How to hold a guitar pick

How to hold a guitar pick

People new to guitar, often ask us how to hold a guitar pick correctly. This is kind of basic for effective and comfortable playing.
Although there is no “exact” rule for how to hold a plectrum, it might be helpful to learn the basics.
We will teach you the step-by-step basics plus some extra useful information about guitar picks.

How to choose the right pick:

Beginners often find medium picks easiest to use, because due to the lack of knowledge in most music stores, extremely thin picks are recommended frequently.

In fact, we’re not a fan of flimsy cheap picks to start with on your carefully selected guitar. This is because thin picks can have a negative impact on your guitar playing.
Thick guitar picks, let’s say starting at ca. 2 mm have several benefits compared to thin picks.

To mention some benefits of thick guitar picks:

• Increased control
• Better tone
• Reduced hand fatigue
• Adaptability & grip
  

You might be interested in the 9 reasons to consider thick guitar picks.

The pick thickness (measured in millimeters) definitely has impact on the sound of the guitar.
Plectrums react differently with the strings based on the amount they bend and the hardness of the material.

Thin picks

Thinner picks create lower volume output and have a brighter sound with more treble.
The initial attack of a thinner pick is quite strong but fades quickly. In fact, you miss the full sound you expect.
Beginners may find it easier to start with thinner picks in the .73 to 1.00 mm range. But in any case, we advise you to test drive some different picks varying in different materials and thicknesses.

Another problem with thinner picks is the fact that they may bend easily. A pick that bends because of its flexibility, creates an unwanted delay in your playing.

Thick picks

Thicker picks are more rigid, which translates to a warmer, louder sound with more mid- and bottom-end tones.
Thick picks (from around 1.5 mm and above) are popular with more advanced players and you’ll often see them in country, bluegrass, jazz, fusion and rock. 

Summary thickness

Ultimately, the thicker the pick, the more tonal control the player has.
Determining your preferred pick thickness comes down to experimenting with various picks.

How to hold the guitar pick:

Place the guitar pick on top of your index finger with a little less than let’s say 6mm sticking out past the fingertip. The pick is sandwiched between the thumb and the side of the (curled) index finger.
The index finger should be behind the pick, supporting it.
The point of the pick should face the same direction as your finger, perpendicular to your hand.

Hold the pick firmly enough that it doesn’t slip while playing, but not so tight that your hand becomes tense. Please be advised, the thinner the pick, the more firmly you have to grip the pick.
And this may cause fatigue, which is a common problem with guitar players.

Also, when using thin flexible picks, they will bend when gripping too firmly.

Over time you will find the best way that suits you in holding the pick the way that suits you most whether it’s for guitar and bass guitar as well as for mandolin picks.

Pick angling and -slanting

For speeding up your pick technique, the pick could be angled slightly toward the strings, which can help it glide through the strings smoothly.

For strumming, a slight angle helps the pick glide through the strings more easily.
You may try to angle your pick both clock- and counter clockwise, whatever suits you best.

For picking individual notes, turning the pick slightly clock- or counter clockwise may help not snagging onto the strings too much. Learn more about pick slanting.

With certain (boutique) picks you don’t have to angle the pick too much, when these have beveled edges.

Boutique picks / Beveled edges

Most boutique picks are (a little) thicker than cheap- and flimsy standard picks, like Dunlop 0.73 – 1.00 mm picks; or any other brand.
In most cases these have edges that are tapered or so-called beveled.

These beveled edges help to glide on- and off of the strings more easily and you don’t need to angle the pick too much. This is one of the benefits of thick guitar picks in relation to thin picks.

Improve your Picking technique

Once you’ve perfected how to hold the plectrum, you can work towards improving your picking speed and accuracy with some of the tips mentioned below.

Tips for Effective Picking

• Relax Your Hand: Avoid gripping the pick too tightly; a relaxed hand reduces tension and improves playability. Thicker picks will help gripping less firmly, because these picks have more flesh to the bone to hold on.
• Use Your Wrist: Most of the motion should come from your wrist rather than your arm or fingers.
• Practice Different Techniques: Practice strumming, alternate picking, and other techniques to find out what feels most comfortable on how to hold a guitar pick.

