Stop th dreaded pick slipping

I found this web site and think the product could be useful for those that have trouble holding the pick or stopping it from turning in the fingers. I haven't tried it but it could be useful for some.

https://pickersgrip.com/

I'm not crazy about the idea of adopting another crutch... but I've had an epic battle with "pick turn" when strumming full chords for as long as I've been playing. I might give this stuff a try. Thanks for the tip.
 

MarkRobbins

Blues Junior
Have you tried the Cat Tongue picks? They're expensive, but even "sandpaper-ier" than the Fender nylon picks. Really easy to hold on to.
 

artyman

Fareham UK
I just drill a pattern of holes in my picks, one central one and five more in a circle around that, seems to work for me.
 

MarkDyson

Blues Hound Wannabe
I'm a fan of just using a pick that's easier to keep still. My personal choice is the DAVA brand.

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They have the added virtue of changing apparent thickness depending on how close to the tip you hold them.

Some folks here also swear by V-Picks, which are claimed to warm up and get grippier in use. YMMV.
 

Rancid Rumpboogie

Blues Mangler
I can't even remember the last time I dropped a pick. I use just plain ol' Fender Heavy picks. But I pay attention to the likes of Steve Vai who says "Do whatever works for you". Consequently I don't hold my pick with just my thumb and index finger. 90% of the time my middle finger is also on the pick. Lots of pundits harp on holding the pick with just your thumb and index finger. Well, I have selective hearing and just tune them out. About the only time I do that is when picking and running a tremolo arm at the same time. And I am constantly rotating the pick deliberately. Sometimes using the pointy end, sometimes the shoulder ... they yield different tones ... and my middle finger allows me to do that and keep absolute control. Just try rotating your pick using just your thumb and index finger. I am so used to my technique that I doubt if I could even play if my fingers were smeared with this stuff or if my picks had a sandpaper-like texture. :whistle::confused:
 

Ted_Zeppelin

I’ll agree with you so that both of us are wrong.
After years of trying many different picks and never finding one I was totally happy with, I ordered a variety pack of V-picks a few years ago. They were a game changer for me and I have been using them ever since. They are not for everyone but were just what I was looking for.
 

BoogieMan

Blues Junior
Consequently I don't hold my pick with just my thumb and index finger. 90% of the time my middle finger is also on the pick.

Same for me. I've done this for so many years it's hard to change. Although it makes sense to use just two fingers (frees up an extra finger for hybrid picking), it just doesn't feel right to me.
 
I have tried all kinds of picks... grippy dots, star shaped holes, concave picks, ones with flex creases in the middle, ones with actual slots in the middle, clear V-picks, Dava, wooden picks, about every texture Dunlop offers, Jazz III, triangle shaped, round ones, super thick ones, super thin ones, sticky dots you put on the pick, the list goes on and on. My particular deficient technique defeats them all.

I've even tried a standard thumb pick and a couple custom variants. They solves the turning problem, but I have no idea how anyone does anything other than thump the low E string wearing one of those. Yes, I know Johnny Winter was fairly handy with a thumb pick, but I can neither strum chords nor pick out lead lines with 'em.

Amazingly, I have not tried the Cat Whiskers, but they look a lot like the Snarling Dog Brain Picks, which are my favorite brand. The thinnest pick I've tried is .53, which is very pliable... but it still turns. I just ordered some .38 and .46 nylon picks from Dunlop to try, but don't have much hope they'll be the answer, expecting they will be too thin for general purpose electric guitar.

I only have the issue with basic, full chord rhythm strumming, ala campfire style. I have no control issues with turning when playing single notes, double stops, power chords etc.

It's the upstroke of cowboy strumming that gets me. Since I first started out, my normal tendency for comfortably holding a pick is pinching it between my thumb and near the end of index finger, rather than holding it flat against the edge of index finger. DUH! No wonder the pick wants to turn. My natural grip provides little resistance... a small, basically circular area of pressure. I've held it this way for years, and my way of dealing with the turning all these years has been to let the pick slip back deeper into my fingers when strumming chords, so that the tip is barely sticking out, and my fingernails and/or flesh do as much work as the pick, if not more. This does solve the turning problem, but introduces other, equally annoying issues.

It's hard to change... but I"m currently trying to retrain myself to use a more conventional grip, holding the pick flatter against my index finger, but it's been slow going, and I'm not even sure this change will solve my issue. Doesn't really seem like it, so far. A secondary issue I think I have going on is I think I may dig the pick too deeply into the strings on the upstroke, so I'm conscientiously working on that too, as well as trying to improve the angles of attack. Damn, there is a lot that goes on with the simple task of strumming when you start over-thinking it!

