Picking hand technique

Wildwood

Playin' Blues
For years I have played with the three fingers of my picking hand pointed down (holding the pick between my thumb and first finger) occasionally anchoring my pinky finger to the body of the guitar. Recently I have started to curl those three fingers into a fist still holding the pick the same way. It seems to give me a bit more freedom moving the pick across the strings. Any thoughts on this? Is it just a comfort thing? Is there a right or wrong way??
 

twbuff

The hurrier I go, the behinder I get!
Not an expert, but I think that whatever works for you is the best thing to do. There are advantages to any "system" of picking - and disadvantages as well, but I think Griff would say "whatever floats your boat" is fine. My 2 cents!
 

Momantai

Red nose, red guitar
I don't pay much attention to my other three fingers while picking. They just fly around I think. That is until I use them to pluck little chords and such. Maybe you should try to leave them relaxed, so to speak, until you need them ? (n)
 

LosBassMan

"Bottom Feeding since 1996"
I think letting those 3 fingers point downward gives you easier leverage for faster picking--kind of like a counter weight, like when fanning the strings with the pick.

Carlos
 

BoogieMan

Blues Junior
I would leave the three fingers pointing down and available for hybrid picking. I also like to anchor my pinky but many feel that this restricts your hand movement somewhat.
 

giayank

Just another day in paradise
I used to float my hand around while playing mostly rhythm and strumming. When I started BGU and soloing I anchored my pinky same as you said . Now I'm much more comfortable picking strings and I've been more concerned with being able to use my Palm to mute strings . I think all three have their uses . For me it just depends on what I'm trying to play .
 

Rancid Rumpboogie

Blues Mangler
I'm probably a renegade on this subject, but oh well, nothing new in that. I don't hold my pick with just my thumb and index finger, I also use my middle finger. That's because I'm constantly rotating my pick, sometimes using the pointy end and sometimes the rounded shoulder ... just try rotating a pick like that with just your thumb and index finger (can't be done). I find this gives me much more control of the pick ... for relaxed strumming or for gripping It hard to really dig in. I "anchor" my hand with the heel of my palm resting lightly on the bridge (just barely behind the bridge) ... ready to mute at any time. I occasionally play double-stops and/or travis type things with my middle and ring finger as well. When not doing that my ring finger and pinky are curled in a natural fashion.
 

Jack

Blues Junior
I hold my hand in a relaxed fist. I read in some article many years ago that you're supposed to do that so I always have lol. I notice a lot of excellent blues players have the pinky anchored though, and considering they're way better than me, I can't fault them :D
 

HotLks

Blues - it's in me and it's got to come out.
Relaxed is good.

Relaxed fingers, wrist, forearm, upper arm, shoulder, neck - whole body. If not, everything you try to play will be difficult.

See you down the road! :thumbup:
 

johnc

systematic
I don't know what I do, but it never seems to work that well, too much miss or (mess) picking so I will have to check it out later and try something different I think.
 

Thatman

Playin' for the fun of it.
I use my spare 3 fingers to hold the handle of my beer mug so as to keep my beer handy. o_O :rolleyes: :D
 

TerryH

Blues Newbie
I’ve been really struggling with fast playing. Halfway through trying to play Solo 3 in BGU at full speed I decided I was holding the pick the wrong way and this was why I was having so much difficulty. This was reinforced when I started to look at other players. I beieve when I started out to learn the guitar I was doing it right, but somehow it had evolved into something else over time like a bad habit. I corrected it but then had about three weeks of being completely undecided about which way was better. I have settled on the new way now. I get a much more consistent pick. It’s always been forefinger and thumb but more a question of where the pick rests on the finger. It would be too complicated to explain, I would have to draw it. Sometimes my little finger rests on the fingerboard and sometimes it doesn't. That wasn't the problem. I’m sure this sounds like complete BS to an experienced player, but these little things can make a massive difference. I suppose this is one of the drawbacks of an online/CD course - you have to find these things out for yourself.

Playing fast is still a challenge, but I think now it’s more a question of my brain not being able to catch up with my fingers. I don’t think there is a fix for that :).
 

LosBassMan

"Bottom Feeding since 1996"
I’ve been really struggling with fast playing. Halfway through trying to play Solo 3 in BGU at full speed I decided I was holding the pick the wrong way and this was why I was having so much difficulty. This was reinforced when I started to look at other players. I beieve when I started out to learn the guitar I was doing it right, but somehow it had evolved into something else over time like a bad habit. I corrected it but then had about three weeks of being completely undecided about which way was better. I have settled on the new way now. I get a much more consistent pick. It’s always been forefinger and thumb but more a question of where the pick rests on the finger. It would be too complicated to explain, I would have to draw it. Sometimes my little finger rests on the fingerboard and sometimes it doesn't. That wasn't the problem. I’m sure this sounds like complete BS to an experienced player, but these little things can make a massive difference. I suppose this is one of the drawbacks of an online/CD course - you have to find these things out for yourself.

Playing fast is still a challenge, but I think now it’s more a question of my brain not being able to catch up with my fingers. I don’t think there is a fix for that :).

Not BS at all! This is how you get better, the little things add up to big things.
Sounds to me like you are getting there, just keep at it and your speed will continue to get better, I found the better I could sub-divide the beat in my head, the faster I could play the lick/phrase.

Carlos
 

johnc

systematic
Yes not having a quality live teacher to help pick up some of these things can be a set back. My picking has always been inconsistent to the point it would be one of the things that dogs me most other than remembering what to actually play.
I have tended to rest the pinky on the body and although there is times when this works well, I think it is a problem though for some styles of playing, for me at least.

I have noticed many players just using like a closed fist resting the heal of the hand on or around the bridge. No fingers stretched out and the pick held between the thumb and forefinger but with the forefinger curled around back towards the base of the thumb.
So in this case the pick is getting much closer to the wrist being the pivot point or picking which allows for faster and more accurate work. This style allows the 3 spare fingers for hybrid picking and the palm and fingers are in a good position for muting. Also the transition to finger picking seem more natural to me.
 

Griff

Vice Assistant General Manager
Staff member
There definitely is not a right answer, though there are educated guesses based on experience.

While I can tell you that most students who hold the pick with 2 fingers (in addition to the thumb) have a tendency to struggle later on, Eddie Van Halen does it often and it works well for him.

I can tell you that I anchor my pinky to the guitar usually and it helps me not miss strings - but the accepted "right" way is to curl the fingers more like a fist and not touch the body of the guitar.

I truly believe that it is most important to find what is in your "guitar DNA," than anything else. Try all of the options you can find until you find the one that is most comfortable you - and gives you the ability to play comfortably, consistently, and in control.

Speed is more a factor of your ear than your hands - 99% of the time. Unless you're trying to play like Joe Bonamassa, it's not likely your technique will be the bottleneck in your speed.
 
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