Time to re-learn…

[Silly Moustache]

Until I started teaching, it had never occurred to me that some held a plectrum incorrectly.

The dubious "picking up a bug" style is actually promulgated by some on YouTube, but it seems only by solid electric guitarists.

it requires the wrist to be permanently bent - which is really a bad idea!

I don't believe that the pick resting between index finger distal phalange and finger tip is a "bluegrass" method but obviously used by most bluegrass, country, blues, and jazz players.

For classical guitar playing there are formal methods but playing a steel string guitar with a pick is a relatively new concept. (nineteen twenties?)

We know that acoustic guitarists are adept and causing themselves muscular/nerve damage by poor posture and such (I've done 'em all!)

As I've aged and witnesses muscle mass, and joint issues, and witnessed those who have got it right and wrong, (and with advice from a friendly physiotherapist)

I've found that I have been able to help a lot of folk.

It all starts with how you sit, how you hold the guitar (western style) and how you hold yourself, from lower back to fingertip.

I've just waited 30 minutes looking at Y/T videos and there is a hole load of poor advice out there.

I find that once I've got my zoom clients to do this, their progress improves so much more quickly.

I did these vids a while ago, but I need to do a better one including pick method.

[EZYPIKINS]

Hold it, how it works for you.

[Emil]

Originally Posted by Special K

A thought I would respectfully offer to supplement some of the other outstanding commentary in this thread, is to try to determine if the new grip is adding tension in your picking hand compared to your old grip. Tension in the picking hand is to be avoided, if possible. If you can play with the old grip with little to no tension and the new grip causes tension in the picking hand, I'm not sure I would change to the new grip if it were me. Hope this helps, Kevin

It is without a doubt adding tension. That’s why the up strokes get’s messed up. But it’s getting better day by day.

[lar]

OP, I noticed in your photo that you hold the pick so it is angled back towards your wrist. I hold it so the pick is perpendicular to my thumb. I can't play well when the pick rotates back like that. Not that any way is right or wrong, but try it perpendicular and see if that feels more natural.

[Emil]

Originally Posted by lar

OP, I noticed in your photo that you hold the pick so it is angled back towards your wrist. I hold it so the pick is perpendicular to my thumb. I can't play well when the pick rotates back like that. Not that any way is right or wrong, but try it perpendicular and see if that feels more natural.

The picutres was just to show the grip so i didnt angle or kept my wrist the same way i would do when playing. I angle the pick the same way you do.

[Emil]

Ok, in almost three weeks into this project and slowly it’s starting to feel more natural.
I can now control my dynamics way better the when i started this and the upstrokes is no longer bothering me.
I guess it will still be a couple of weeks before the final % is in place but right now it feels like im out of the woods.
It was a real struggle but i would say it’s downhill from here.

[Robin, Wales]

Originally Posted by Emil

Ok, in almost three weeks into this project and slowly it’s starting to feel more natural.
I can now control my dynamics way better the when i started this and the upstrokes is no longer bothering me.
I guess it will still be a couple of weeks before the final % is in place but right now it feels like im out of the woods.
It was a real struggle but i would say it’s downhill from here.

Well done for sticking at it! These fine motor skills tend to go from "impossible" to "manageable" to "what was all the fuss about" quite quickly if you persevere.

[tdlwhite]

Originally Posted by Emil

Ok, in almost three weeks into this project and slowly it’s starting to feel more natural.
I can now control my dynamics way better the when i started this and the upstrokes is no longer bothering me.
I guess it will still be a couple of weeks before the final % is in place but right now it feels like im out of the woods.
It was a real struggle but i would say it’s downhill from here.

Good work! I switched my pick grip and technique about 2 years ago in a similar way to you (from my made-up-as-a-teen grip to my new carefully-chosen-to-be-similar-to-a-pro grip). I also switched to large triangle thicker (>1mm) picks at the same time. I decided to go closed fist and anchor-free too, which was very different to my teen grip.

The first few weeks were awful - like you said, poor soft-control and dynamics, and especially bad strumming!

After about 6 months I had reached a good place with picking and strumming, and actually found the pick grip kinda comfortable and could pick up a pick and start playing without having to adjust.

After a year or so, I'd managed to make the grip mine - it became a little less closed fist all the time, and a little more adjustable to my temperament and what I was playing. I open it up for strumming, then close it for single notes.

After two years, I now feel happy with most of my picking. I can adjust the pick in my hand in the middle of playing, happily switch between a thick pick on the acoustic and a thinner one for electric. And it all feels nice and natural again. But the best bit is - it definitely sounds better. Oh, and I can play faster stuff now on both acoustic and electric.

Tom

[Emil]

Originally Posted by tdlwhite

Good work! I switched my pick grip and technique about 2 years ago in a similar way to you (from my made-up-as-a-teen grip to my new carefully-chosen-to-be-similar-to-a-pro grip). I also switched to large triangle thicker (>1mm) picks at the same time. I decided to go closed fist and anchor-free too, which was very different to my teen grip.

The first few weeks were awful - like you said, poor soft-control and dynamics, and especially bad strumming!

After about 6 months I had reached a good place with picking and strumming, and actually found the pick grip kinda comfortable and could pick up a pick and start playing without having to adjust.

After a year or so, I'd managed to make the grip mine - it became a little less closed fist all the time, and a little more adjustable to my temperament and what I was playing. I open it up for strumming, then close it for single notes.

After two years, I now feel happy with most of my picking. I can adjust the pick in my hand in the middle of playing, happily switch between a thick pick on the acoustic and a thinner one for electric. And it all feels nice and natural again. But the best bit is - it definitely sounds better. Oh, and I can play faster stuff now on both acoustic and electric.

Tom

This is exactly what i’ve experienced. Thanks for sharing!