Try hybrid picking

With hybrid picking, hold the pick between thumb and index finger and use your middle- and ring finger for plucking the strings at the same volume as you pick the strings with the pick.
You might even “pluck” the strings with both your fingers to get that snappy sound country guitar players produce.

In fact, you are in chicken picking style territory of guitar playing when doing this.
Use a clean-, compressed & flashy tone with single coil pick-ups and you’re done.

Of course, people use hybrid picking in many styles of music; Richard Hallebeek did a great lesson on hybrid picking in pentatonic sequences as used in fusion guitar playing.

Picking styles

When you play a riff or the individual notes of a chord, your first instinct may be to pluck each string with a downward stroke.
While this might seem like the most straightforward approach, it’s not the best habit to fall into. This downstroke-only technique is fine at slower speeds. It can be hard to keep up once you increase the tempo.

That said, there are picking styles that are famous for downstrokes-only picking; Django Reinhardt invented a style of jazz guitar in the 1940’s, which is called Gypsy guitar.
Most of the notes and chords in this style are played with downstrokes.

Alternate picking

Now we’re at the point where alternate picking comes in. This technique encourages an economy of motion. Instead of playing each string with a downward motion, alternate between picking “down” and picking “up” each time you change notes. You will notice you can play faster with alternate picking. Another benefit of alternate picking technique is the fact you prevent yourself from fatigue.

Choose the right pick

Now that you know how to hold a guitar pick and how to pick your guitar, it is time to find the perfect pick for your needs.
In the world of guitar picks there are many different sizes, shapes and materials to choose from.

The shape of guitar picks:

• Model 351
  For the most people, the first shape that comes to mind is the model 351. Also called the “medium” standard pick. It is available in a variety of thicknesses from 0.45 up to 3.0mm or even more. We would not recommend the extremely light versions. Everything thinner than 0.73mm feels weird and sounds bad.
• Model 651
  If you like smaller picks, you should ask for jazz-size shaped picks. These come with pointy- and rounded tips as well. These models also called the model 651 shape of picks. The pointy tips allow you to pick notes more accurate, which in most cases is needed when you would like to perfect your picking technique.
• Model 346
  Another popular model of guitar picks is the triangle model 346. This is a plectrum that has (mostly) 3 equal usable tips. These feel (and mostly are) bigger than all other models. Model 346 picks are easy to hold on, but it might be more challenging to pick notes more precisely.Just try some of the mentioned picks and decide which one suits you most.

Thickness of the pick

When you start searching picks on the internet, you will find them in different thicknesses.
Every thickness has its pros & cons as we mentioned earlier.

At ChickenPicks guitar picks we provide all kinds of models. All of them with the unique characteristics of ChickenPicks guitar picks.

Material

ChickenPicks guitar picks are made of Thermoset, which is a thermosetting plastic. Due to the material and beveled edges our picks are definitely different than anything else on the planet.
Thermoset is the hardest plastic you can imagine and it is almost as hard as steel.
For this reason, these picks don’t wear too much on steel (electric) guitar strings; they last longer than any other pick brand.

The mass of the pick, caused by the material and thickness, create a bright top-end, with clear mid- and beefy bottom-end tones. Besides the wider spread in the tonal spectrum, ChickenPicks guitar picks cause less picking noise. Softer picks wear faster and may cause scratchy noise by the jagged edges.

Thickness

The thinnest ChickenPicks guitar picks model is our Badazz-III 2.0. This pick is 2.0 mm thick and is extremely popular with former Jazz-III users.
The thickest at the moment is the Shredder 3.5, which is 3.5 mm thick.

Because of the thickness of our picks, they all come with the same beveled edges.
Beveled edges with boutique picks have interesting benefits as you will read here.

