Any tips for breaking the habit of constantly strumming too loud? I had it down decent with hand strumming but now that I’m going back to a pick, my strumming always overpowers the vocals. I’m sure you hear it in many of my recent videos. Justin says to play as loud and as soft as you can in a few of his lessons, but my soft isn’t working. Maybe I just get nervous on stage and that’s what shows. Sound guy could help balance that I suppose but I want to own the mistake and improve.
Jeff
How tightly you hold the pick makes a big difference. Tight grip = loud, loose grip = quiet. Obviously not so loose that you drop the pick. Like anything it takes practice to change the dynamics through a song.
I’ve had decent luck with rubber picks. They are called Wedgies. Check them out.
Jeff @SDKissFan
Pretend you are a beginner and start with 0.38 pick and work your way up till you feel it is right I stopped at 0.6.
@Chris_m Chris is right how tight you hold it makes a big difference to how loud it it is.
Micheal
Not sure about going for a thinner pick but you need to reset your dynamics.
Over the last year I have been focusing on my pick choice for melodies, solos and mid chord change riffs.
I gravitated towards a Jim Dunlop Jaz III XL. So standard pick size ala tear drop but chunky around 1.2mm. But its becoming my go to rhythm pick as well.
So normal songs were I’d be grinding out some hardcore strumming, I now try to be as light as possible with a heavier pick and the tone payback pays dividends. Even songs where I’d mash out some hard open chords now have some subtlety approaching it this way.
So regardless of the pick you are using dial back the attack and go for a softer feel.
You could ditch the pick and play box chords with your fingers for a softer tone. Or go hybrid ? Most of my recent rhythm satisfaction playing triads has been from hybrid picking and can cover a range of dynamics 
For me, going to a 1.5mm pick made it easier to strum softly.
Thin picks can be “clacky” like baseball cards in the bike spokes. As a person that has trouble projecting my “not getting any younger” voice over light pick strumming, thumb strumming, felt or rubber picks solve will solve the problem.
I hate that. The thinnest I can use without that is the .73.
If you’re in the fortunate position of having someone operating a mixing desk for live sound, then when it comes to you doing your sound check make sure that you strum at a loud dynamic range, between 80-100% of your maximum. All being well, your normal, default dynamic of, say 45-65%, is nicely audible and if adrenaline and stage nerves push your strum volume up high it won’t take your balance out of whack and it won’t distort the guitar.
That said, it is not a fix. You are aware of an issue and that is the first step to working on it and correcting it. You would benefit from dedicated work on training your dynamics so you can control them consciously. I did a Vintage Club on rhythm and strumming dynamics but it was one of the early sessions for which no recording is available. Maybe I could return to the topic in a future edition.
Being aware of dynamics is a good thing Jeff. I had dynamics so ingrained in me by a piano teacher that by the time I got to guitar (my 3rd instrument) I’m not really sure what I do wrt specific exercises.
On bass I used to set a metronome and crescendo (incrementally get louder) with the beat count, then diminuendo (incrementally get quieter) with the beat. You could try this getting louder for 1bar, then quieter for a bar. Then repeat.
There are loads of variations:
-1bar crescendo, maintain for a bar, 1 bar dimimuendo, maintain quiet for a bar. Repeat.
-My piano teacher used to get me to play like the natural rhythm of a singer’s voice - this is less mechanical than a metronome but gives a natural feel to the music. I think the classical music term for this is “cantata” Justin does something similar with his “falling leaf” lesson in grade 3.
You could also try a song which is all about the dynamics. “Wherever you will go” by “The Calling” is a good example. Laid back verses that turn into full on rock in the chorus.
I hope this gives you some ideas.
I like the Jazz III XL’s as well. I’ve settled on .88 and 1.0. I switched to those from the Gator Grips I’d been using for a while. Good tone and I seem to have better control.
Pick depth can often be the problem here.
ie how far below the string the pick goes as you strum. (Same principle for single note picking).
A good exercise to reset your pick attack is to try to just barely hit the strings, and note how the tone differs. It’ll help develop better control and give you a ‘default’ light touch from which to work from.
Then for varying the dynamics, you simply vary the pick depth.
Cheers, Shane
Thanks Chris. I’ll work on lightening the grip and see how it goes.
Hi Clint,
I do have one wedgie a friend gave me to try. Maybe that will help me strum softer without dropping the pick.
I tend to break really thin picks before finishing one song lol.
Thanks for the advice. I have a decent collection of picks to try and use a blackstone pick sometimes due to my arthritis.
Hi Toby,
Thanks for the advice. Might give those picks a try. I’m more conscious of how I sound because I play in front of live audiences more lately. Don’t want to be remembered as the guy who strums so loud you can’t hear his voice or the clicking clack strummer with too thin of a pick. Sounds like you’re spending quality tile on dynamics too. Take care
Jeff
Thanks Richard. I may review Justin’s strumming sos course again too. This course you did sounds like it was really helpful towards what I hope to accomplish
Thanks for the advice going louder and then soft as each bar changes. That makes a lot of sense. I already know that song by the calling and played it not too long ago. Great idea to revisit with some focus on dynamics. For now I just posted another song I did years ago at my first open mic by attempting to soften the strum and make it a softer version. Welcome to My Life by simple plan.
Thanks. I’ll have to give those a try.