How To Hold Your Guitar Pick Properly (The BEST Way, With Close Up Examples)
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- Опубліковано 13 лип 2024
- ✏️ Struggling to pick faster, accurately, or comfortably? Find out how to pick properly in this video!
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This is not "the best way", but is definitely amongst the most efficient and beneficial methods in many regards. Think of it like writing. There isn't a "best way" to hold a pen, but there's certainly a method that works best for the majority which is the method that we're taught as children. If you are questioning your picking ability, then this video will undoubtably help you! If you're happy with your picking, then please move along 🙂
CHAPTERS
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0:00 Introduction
0:15 Picking Grip
0:46 Wrist & Finger Position
1:29 Palm Placement
2:15 Demonstration / Examples
2:44 Summary & Outro
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I play Ibanez Guitars (SEE HERE: bit.ly/2XbCEgH), D’addario Strings, DiMarzio Pickups, plugged into Positive Grid's "BIAS FX 2" (bit.ly/2J0NXzo). That is all.
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Hey! My name is Darryl Syms, and uh, well, I play guitar! I mean, I do a bunch of other cool things too - hopefully you can get to know me a little bit more through some of my videos.
On this channel, I predominantly post instructional videos to help inspire and encourage like-minded guitar players. My goal is to help you expand your musical vocabulary, to broaden your understanding of music, and to entertain. There are already thousands of guitar related videos out there, but I try to set my videos apart from the usual by exploring a modern approach, and by simply being myself! 💁♂️
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0:42 ... Got em
😉
That was good 😂😂😂
Sneaky....
👌
BAHAHAHA
1:38 OHhh...the ball part of my HAND! I've been using my actual balls. Thanks for the tip, gonna try that instead.
We’ve all been there 💁♂️
thanks for the laugh mr goodwin
@@woshua3143 you are very welcome. I hope you and your loved ones are fairing well, we all need laughter.
Acoustic can’t relate
😂😂😂😂😂😂
Unlike videos from others, it's quick and effective.
I like to cut the bullshit as best as I can 🙌
Very true.
And that’s why I watched it all
I barely started electric guitar and I was like welp where am I going to start bc it was very hard to find the correct vid and I finally found the correct vid and Channel
30 years and I’ve holding the pick wrong! In one morning this is relieving stress built up in my shoulder and neck. The problem I have now is the pick point gravitates to the
“wrong way” center of the index finger. maybe it’s the way I strum. I have to look at several things, anyway this definitely helps!
Thank You
I started holding the pick with 3 fingers. Guess my teacher wasn't paying much attention. 10 years later I started running into road blocks. Still trying to fix it. Old habits die hard..
hyenaswine damn that sucks! That's so disappointing. There are too many "teachers" out there that let people inherit terrible habits and make things much harder than they need to be 🤔
James hetfield does it too and hes a beast
Yeah, it really depends more on your playing style that determines how you should grip your pick. As Simon said, James Hetfield holds his pick with 3 fingers. This is because he does crazy fast downpicking. The way shown in this video is just way too stiff to get the downpicking speed someone like James Hetfield does. Holding with three fingers gives more flexibility, while still being stable enough that it won't flop around in your hand, thus decreasing accuracy and precision.
Then there are people like Paul Gilbert that hold with just two fingers, the Index finger and the thumb. This is because he does really fast, alternate picked solos. Again, holding the way shown in this video is just way too stiff to get it as efficiently as someone like Paul Gilbert does, and holding with three fingers is the same.
There is no right or wrong way to hold a pick as long as you are accomplishing what you are trying to effectively and efficiently. To be quite frank, most people will find themselves eventually just shifting to different pick grips as they play music just by pure instinct.
James Hetfield does it. Thumb with pointer and middle finger (some people say that’s holding it with two fingers bcuz everyone at least holds it with their thumb so they consider that a given and just say two fingers meaning the the first and middle fingers along with the thumb lol). He’s honestly one of the fastest downpickers in the world and and most creative riff masters ever. So maybe you are the next James! Lol
Speaking of holding the pick differently. Check out how I hold it and tell me if you’ve ever seen any one hold it like this I put this same comment in the main comment thread as well..
