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Short Description: By the time you reach the end of this article you will be able to hold a pick comfortably and strum your way to joy.

The first step would be to get yourself quite a few picks as you’d lose them much sooner than you imagine. Everybody loses them, so don’t be stingy, buy at least a dozen of them. They aren’t costly though, you could get a good pick at less than a dollar. There are numerous shapes, sizes and gauges available in the market. Go for medium gauged ones - the ones that are neither too flimsy nor too hard.

Now that you have a reasonable number of picks with you, let’s start learning how to hold them properly.

Relax your “picking hand” and let the palm face you. Then curl your fingers in a loose fist and rotate your wrist till you’re looking at the knuckle of your thumb.

Slowly slide the pick between your thumb and index finger. Keep sliding it inwards till only about a third of the pointed end can be seen. If you let the pick hang out more either it’ll fall off or you’ll end up in ungainly tangles while picking the strings. Once the pick is nicely nestled between your thumb and index finger roll open the other fingers.

The pick should be held firmly but don’t press it too hard else strumming won’t be easy. It doesn’t matter if it slips off a few times in the beginning. Simply push it back to its proper place.

Loop your picking arm over the body of the guitar so that the pick touches the third string just above the sound hole. Let the other three fingers rest on the face of the guitar. Keeping your wrist still and using your elbow as a pivot let your arm fall freely while the pick strikes each string as it passes over. Stop the moment the lowest string is crossed. Repeat the exercise several times till you’re sure you aren’t missing a single string as your arm swivels downwards in a uniform motion.

After you’re through with this try out the up stoke. Start from the lowest string and swivel your arm in a smooth upward movement. The wrist should remain still while the pick brushes the strings on its way up. All the strings might not be struck - they needn’t also. The up stroke is usually weaker than the down stroke.

But let me tell you something. Legendary guitarists like Eddie Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix, Mark Knopfler had their own unique way of holding the pick. So, don’t be too picky about “how to” hold a pick. Hold it the way you feel most comfortable and able to freely strum the strings. That’s all.

Last 5 posts by Crazy Dave

• Taste freedom by Fingerpicking - March 18th, 2008
• Sweep Picking is the only logical way to pick - March 18th, 2008
• Learn Alternate Picking and flawlessly execute fast picking licks - March 18th, 2008
• Learn how to hold the guitar - March 14th, 2008

Tags: Music