Pick slipping tips

What has helped you? I’m about ready to just give up the guitar altogether. I’ve tried what feels like every pick there is. Every thickness. I’ve toyed with my grip. My strumming motion. I just can’t get any momentum on a confident strumming motion because I constantly fear that my pick will slip and once it slips I can almost never get it back to where it feels right in my hand. Some nights it’s fine enough, others it’s like tonight where my pick feels like I have grease on it. I always come back to the Dunlop nylon standard because some picks feel too restrictive like the Max grip. Or they sound like I’m scraping the strings. The thickness is .88 for now. I just want to strum and enjoy music. I’m a dad of four and don’t have much spare time.

Hi Shannon , I had similar issues when I started and went back to a really thin pick which was way more forgiving. I worked up slowly to a thicker pick and have now actually gone back to thinner picks as I like the sound it gives me. The only advice is to just stick with it and as you get better and the more you practice you will eventually reach a point where you don’t even realize the pick is between your fingers. .

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I’m trying to stick with it. I really am. Sometimes it feels like it’s not even the same hand and pick as the night before. Maybe I’ll need to stick with the thinner picks for longer. I like the sound more coming from the thick picks, but I can’t build any consistency or confidence. Admittedly I have to take what I can, maybe 15 minutes every other night. But, I’ve been at it for three years and I’m not sure I think any less about the pick.

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Hi Shannon,

I have used these:

& they stay put in my hand pretty good!

My guitar-playing coworker swears by these:

he says he’ll bring some in for me but keeps forgetting!!!

I saw these on Sweetwater’s website just now:

They look like they are pretty good… no personal experience with them though!

Most of the time when strumming though, I hold my fingers as if I am holding a pick even though I’m not & strum with my fingertips… works wel for me!

Good luck with finding what’s right for you… don’t give up!!!

Tod

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I like Wegen picks both for the sound and the grip.

Use a thinner pick… you don’t need a 0.88mm for strumming. Try 0.60mm it will feel much better, it won’t get caught in the strings as much and should stay in place better.
Also relax! Easier said than done I know, but having a death grip on your pick won’t help at all. You might be surprised how lightly you can hold a pick without it constantly falling on the floor

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@smdavid83
Here’s a radical thought, have you considered just playing/strumming with your fingers. Justin has a few free lessons on this as well as paid course.
Mine

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That’s where I’m at too.
While I play with a pick, I also have been dabbling in finger picking style playing. This has led me to also use my fingers to strum too. I’m of the opinion that this can be a acceptable way to play too. I’d guess I play w/o a pick over half the time now a days.

As for holding on to the pick, best thing I’ve tried is to hold the pick in a more correct way. To find the correct way, I believe I went to Justin’s lesson on how to hold the pick. I also played around with different kinds of picks, thin, thick, many different kinds. I landed on hard wood picks as something that works for me. And yep, I still drop my pick, but much less so than I did.

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I’ll give it more of a go! Sometimes I wonder if I don’t hold it tight enough the way the thing slowly creeps out of place. I can be comfortable half way through a song and then I start to worry about it creeping out of place and sure enough it does.

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Hi Shannon, Hec here, There are two things I would like to talk about the first being worry that in itself is probably the main cause of your problem, I have been there and now it doesn’t even cross my mind, and it was a big deal with me to so I know how you are feeling so, let’s start by becoming friends with your pick meaning having it in your hand when you are not playing the guitar learn to manipulate it teach it to know where it belongs do other things with it in your hand, for example, writing anything, go out with it have a pint with it, I did I loved people noticing and saying hey you must be a guitarist dude, And after awhile you crack it, mate. The other point is I have tried all these sale pitches and what do I use now, anything I can get my hands on store cards milk cartons anything, I was gifted a machine for making them and I love it nothing is safe in my house, so please don’t give up because of that little chap even if he decides to leave you in mid solo forget him his loss use your finger cheers hold on and keep playing I hope this helped HEC.

image

image

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Brian May’s pick is a six pence coin … anything is fine as long as you’re comfortable with it

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Personally, I use my thumb and forefinger nails instead of a pick. I know, not the answer you were looking for, but I much prefer the dexterity afforded. It still takes work - especially alternate picking.

Like Hec & others have said, keep at it. You will find what you like.
:heart:

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By the time I see picks appear with soft fur, I take action :rofl:

Nice to see those pictures :sunglasses:

Greetings

Ps : I have these Shannon

1.00mm sandgrip
image

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Play for the sheer enjoyment of it instead of focusing and ‘fretting’, ooh, on the pic getting loose. Relax, play, enjoy. Think more about all the great music you’re playing and having fun with.

Thinner picks are less likely to spin/fly out of your fingers, angle your pick at a 30-45 degree angle to the strings as Justin recommends, strum more lightly until you get the pick under control.

I still struggle with the pick rotating in my hands after 4 years, but it keeps getting better the more I practice.

I use a 0.60mm pick on acoustic and 1.0mm on electric. For some reason, the pick is less likely to rotate when playing the electric. It’s likely a combination of lower string tension on the electric and the subtle difference in my hand position when playing the acoustic.

Another idea would be to dedicate 5 minutes every practice session to slowly strumming and focusing on what seems to cause the rotating for you. This led me to adjusting my pick angle, how much of the pick protrudes from my fingers, and how deep the pick goes into the strings when I strum.

YMMV

I think its said plenty already but I would echo, start with the thinnest pick and as your playing improves and you are more comfortable with the pick you can increase the thickness over time. The sound is better with thick for sure but you can build up to that.

Also, Justin mentioned at one point that he just had a pick with him whereever he went and used it like the Original fidget spinner. I think this works rather well. Just bring a pick with you everywhere you go and fiddle with it in your fingers when you have spare minutes or seconds. For one, I would rather fiddle with a pick in my fingers than defaulting to instagram or similar time waster and two it will definitely get your fingers used to bringing the pick back into position.

Best of Luck!
♫⋆。♪ ₊˚♬ ゚.

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Been there, done that and blocked up the washing machine as left it in my jeans pocket! Fortunately I was able to access the pump filter and remove it. :grinning:

Sand grips are nice but their rubber grips feel better, I use both. But the sand surface lasts a lot longer that the rubber ones - burnt through a few during BLIM ! Smaller than a regular pick but bigger than a Jazz III, so useable for strumming and picking. Simples.

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Oh yes, I still have that ones too and I now have 2 different ones (not used) in my hand…I stopped using them a long time ago because they don’t stay grippy for long indeed …I also had to get used to that sand grip, now I don’t know any better and it doesn’t matter to me…

I have one that is the same size as the sand grip and one that is even much much larger (that one goes back in the drawer)… and now i find a lot other ones ??? Who lives close by and wants to try some picks? :roll_eyes: … some big ugly ones…oh that’s a mirror

Good night

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It happens to everybody, including professionals. Your pick will move and even slip out of your hand completely. Justin has a lesson on this. You need to learn how to manipulate the pick while playing. The picks with grips and add-on grips are worthless.
This may sound counterintuitive, but you may actually be trying to hold the pick too tightly. Also, I don’t know what type of guitar or music you’re playing, but .88 is getting on the heavy side.

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