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Pick Hand Technique

September 10, 2015 by Jim Ellis

Don’t forget about the pick hand. This a very important part of playing guitar. We need to keep solid time and get great tone with this hand. Let us discuss some of the fundamentals involved with this area.

Muscle Groups

Start with the largest muscle groups and work towards the smaller groups. The upper arm is stable. Think about your forearm from the elbow. Next we want to consider the wrist followed by the fingers. You might take weeks or months with each area.

Pick Angle

Lay the pick flat on a string, then rotate clockwise or counter-clockwise. Find an angle where the pick tip can glide over the string. This will give a warmer, bigger sound. Also, the pick will tend to flow across the sting quickly and consistently. Note that the up stoke and down strokes will occur on opposite sides of the pick tip.

Rotate

This motion is similar to turning a screwdriver in an alternate tighten/loosen motion. Pat Metheny and Pat Martino often use this motion. I like this motion for constant eighths, triplets, and sixteenths for consistent tone and time keeping.

Underhand

With this motion involves a cupped hand approached from underneath the strings. George Benson uses this type of motion a lot. I like this motion a lot for funk tunes especially when it comes to comping.

Hand-Shake

This motion is a little like shaking someones hand mostly from the wrist. This is the default for a lot of players. It works well, but is probably not the best for hovering over the strings. Additionally, this motion can involve time keeping issues.

Summing Up

The picking hand is very important and deserves a lot of attention. Think about the hand the motion as the time-keeping element. Think about the string contact as the rhythm element.

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