Holding the Pick correctly (Lesson 4)

[Dominik Gräber]

Hi there,
as I said, I play for about three years but found it to be a good idea to start right from the beginning here. And I actually learned pretty much already. As I never had any lesson I just discovered I was holding my pick “wrong” all the time. Now trying out the way to hold it like explained in the video feels like it opens up so much more opportunities and freedom to pick fast.
However, I have trouble with holding the pick that way. I am using a very small pick, one of these red, thick jazz ones (don’t know the name though) because I don’t get along too well with bigger ones. Before I was holding it more in a finger-tip way, which worked for most parts, but not for example for fast riffs with up-down strokes. Now, with the new way holding my pick I have issues that I can not mute the strings how i want or touch more strings than I want with my hand when picking. Sometimes it works well, but often I feel like I have no control whatsoever over my playing. Do you have any tips for me? Or is it really just practicing?

 

[Kevin Welton]

You are new to holding the pick this way, you will unfortunately have issues at first as you aren’t used to it! But just like anything new, you will adapt and get used to it with time

 

[Andreas Laich]

i guess you’ll get used to the new way of holding the pick pretty fast, it’s perfectly normal that it feels odd at first
but trying out different picks might also be helpful, eventually you’ll find the type of pick that applies to you best
i switched from bigger tortex picks to dunlops gator grip (the 2mm syn uses), which also felt very inconvenient at first, but after a few days it felt totally normal, even better than before, so i guess you’ll get used to it in no time

 

[idssdi]

Like the other said. You will get used to hold ingericht a pick a curtain way in time. Just as you will get used to having certain picks.

 

[Jake Young]

Hey man! I’m like you..I read an article years ago about how the jazz iii’s can make you a better player. So for about 15 years it’s all I’ve used because once you get used to it, it feels impossible to use any other one. Early 2017 I decided to revisit the way I hold the pick because I was getting faster but felt like my right hand was holding me back a bit and I wanted to use a “normal” sized one. It does take awhile to get used to a new way. But you’ll get there!! I recommend checking out the Jazz III XL’s! It’s the same as the classic jazz iii but it’s actually the size of a “normal” pick. Definitely more to grab on to when using Syn’s style of holding the pick. I actually use the XL’s and the gator grip 2.0’s. Still trying to figure out which one I like more after about a year lol

 

[Filip Tomiša]

what’s the difference between dunlop tortex and gator grip?

 

[idssdi]

@filip basically gator grip gives you a better/max grip on your pick when you sweat and stuff. I personally never used them . I use ultex jazz iii 2.0 because i really like them and i also really like the tone it gives because the material your pick is made off actually influences tonen.

 

[Filip Tomiša]

Oh I see, thanks! I only used dunlop tortex but I guess I’ll give gator a try to see what feels better.

 

[Dominik Gräber]

Thank you all for the tips! Just went to our local music store and got myself the XL Jazz ones and a couple of the 2mm gator grips^^ I will keep training and let you know what I think!
One more thing, is there a trick for palmmuting with this way to hold the pick? It was way easier with how I did this before.

 

[Jak Angelescu]

I know EXACTLY how you feel! I use to hold the pick ‘fingertip’ style but I used my middle AND index fingers with my thumb to do it. My originals are very heavy on the rhythm and I’m a hard hitter on the strings, and this gave me clean, sharp, heavy “chunks” with palm muting. But it really took a hit on my lead playing. Now I’m trying to learn the way that everyone else does, and while my lead has improved substantially in just a few days, I find my pick ‘catching’ the strings on the upstrokes and it just feels so sloppy and odd. But I like to look at it this way, and maybe it’ll help you: Jon Schaffer of Iced Earth and Demons and Wizards is one of the most notorious metal rhythm players of all time. And he plays like that. So if he can do it, so can we and it can be done It will just take a while to get use to it. Papa Gates was really helpful in answering my concerns with it and unfortunately, you have to think about how you played when you first started, regardless of how you held your pick. It was probably sloppy, choppy, felt weird, and not very good. You’re almost learning a brand new technique, so it’s going to be rough in the beginning Just think of it that way and maybe that’ll help ease your mind. Good luck!!

 

[Dominik Gräber]

Thanks @jak for the nice words! I won’t give up on it

 

[Dominik Gräber]

So, after testing the new picks a little my first impression is that, while the Jazz Xl feel pretty good, the 2mm ones feel like they take away some of the tone and volume because of them being so thick and round at the top. Any experiences or suggestions on that topic?
I gain a hell lot of speed by holding the pick like this, but still have no clue how I should palm mute now, guess that will come with time…

 

[Chris Robertson]

Dominik,
I think there’s a lot of good advice and encouragement here already, and some great insights. I’ll add a few thoughts that may help with your new pick ‘stance’ in your fingers and the difficulties with palm muting. Bear in mind that several of my guitars have floating Floyd Rose bridges, so I can’t get really heavy with pushing my palm into the bridge for having it go sharp. I hold my pick a in my finger side and thumb, as I think you are working with now. I also keep my three other fingers splayed or open, often resting my pinkie on the high E string or the guitar body or the volume knob (depending on what I’m doing). But I’ll keep some space between my fingers and the inside of my palm… maybe enough to hold a ping-pong ball or a large camp-sized marshmallow. This allows me some ‘give’ in my hand to keep a palm mute while still moving my thumb and finger with the pick.
For example, rest your palm on the table or your leg as if you were palm muting, then make the down/up motion with your finger and thumb kind of like you’re folding your palm (with your thumb getting nearer and farther from your pinkie). This lets me play with my pick and keep the edge of my palm and pinkie across the strings for muting.
If I bring my thumb and finger much closer into my palm, so there’s no room to hold anything inside my hand, then the palm muting becomes much harder for me to do. While picking this way, I really do have to move my palm doing down/up strokes. This makes the palm muting uneven, and often affects the pitch of my floating bridge.
Maybe try that and see if it has any help with your new pick style and palm muting. Cheers!

 

[Dominik Gräber]

Thanks Chris, I will give it a try!