How do you hold a pick?

[BahamasSteve]

I've been learning a few metal songs and my pick hand has been cramping, mostly the adductor pollicis and flexor pollicis brevis.
I was taught this method.

Any other pick hold suggestions for picking metal?

 

[rufus.K]

 

[BahamasSteve]

yeah, that's how I've been holding one, and using Tortex .73mm.

 

[Bent77]

Between thumb and FU finger, index finger on the spine of the pick.
I also use those oversized Fender picks, and let the back of them ride in my palm

 

[MalcolmAmos]

I'll go with a thicker pick from 1.0 to 3.00 mm. Like the Big Stubby. I also use a thumb pick in the later parts of the session as my hands are 81 years old. If holding the pick is a problem give the thumb pick a try. With the thumb pick I hold the back side of the pick with my index finger. Can not get both up and down strums with out the index finger on the back side of the thumb pick. The loop eliminates some of the stress of holding it.

 

[rufus.K]

my hands are 81 years old.

Each?

 

[MalcolmAmos]

Each?

Well, yes they both are the same age.

 

[rufus.K]

Well, yes they both are the same age.

Wow!

 

[BahamasSteve]

I'll go with a thicker pick from 1.0 to 3.00 mm. Like the Big Stubby. I also use a thumb pick in the later parts of the session as my hands are 81 years old. If holding the pick is a problem give the thumb pick a try.

I couldn't find any Stubby's locally, but I have some on order to try.

 

[Bent77]

I couldn't find any Stubby's locally, but I have some on order to try.

Too bad I didn't know, I have a couple I don't use

 

[Matthew_84]

Have you read through this thread? All of it?

Why I keep hammering the Carol Kaye pick method

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

I mostly play with my fingers but when I use a pick, your incorrect picture is closer to the way I hold it. I hold the pick with my thumb, index, and middle finger in order get the strength. I also use the bigger triangular picks so that I have a good grip. Also, it works well as all of the edges are identical so it doesn't really matter when the pick rotates in your hand. I use the dunlop ultex triangle 1.14mm particularly.

 

[BahamasSteve]

Have you read through this thread? All of it?

Why I keep hammering the Carol Kaye pick method

I have not, but will begin doing so.

 

[Oldschool94]

Can't post pics right now, but a good way to avoid cramps is to vary your technique! Sometimes I hold the pick the way you do in your 'incorrect' pic, sometimes I hold it between my thumb and my first two fingers instead of just one. Also, cramps probably are coming from a really angled wrist. I know you need a certain sound for metal, but try playing closer to the neck with a straighter wrist. You probably won't cramp as much. Make the stroke more with your arm from the elbow and less from the wrist.

 

[fearceol]

Here is how one the the most iconic bass pick players does it. See tip #26 :

The Official Carol Kaye Web Site

 

[baileyboy]

...I was taught this method.
View attachment 786475

^^^ This is what Carol Kaye recommends, so I've been doing that since I started learning pick. Because of the heavy string gauges on a bass, one can't simply hold the pick as a guitarist would.

 

[pravus]

I use both of those grips as well as others. The more cupped my grip is the less the pick moves making it good for faster passages and anything needing a little more bite. For more articulate work I'll just use the tip of the pick and kind of flick it as it hits the string using just the tips of my fingers. You have to be precise to not keep it from flying out of your hand though.

 

[Fingerpickingood]

When I use a pick, I hold it exactly the way I did when I played guitar. I play over the bridge pickup, and use my wrist.

 

[MCS4]

My guess is that your cramping has less to do with your grip than it does the amount of tension in your hands/wrists or using uncomfortable movement patterns. People use a thousand different pick grips with success... you just need to find one that is comfortable for you.

As a tip, I find that striking the string with one of the two round corners of a pick, rather than the pointy end, allows me to use a more natural movement.

 

[Nev375]

Actually, I hold my thumb at a higher angle so i can use my fingernails nearer
the same distance from the bridge as my thumbpick.

Usually do downstrokes only with upstrokes on my nail(s)
But if I chose to do upstrokes on the pick I brace it with my index finger.

But that's how I roll.