I must be the only person that holds the pick like I do. For example: if you look down at your pick while your holding it in position. You will notice that you and everyone else holds the pick with the left side (the side of the pick facing the neck of the guitar)is slightly pointed down to the ground while the right side of your pick is slightly pointed up to your right armpit. That’s the way I’ve seen every guitar player I’ve seen in my life point their pick while playing. Every single one! But I do it opposite. I point the right side of the pick to the ground slightly with the left side pointed up toward my left armpit (Ik that’s a weird way to put it but I think it paints an easy picture). This is assuming you are sitting down and looking down at your picking hand while playing or about to play. And also assuming that you are a right handed player of course. I’ve tried the normal way so many times and just can’t get it (I’m not a beginner. been playing for 7 years now) but it’s just something I’ve noticed I do. It looks less clean and stable the way I do it compared to everyone else’s though. And wish I could do it the normal way. However there doesn’t seem to be anything I can’t do that everyone else can except squealing (punch harmonics). I actually have to usually turn the pick the “normal” way to do those. Hope that makes sense
I've been playing guitar for 20 years, never been able to hold a pick properly. The revelation of holding it against the side of the index finger and not the pad just blew my mind. Thanks, dude!
Yayy! 😀
Andy...has this method improved your speed any?
I say this with the most respect but, how do you play guitar for 20 years (probably 10 000 hours and more) and not learn to hold a pick?
@@whatspoppinsam I've been playing for over 4 years now and just found this shit out, I always thought my grip was just weak cos I wasn't playing consistently enough
@@whatspoppinsam This is probably an extreme example of "practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect"
he probably just practiced and not learned.
I watched this video 6 months ago after a few years of holding it with three fingers. 6 months later I have fully retrained myself to hold it the proper way. My playing is so much cleaner and I can't thank you enough.
Yay! Thank you for sharing 😄🙌💛
Idk how you do it. I can't stand holding it like that. Bout to rage quit lmao :')
I've been holding it with 3 fingers...im just confused why u cant, its more comfortable to play like that
The more points of contact = the more energy and friction required to move the pick, consequently limiting your potential to a slower and less precise movement
@@DarrylSyms that makes alot of sense thx i really appreciate...ive subbed as well
I've been playing for over 10 years, and even though I'm quite good, I always had a hard time with fast alternate picking, so I had to use a lot of legato... Turns out I've been using the "duck way" all this fucking time
¡Thanks! Cheers from Mexico :)
Yo también! Como ha sido tu progreso cambiando el agarre?
0:42 He got us
I play guitar also and this really helped me to understand basic fundamentals of properly holding a pick, I held my pick in the duck shape you mentioned and showed, I actually was having issues and I'm now going to consciously hold it correctly. Thank you very much for this.
You’re welcome sir!
It may sound weird but right after watching this I could greatly increase my speed and my two hands were a lot more synced than ever before. I guess the way you hold your pick affects a lot on your playing. That being said, THANK YOU!
Yay! 😄 Congrats! It only gets better 👌🙂
My Favorite Powers- Speed, Agility, and Flexibility
Can't believe what a difference it made just switching to the side of my finger instead of the pad. I always felt like I was at risk of dropping my pick and now it feels totally locked in. Thanks for saving me so much headache
So happy to hear your feedback! 😄
I've been playing guitar for about 20 years now and I'm almost entirely self-taught and I've known that I hold a pick wrong, (I do the one you described as "duck shape") but finally thanks to this video I am finally going to try to correct the habit. Thank you for taking the time to make this. I've hit a massive plateau where I simply don't feel like I can get any better without improving the fundamentals. So to any of you newer guitarists who happen to read this please take heed. Don't be stuck years in wasting time trying to brute force through stuff. Get the fundamentals down early.
Yay! 😄
I can not believe how much this has improved my playing in practically 5 mins. I sort of had a hybrid pinch/half correct position. This was creating unwanted string noise which turns out was the tip of my index finger dragging. I could play fast but not clean which was very frustrating. Turns out my speed is ok just that I've been doing it the hard way at the picking end. I can also hit pinch harmonics much better now too.
Thank you so much for this video.
Yay! 😄🙏
For speed ( metal ) playing I like to hold the pick on its side, so the pointy end is facing up, and the rounded end is picking the strings. The result is faster picking, but the notes sound a little bit more flat.
Wouldn't it sound a bit more scrapy? When I play and I angle the pick it always ends up sounding like scrapes
@@McMrs yah but that can also vary from the material or thickness of the pick youre using
You have no idea how great this video was for me... I’ve been playing guitar for 8+ years, totally self taught mostly acoustic, just fucking around in my bedroom. I ONLY used fingerpicking because it felt so natural to me, until a few weeks ago when I bought my first electric, and I decided it would be stupid not to learn to use a pick.
Anyways, it’s weird for me right now but I trust I’ll get used to it. Thanks again
😄😄
Tried strumming again at ab halfway thru the video, AND OMG THE DIFFERENCE!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!