Available models

• Light – 351 model in 2.2 mm
• Regular – 351 model in 2.6 mm
• Shredder – 351 model, but 13% smaller and available in 2.4 and 3.5 mm
• Badazz III – 651 model (Jazz III shaped) in 2.0 , 2.5 and 3.2 mm
• Bermuda III – 346 model triangular pick in 2.1 and 2.7 mm
• Bermuda III-P – 346 model triangular pick with extremely pointy tips in 2.1 and 2.7 mm
• The Bermuda III-XL – 346 model Extra Large triangular pick in 2.1 mm

Variety sets

When you’re not sure what to choose, you might buy one of our variety sets. These provide different picks to try at a discount price.
Check ‘em out here.

Nothing fancy, just high quality guitar picks

The idea behind ChickenPicks guitar picks is just their pure quality. No fancy colors nor creative design, just the highest quality in guitar picks.

How to hold a bass guitar pick

Place the pick between thumb and index finger. You may include your middle-finger as well for the 3-finger pick grip. In many cases bass guitar picks are a little bigger than standard guitar picks.

Actually, holding a guitar pick for bass isn’t that different in relation to guitar. The only thing is that you need to grip a bit more firmly. As bass guitar strings (up to 0.130-inch) are way thicker than guitar strings (on average 0.046-inch), you need to pluck them much harder than guitar strings. Read more about bass guitar picks here.

As said, you may also grip a guitar pick with 3 fingers. Actually, there is no right or wrong on how to hold a guitar pick correctly.

How to hold a guitar pick for metal

Bend your index finger towards the guitar strings and place the pick between your index and thumb. Hold the pick loose between your fingers, because gripping too tightly, causes too much tension. Too much tension may cause fatigue and you won’t be able to speed up your playing for a longer period. You need a heavier pick that will generate more volume by itself instead of gripping too firmly

How to hold a guitar correctly pick for speed

Bend your index finger towards the guitar strings and place the pick between your index and thumb. Hold the pick loose between your fingers, because gripping too tightly, causes too much tension. Too much tension may cause fatigue and you won’t be able to speed up your playing for a longer period.

With thinner non-beveled guitar picks, you could try to do some pick slanting. This means that you turn the pick slightly clock- or counter clockwise.
Many guitarists use small guitar picks like Jazz-III or teardrop style picks.
More info about small picks can be found here.

How to hold a guitar pick properly and strum

Place the pick between thumb and index finger. You may include your middle-finger as well for the 3-finger pick grip. Do not hold the pick too tightly. The pick may feel like it is kind of flexible. Extremely light picks could fly out of your hands when gripping very loosely.
Use a pick that is at least 1.5 – 2.0 mm thick for the best sound.

How to hold a guitar pick for acoustic

Bend your index towards the sound hole, place a pick on top and grip with your thumb.
For single note runs, you may grip a little more tightly because most acoustic guitar strings are at a thicker gauge compared to electric guitar. Read more about the best guitar picks for acoustic here.
For strumming, please check below.

How to hold a guitar pick for strumming correctly

Place the pick between thumb and index finger. You may include your middle-finger as well for the 3-finger pick grip. Do not hold the pick too tightly. The pick may feel like it is kind of flexible. Extremely light picks could fly out of your hands when gripping very loosely. Use a pick that is at least 1.5 – 2.0 mm for the best sound.

What others say about ChickenPicks guitar picks

Musikhaus Thomann
Chicago Music Exchange
Guitarpickreviews.com
Anatomy of guitar tone

Guitar essentials:

In guitar essentials we write about interesting things every guitarist should know a bit of, especially when you’re new to (electric) guitar.
We definitely don’t dig deep into theories or technical aspects.
You will find many scientific documents about anything somewhere on the internet.

About the author

Hi, my name is Eppo Franken and I started to make my own picks in the mid ’80’s.
In 2010 my wife Jolanda and I started ChickenPicks guitar picks, because we’d like to see if others would enjoy them as well.

I play guitar since 1980 and my favorite style is country chicken picking and some kinds of rockabilly.
Send us an e-mail and let’s talk about guitar tone and picks