Picky, Picky, Picky! (How do you hold the frickin' thing?)

October 23rd, 2005 Print Tip E-mail Tip

Contrary to popular belief, there is more than one way to hold a guitar pick, and some that I've probably never heard of. The method employed by most is to hold the pick between the thumb and index finger. The successful guitarists that go about it this way are too numerous to mention---it works for a lot of us.

But...if you feel more at home with another pick grip, don't despair. A fair number of guitarists hold their pick between their thumb, index and middle fingers. Notables who prefer this approach include, among others, Carlos Santana, Steve Morse, James Hetfield, Eddie Van Halen (some of the time---see below), Kim Thayil and flatpick wizard Dan Crary. Eddie Van Halen utilizes two grips: thumb and middle finger and thumb, index and middle fingers. Of course, some don't use a pick at all. And some use thumbpicks and/or fingerpicks made of plastic or metal.

People can also turn the most mundane objects into plectrums. Brian May goes to work with an English sixpence, Billy Gibbons has used some kind of coinage, Jimi Hendrix has used his teeth and Pat Metheny holds his guitar pick "backwards", plucking with the rounded side. And most of us have subbed matchbook covers or broken credit cards (I'll leave that one alone) for our ever-disappearing plectrums.

All this really means (besides that guitarists are weird) is do whatever feels most comfortable and natural to you, as long as it doesn't impede what you're trying to do.