You just taught me that I’ve been holding a pencil wrong lol
💁♂️😜
been playing guitar seriously for about a year now and this video still helped. Got my solos up to speed. Thanks man
Wow, over 10 years of guitar playing and all this time I've wondered why my pick starts to slip out of my hand sometimes during alternate picking. It has been that damn duck all this time! Thank you sir for this.
I got an acoustic guitar for my birthday awhile back. I picked it up once and.... put it down- today, I just realized that it existed and said “huh. maybe I should start playing” I’ve already played instruments such as the violin and piano, so I know a tad bit of posture, but this actually helped! Thank you!
I've always anchored my pinky right under the neck pick-up and was always confused as to why palm muting was so difficult for me but now i understand. Thank you so much
I used to use guitar picks while I still had guitar lessons years ago, then I stopped using it and going back at it is becoming my number one struggle
Thank you
Just noticed I was holding the pick wrong and I was really stiff when playing. Thank you so much for this video I saw a instant improvement once I held my pick right and loosened up my hand.
Ps: If you play norteño music with the requintos and everything this works really well except I don’t rest my hand on anything since I see all these amazing guitarist don’t rest their hands either when playing
Amazing! Glad to hear 😁
Picked up guitar again after a while of not playing and realised I completely forgot how to hold a pick. This is way different to how my teacher taught me but by using the bridge as an anchor point I can be so much more accurate with playing the right string. Thanks!
OMG this helped me so much. Just bought a guitar a few days ago and until I saw your guide I had so much trouble with picking. A big thanks to you!
Thanks man! Unlike other channels your vids are straight foward.
Really great video; makes use of the video format (showing) and excellent technical advice as well (ball of the palm above the bridge, line the edge of the palm up w bridge). Thanks for making this!
Excellent, very helpful Darryl, just the help I needed! Cheers :)
Thank you so much, exactly what i needed.
Been playing 10 years and this is still useful!
Wow! An actual pick grip video! Most pick grip videos are usually just people giving out exercises and theory and literally NOTHING about where you should position the palm or the grip itself. They just tell you "you just hold it like this!" and then show off.
I’ve been learning and playing a lot of songs , chords , scales for a good 2 years now doing great but honestly I needed this to learn how to really hold the pick to help me keep up with my playing style if that makes sense , thank you
im one of those guys that use 3 fingers to hold their pick....
no wonder paint it black took 1 month to get from 60bpm to 105 bpm..
thank you for helping me fix this
💛
Thanks for the video! I just started learning guitar a week ago, and just got picks today, this really helped!
guitar pick keeps slowly slipping and it is very annoying
Thank you, I’ve always held the pick with the face of my finger just after a minute of playing with resting it on the side of my finger I feel a lot more comfortable and less tense when I used to play tighter phrases. Very informative!
Thanks bro.Great advice!
Thank you, helped a lot, and this feels SO much more comfortable and easier!!!
👏🙌 You’re welcome!
Great informative video, thanks my man!
This is super helpful. I just started to develop pain on my wrist from too much tension.
I’ve been having trouble with the way I pick upwards and this helped me know in a way
ahhh thank u so much!!! i’ve started playing electric a few months ago and my teacher never told me how to hold the pick, so i’d been holding it with 3 fingers
i eventually had to start using other techniques with my guitar and it got really hard to do them with my pick like that, but now it’s much easier like this :) TY!!
Very helpful video. Thank you!
This helped me a bunch. I was holding my pick wrong since the beginning. Thanks a lot!
Your video really helped me with picking! Resting my hand on the bridge made it so much easier to pick.I could never pick with accuracy before and it really helped,thanks!
i m glad to watch this vid...helpful
Thanks! Really helpful lesson.
Great video ❤️ nice inspiration thank you
Thank you I realized the angle I was holding my puck was slowing me down. Some have said hold the pick at 30° in relation to the string. This allows the pick to glide over the string up and down strokes rather than hang up. Near the end of this video this is easy to see. 👍
For 5 years I held the guitar pick with 3 fingers. I stopped playing for about 6 years and now I'm starting up again, but this time I'm doing it right!
My hero! Thank you!
So relevant, this video has helped me a lot. Thanks for the top quality content.
You’re welcome!
I've been holding the pick wrong for my 9 years of guitar playing and trying out the correct way has made it impossible for me to go back. Feels so much better!
Glad to help! :D
Thank you so much. Im having major problems hitting the wrong strings. I'm gonna practise this.
Great video, thank you.
