How to hold a guitar pick?
Holding a guitar pick is different for every guitar player, I feel there is no right or wrong way to hold a guitar pick. I am sure if you ask a professional guitar teacher they will tell you, that you need to hold the guitar pick as shown below:
(note: this is my right hand, but my camera makes it backwards!)
As you can see from the above picture, I am holding the pick with my thumb and index finger. This is how I learned how to hold the guitar pick, when I first started to learn how to play guitar. Just because, I hold the pick this way, does not mean you need to! Many well known guitar players such as Marty Friedman, have very unique ways of holding a guitar pick, take a look at this video below:
As you can see from the video above, you can still be a great guitar player even if you do not hold your pick the “correct” way. I say, you should hold the pick on what feels the most comfortable for you! Because at the end of the day, it’s not what your hand is doing, it’s what sounds your guitar makes that is important!
Tips for holding your guitar pick:
- Do what feels comfortable to you
- Choose a pick size, that fits your hands
- Try to keep your thumb flat against the pick, do not arch it
- Hold the pick with a firm grip, but not too hard or to light.
Types of Guitar picks to choose from?
As you may know, there a many types of guitar pick styles to choose from, ranging from light, medium, thick etc. As to holding your guitar pick, there is not right or wrong guitar pick to choose from. I currently use a thick tortex pick (1.14mm) by Dunlop.
There are many different guitar pick companies to choose from, I will list a few here:
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