Holding a conventional pick with one of the rounded edges pointing at the strings helps, but I just don't like how that feels or sounds. I've also found it helpful if I hold the pick off center a little, and kinda wedge one edge of the pick against the area where the finger and thumb are touching. I have also dabbled with bringing my middle finger into play as RR mentions.

All of these adjustments feel uncomfortable, because I've let the issue persist for so long, hoping it would cure itself over time (as has been suggested by more than one person/teacher). But I am on a mission now to get this sorted out.

I would love to not need be fussy about picks.
It would be great to just be able to grab any ol' pick and have at it.
 

jmin

Student Of The Blues
I can't even remember the last time I dropped a pick. I use just plain ol' Fender Heavy picks. But I pay attention to the likes of Steve Vai who says "Do whatever works for you". Consequently I don't hold my pick with just my thumb and index finger. 90% of the time my middle finger is also on the pick. Lots of pundits harp on holding the pick with just your thumb and index finger. Well, I have selective hearing and just tune them out. About the only time I do that is when picking and running a tremolo arm at the same time. And I am constantly rotating the pick deliberately. Sometimes using the pointy end, sometimes the shoulder ... they yield different tones ... and my middle finger allows me to do that and keep absolute control. Just try rotating your pick using just your thumb and index finger. I am so used to my technique that I doubt if I could even play if my fingers were smeared with this stuff or if my picks had a sandpaper-like texture. :whistle::confused:

I've used the Fender Heavy (or Xtra Heavy) forever, and have been holding (and rotating) it exactly as you described! A while back, I asked Griff about it and his exact words were "Stop It! Use only the thumb and forefinger!" He acknowledged that there are some things you can "Do whatever works for you," but highly recommended holding the pick between thumb and forefinger. He even suggested an exercise - holding the pick with just two fingers and "anchoring" your other three fingers to the guitar, while you practice scales. I've been trying to "correct" for about a month with only minimal success. It's really hard to break a fifty year old habit!
 

Rancid Rumpboogie

Blues Mangler
A while back, I asked Griff about it and his exact words were "Stop It! Use only the thumb and forefinger!"
Did he give you any reasons WHY? I hugely admire Gregor Hildon's playing and have watched VERY CAREFULLY how he olds his pick. He holds it with just thumb and index finger, but in such a way that his thumb extends clear past the pick, with the pick clamped just barely in front of this thumb joint by the side of his index finger. I have tried this ... a whole LOT ... and it turns me into an utter clutz. If I hold it with just thumb and index finger so it is under the ball of my thumb, it rotates all over the place uncontrollably and usually goes flying before a song is done. I do hold it that way when running the tremolo, and I do use it that way for hybrid picking ... but my hold is also "hybrid" ... going back and forth between that and also using my middle finger soon as I am done using my middle finger for plucking a string or let go of the tremolo.
Jerry Garcia has a good reason why. He is missing two thirds of his middle finger. :whistle:
 
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JohnHurley

Rock and Roll
Heres my usual selection i am a fan of the dunlop maxi grip but the new winner is the mojo grip ... it has rubber holder around the pick making it thickerer past the tip.

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jmin

Student Of The Blues
Did he give you any reasons WHY? I hugely admire Gregor Hildon's playing and have watched VERY CAREFULLY how he olds his pick. ... I do hold it that way when running the tremolo, and I do use it that way for hybrid picking ... but my hold is also "hybrid" ... going back and forth between that and also using my middle finger soon as I am done using my middle finger for plucking a string or let go of the tremolo. :whistle:
Yep. That's exactly what I do!
He did mention hybrid picking, but then he also said "there's a bunch of reasons." He didn't elaborate then, but it was during a seminar and it wasn't the main topic of conversation. Maybe we can get @Griff to elaborate...(and get a reprieve on the error of our ways? But I doubt it...he really seemed adamant about it).
 

Terry B

Humble student of the blues
[QUOTE="but highly recommended holding the pick between thumb and forefinger. He even suggested an exercise - holding the pick with just two fingers and "anchoring" your other three fingers to the guitar, [/QUOTE]

He told me the same, after the first BGU live event I attended I had a private lesson and the first thing he noticed was I was holding the pick with thumb and both fingers. That was the last day I held it that way.

Sometimes we just need to do what the teacher says without asking why.
 

Rancid Rumpboogie

Blues Mangler
[QUOTE="Sometimes we just need to do what the teacher says without asking why.
I'm going to have to have some very good and convincing reasons before I'm about to set my playing back by four or five years to learn to need sticky gunk on my fingers to keep my pick from flying to parts unknown. When I try to force myself to use only thumb and index finger I can barely play ... and not for long before the pick goes flying. To play that way, I am not exaggerating, it would set me back by years. And for what? I am not going to pursue that without some STRONG and CONVINCING reasons.
 
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