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ForumsMusic Discussion and Showcase → How am I meant to hold a pick?
How am I meant to hold a pick?
2005-04-24, 10:29 PM #1
No I'm not asking how to hold the pick with my fingers, but I'm more puzzled about where I'm meant to rest my hand/wrist. Currently when I tremolo pick or whatever, I just rest it on the strings themselves, but I know that's no good because, well, I can't use those strings when they're muted. I'm using a steel-string acoustic, so yeah, not sure what to do here.
"Well ain't that a merry jelly." - FastGamerr

"You can actually see the waves of me not caring in the air." - fishstickz
2005-04-24, 10:43 PM #2
You're not really supposed to rest your hand on the guitar at all, unless a specific technique calls for it, like palm muting. Which most people don't do on an acoustic guitar.

Of course, most people do rest their hand on it in some way or another.
Catloaf, meet mouseloaf.
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2005-04-25, 6:16 AM #3
My 3rd and 4th fingers are usually touching the body but they're not anchored anywhere.
Detty. Professional Expert.
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2005-04-25, 6:58 AM #4
If I'm strumming (hee hee, what a silly word), my fingers are pretty much curled up beneath my fingers. When single-string plucking, I typically have my middle, ring, and pinky fingers raised above the strings (to avoid accidental muting).

I typically rest the butt of my palm on the bridge when plucking, which avoids muting any strings.
the idiot is the person who follows the idiot and your not following me your insulting me your following the path of a idiot so that makes you the idiot - LC Tusken
2005-04-25, 9:28 PM #5
Yeah, that's what I thought I should be doing, but the notes become very sharp and abrupt when you pick so close to the bridge. I guess it's just a little dilemma I'll have to sort out for myself.
"Well ain't that a merry jelly." - FastGamerr

"You can actually see the waves of me not caring in the air." - fishstickz
2005-04-25, 9:37 PM #6
I tend to just rest my hand on the strings when playing leads, just to keep extra noise to a minimum, then move when necessary.
Catloaf, meet mouseloaf.
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2005-04-25, 10:15 PM #7
For some reason on my guitar, the strings love to make noise all the time, so if I'm not using them, I usually rest my hand on the two lowest strings.
2005-04-26, 4:07 AM #8
the key is to pick wherever you want to make your tone. if you want a sharp aggressive note, bridge time, if you want the note to smooth out, neck time. switch pickups accordingly too (you can't now since you have an acoustic though :( )

I myself play with all my fingers loose, so i can fingerpick stuff while keeping my pick on the low root note, also allows me to switch pickups and turn off my volume in a flash. so basically my hand just holds the pick and the rest of the fingers are just laid flat upon the rest of the body.
"NAILFACE" - spe
2005-04-26, 5:17 AM #9
So what about when you're tremolo picking? I find it impossible to do unless my hand is anchored somewhere. Is that just a weakness I need to look into?
"Well ain't that a merry jelly." - FastGamerr

"You can actually see the waves of me not caring in the air." - fishstickz
2005-04-26, 9:08 AM #10
you have to be able to pick while your hand is relaxed. for tremolo picking sometimes i anchor my pinky under my pickup, but it varies. play with how you feel the most comfortable while respecting the basic techniques.
"NAILFACE" - spe
2005-04-26, 10:36 AM #11
I usually just strum, so my fingers are in a loose fist. If I'm picking single notes, hand is open.

Otherwise, I'm finger picking.

At no point do I rest my hand on my guitar... although I do palm mute often...so I rest my palm lightly on the strings directly above the bridge and strum as normal as possible.
"Those ****ing amateurs... You left your dog, you idiots!"
2005-04-26, 10:42 AM #12
Maybe I'm stupid, but what is tremolo picking?
Catloaf, meet mouseloaf.
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2005-04-26, 10:49 AM #13
picking a string really really fast.
Detty. Professional Expert.
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2005-04-26, 1:16 PM #14
oh.
Catloaf, meet mouseloaf.
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