I feel like I unlocked a new hidden superpower learning this…
Just into electric guitar for the first time and, wow, I never realize that I've been holding my guitar in wrong way all this time!
Not sure why you don't have more hits. This was simple to understand, which is what I need in my life. Excellent job sir.
You right there, whoever you are, you changed my guitar life. Thank you❤️
I’m Darryl Syms 👋 You’re welcome! 🙌
Thank you!
LOVE IT!
I waited way too long to look this up. Thank you so much
Thankyou this really helped
Just starting to learn guitar, big thanks for the lesson. I was using the 3 finger "technique", so im pretty happy i could watch this before i start to get problems later on!
Bravo sir, you’ve saved yourself heaps of trouble down the line 🙂
Playing with three fingers isn't guaranteed to lead to problems. Lots of great players play that way.
That way is definitely a good way, I'm no expert but have watched many videos of experts playing and the one thing that seems in common with them all is that there is no clear rule on how to best do it, there seemed to me to be a wide variation of picking styles, but who knows, your mileage may vary
Nice it really helped me
reaaaally helped me :)
Killer vid man, I’m just starting guitar, and this helped TREMENDOUSLY.
-Chris the drummer
I just tried it and i immediately felt the difference. Thank you
Honestly, one of the best videos I’ve seen on the topic!! My young student was cracking up when he saw his bad habits on film!,
Thanks bro!
Thank you brother😊
Thanks for this! I’m a beginner and I’m glad I came across this video. Gotta develop good habits.
its really good explanation .thank you
The best yt explanation on holding your pick. Thank you
when i was first learning i was taught to use two fingers and my thumb and it always sounded awful so i just took to using my thumb and fingerpicking. i’m excellent with fingerpicking now but couldn’t get my head around using a pick until now!! thank you
Holy smokes, tis has helped me a ton. I've learned playing the guitar myself at home, this has actually drastically improved my playing. Thanks!
I’m stoked for you Jonah! Thanks for sharing! 😄
You deserve a lots of subscriber man
ive been playing for 1 and a half years. ive always been having trouble alternative picking and i never knew why. finally found out ive been holding my pick wrong
Great videos Darryl. If you haven’t yet can you make a lesson of soloing with connecting caged patterns for example, piggybacking off the chords thirds and fifths melodically?
After watching this video, I played for an hour making a conscious effort to hold my pick right. I can't believe how much of a difference this made.
Woohoo!
This is actually a really good video
ty for this video, 4 years of guitar and tremolo picking became a torture to me, cause i did it wrong, not with the wrist but with the arm, very hard to fix now,
realy elpful! thank you so much
Thanks! Glad you found the vid useful! 😄
Excellent thanks. 🎸🔥👍
For picking speed the biggest difference maker I found is feeling like you're picking the *top* of the string, not the side. Almost like tickling it.
Realistically you have to pick the side but try to minimize how far the tip of the pick goes below the side of the string.
oh my GOSH this was SO helpful!!! thank you!!!! even taught me to palm mute too lol!!
Thanks dude
I realize that where I place my palm was positioned wrong when I came across this video (it used to be positioned mid to close to the neck). Now seconds after the vid, attempting what you addressed, I can notice I’m improving already; thank you so much!
Yay! You’re welcome Zach
Thanks for this, I’ve been trying to play some alternate picking songs and I keep missing strings when I try and play faster so I thought I might be holding the pick wrong after playing for years haha. I think this will help 👍🏻
It certainly will Matt, good luck! 🙂
Was having trouble with crazy trains opening riff. Thanks mate
My guy giving a fast one in the thumbnail
Maybe that’s the secret to all these views 🤷♂️😂
People often underestimate where the position of your 3 fingers are when holding a pick but it is perhaps one of the most important. I used to keep my fingers clenched in with my pick but now that I've separated the 2, its taken my accuracy from struggling to awesome!!
i was so used to holding the pick with my thumb in 90º angle. That's why i'm trying my best not to do it again because i couldn't play more faster solos, and you know i love playing solos and songs that're really fast.
Great tips. The three fingers hold is actually quite good when you play a lot of funk. Gives an explosive attack when coupled with a loose wrist movement.
Thank you.
Only been playing for like four months or so, just realized today I should choke up on the pick lol. Was holding it so far back on the plastic to where it folds a ton.
You have taught me well master. Now little grasshopper will go to practice. 🙏🎸
i'm gonna use this video to help my struggling guitar students. I needed a well angled tutorial on this.
You're welcome, thank you! 🙏
Thank you ❤