thread but wanted to share 3 Things:
Thing 1:
I started dimpling my celluloid picks with a nail set (like a center punch but generally smaller tip). I like it very much.
The picks tend to bow out just a little when I do this, and I've come to like that, as well.
Thing 2:The picks tend to bow out just a little when I do this, and I've come to like that, as well.
Don't penetrate the plane of the strings too much when picking, especially fast strumming.
Thing 3:
This is harder to explain. When strumming, try to position your hand so the pick is parallel to the strings. This implies moving your hand as you move from string to string, which also implies no pinky resting on the guitar.
Free your hand if you haven't already. I didn't like it at first but it's helped me in many ways.
The sides of our picks are little inclined planes, sort of. If your pick is not parallel to the strings, one edge catches first, and rotates the pick in the opposite direction. This is especially true with fast strumming, and even worse if the pick penetrates the plane of the strings too much.
If your pick tends to rotate the same way all the time this could well be the cause. My pick tended to rotate away from my hand because my hand was too low, meaning the edge of the pick closest to my palm was always striking first.
Free your hand if you haven't already. I didn't like it at first but it's helped me in many ways.
The sides of our picks are little inclined planes, sort of. If your pick is not parallel to the strings, one edge catches first, and rotates the pick in the opposite direction. This is especially true with fast strumming, and even worse if the pick penetrates the plane of the strings too much.
If your pick tends to rotate the same way all the time this could well be the cause. My pick tended to rotate away from my hand because my hand was too low, meaning the edge of the pick closest to my palm was always striking first.
I'm a newbie here and apparently don't yet know how to upload a photo! I was going to show you the dimples.
Play the blues
sdbrit68
Student Of The Blues
the ones I use are by big dog or red dog or something like that, available at guitar center, since I usually use 1.0, they are orange if you swing by one and look, they are textured and it helps a lotHi Mathew, I am in the process now of trying different picks that might help me with the problem I am experiencing, I have tried ideas with holes drilled in the picks and using a soldering iron to more or less roughen up the picks and have not found much success for myself with these methods. I am now using a Mojo Grip and have noticed immediate results using these rubber devices that form over a normal size pick. Now my Mojo's came with a thin (.016) Fender looking colored pick. I believe the combination of this set was very beneficial with immediate results, however I do not like the sound from the pick. The sound produced seems like a deck of playing cards attached to your bicycle spokes, very noisy. For the most part I practice with my electric guitars with no amp connected, ha, don't want to listen to other family members tell me how bad I sound. As soon as all the house members are gone we plug into the noise maker.
Again thanks for your input to this conversation,
PapaBear
Guit Fiddlier
Don't put a death grip on the pick and dig into the strings either, that'll get moving for sure, pick should only brush the strings with little pressure to hold it, watch Jimmy Page's picking, he plays what looks like a Fender Medium and barely has a grip on the heel of the pick leaving most of it exposed