The right pick matters! Let's choose the best one for you and learn how to hold it.
View the full lesson at How To Hold A Guitar Pick | JustinGuitar
Glad to join all of you. I started about 2 months ago. I am looking for any advice on holding my pic. I am working on my strumming, trying to keep my hand relaxed but in doing so, my pic changes position- either turning toward my palm or forward toward the guitar. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
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I recently saw an interesting way to solve this issue from internet. Not tested by myself yet, but sounds practical, you may give it a try: cut a triangle or rectangular hole in the middle of the pick.
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I think this is a query for this topic. In Grade 1 Module 2 Justin recommends for down strum that the pick should be angled down at 20 to 30 degrees which works fine for me. However what about an up strum I find if I keep it angled down I generally catch the bottom two strings. I am using a Jim Dunlop nylon 0.38 pick. Do I just keep this up and practice more or rotate the pick to 20 or 30 degrees up or have I too much pick showing.
Any thoughts.
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Welcome to the Community, David. On this one I can say it is a matter of experimentation and practice. Departure point is Justinās lesson, but I find I have curled my index finger more than Justin shows. So donāt be scared to make some adjustments to get the pick comfortable. Then it is just a matter of practice, finding the right amount of grip, strumming so as not to dig in too much, being relaxed so as to strum with a looseness in the wrist. And it does take some time, so just persevere.
That sounds right, Michael, you need to change the pick angle for the up strum or it will catch and get hooked up on the high e string. I suggest experiment super slowly to observe what happens.
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Hello @Xanny and welcome to the Community.
You want your forearm and wrist and hand to be relaxed but your finger tips need to maintain grip. If the pick is slipping then try one or more of these: grips with a textured surface; holding the pick in a little so less of the tip protrudes from your grip, changing the angle of strum (is your guitar body upright, are you sitting upright, is your guitar neck angled marginally upwards and away from you?).
Hope that helps.
Cheers 
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide
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This, I just canāt. 
When I first held a guitar pick, I did it with three fingers by instinct. That is the most comfortable way for me. I just learnt a few days ago that what I am doing is wrong, I should hold the pick with only two fingers.
The way it is shown in the picture is not only uncomfortable for me but also lacks a good grip and control over the pick.
Can I still be a world famous rock star if I keep using it with three fingers?
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Never say never!
Iām struggling to get my head around a 3-finger grip. When I try it my wrist gets pushed out into an uncomfortable and impractical position for strumming / picking strings. Are your three fingers pointing more or less straight along the length of the pick?
Cheers 
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide
This is how I hold it (very comfortable):
whereas I should hold like this:
But I feel this very unstable and clumsy.
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Hi @Victorius
I can see how that will āfeel comfortableā but the issue I worry about is the actual mechanics and anatomical movement of your hand, wrist and fingers.
Holding the pick in your preferred way and rotating the wrist - which is an absolutely vital movement when strumming - will swing your fingers and pick in an arc that will cause the pick to ādig inā and get stuck between the strings rather than gently gliding across them and ācaressing themā. That is not a good habit. It is also likely going to cause you problems of pick accuracy when you want to strum only certain strings for certain chords and / or play individual string with chords further down the line.
Cheers
Richard
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The only guitarist that I am aware of that holds the pick with three fingers is James Hetfield.
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In the meantime I think I have found a good grip with two fingers. The way I did it was to release the third finger touching the pick and adjusting the second finger just a bit.
It feels steady enough. I will have to make myself get accustomed to it and consciously avoid the three finger grip.
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Yeah, but even James Hetfield tried to hold the pick later on the conventional way. It may feel comfortable now, but later on, as your skills levels increase, it can become uncomfortable etc. By that point, it may become more difficult to change later on. I would highly recommend learning the techniques of holding the pick taught by Justin (or the method recommended by Richard which is what I now use) whilst your still developing your pick holding technique.
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I have just started module 5 and have been using as Justin suggested a Jim Dunlop nylon 0.38mm pick for strumming (I use 0.6 mm for the riffs).
As you progress in grade 1 should you start to use thicker picks and if so what should you work up to as a maximum and when or is it one of those things that is a matter of personal choice.
Just wondered what others were doing.
Michael
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I mostly used a .6 and .7 pick in my early days of strumming. A friend suggested a 1.5mm pick and it works really well for me. Iām able to strum much more quietly with the thicker pick. Itās all I use thickness wise these days.
Itās very personal and your mileage may vary. A good friend whoās been playing for decades and a far better musician than I am prefers the .6 pick.
So yes, itās a matter of personal choice.
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Iād say itās always a personal choice unless youāre a complete beginner learning to hold a pick and getting familiar with the feeling. As for myself, I found I use certain picks in phases and tend to rotate them, but not consciously. Itās more like āwhy havenāt I been using this green Dunlop more often?ā, and then I use that for a couple of weeks.
I think the size of the pick is more of a factor in my choice. If I want to make sure I donāt accidentally mute a string when I pick another one, I choose a bigger pick so that my picking hand is a bit further away from the strings.
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I jumped to a thicker pick fairly soon as I didnāt like the āclackyā sound of the thin ones. I would say it has taught me to hold it ālighterā and not dig in as muchā¦
ā¦for some styles though, the clackyness fits well for the rhythm 
As you have discovered, the thicker picks work for the riffs.
I donāt think itās a case of thin = learner only.
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Hi - newbie question so sorry if itās a silly one!
Iām trying to hold the pick as Justin shows at a 90 degree angle to my thumb.
Iām fine with this and try to do so, but my natural inclination is to have the pick in line with my thumb (as if it were a thumb nail extension) and I do have to correct myself frequently while practicing to go back to the 90 degree angle.
Do some people hold the pick in the same way to my natural inclination? Is this something I should really work on to correct now?
Iām a big guy, 6ā4" tall, so wonder if itās natural for me to lean towards this way out of comfort perhaps. I donāt want to create problems with my learning further down the line, so I wondered if anyone could give me some guidance on if this is a ādo it this way for all peopleā or if itās a āyou can do it this way if itās comfortableā kind of thing?
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@ZedExDM
There are no silly questions.
See this response I gave above: How To Hold A Guitar Pick - #20 by Richard_close2u
It is the swinging motion and mechanics of rotation that make your ācomfortableā grip something to avoid.
Hope that helps.
Cheers
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide
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When I try to hold the pick, my index fingerās joint isnāt flexed, but a bit stressed outward.
Especially for things like palm muting, my pick needs a good grip and with flexing my index fingerās last joint inside (the way everyone holds it), I canāt hold it well.
Is this ok?
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