pick turning on me

Try a thumb pick. You can quickly switch to finger style with no worries about dropping it either.

 

Use texturized picks that aren't slippery? I've never had one of the grippy tortex picks turn in my hand, but I have experienced it with the smooth shiny fender style picks.

 

Drill holes in it, rough it up with sandpaper, put hockey tape on it...the possibilities are endless.

Or, try a different brand, something bigger, or with three points so if it starts rotating you just let it continue.

Personally, I go for massively oversized picks with raised letters on 'em to minimize slipping.

 

Get a grip man!

 

This used to happen to me all the time. It bugged the heck out of me and if I gripped it to the point it would stay, my technique suffered and my hand would start to cramp.

Solution? Ditched the pick altogether and now I just use my index fingernail. Makes switching between "pick" and fingerstyle a breeze and I never have to worry about taking picks with me.

 

I've had guitar players and singers turn on me, but never a pick....

There are a few textured picks on the market (so you're obviously not the first person to experience this). I'm a fan of Pickboy - the ones with the little holes in them, but there are a few others; Ibanez makes picks with a patch of abrasive stuff on them, Dunlop has something, too, I think. Just keep trying different ones until you find the one that sits in your hand well.

 

Triangle picks.

 

I use the Ernie Ball Everlast heavy picks and haven't had any problems, they feel similar to a tortex pick.

 

I put cloth tape on mine.

 

I use Wedgie rubber picks, which I like a lot (I'm going for a more mellow sound, not a hard driving sound). And even with those, the pick turns as you described - when I'm holding it just between my thumb and index finger.

The quickest way I know to stop the rotation is use your middle finger to hold the pick as well. The grip feels clunkier and it reduces the amount of right hand weight and momentum you feel on the downstroke, but like any other technical adaptation, you get used to it after a while.

 

I have found that slow concentrated practice with a pick has helped me

There is a drum book called stick control. I refer to it now as 'pick control'

Each right hand treat as a down stroke each left hand treat as an upstroke and I practice this on open strings with no amp and with strict time to a metronome

The reason why the pick turns is cos we lose control of it

We lose control of it at the point where our technical facility reaches its limit

We then intuitively go to grab it tighter as we speed up or use more force to meet the demands of the music and playing situation.

The tension them increases and our effort to resolve the issue becomes counter productive


But like anything it takes dedication and practice to build the technique and maybe this approach won't suit you

For me I don't have an issue with repetitive drills when trying to sort out a weakness in my playing

I liken it to playing sport. We train we play better...

I played drums when I was younger and it dawned on me one day as to why as a drummer would I drill out on r r l
l l r r r type stuff and not consider doing same on bass.. But change it to d d u u u d d d so to speak..

The result, similar to a drummer is we develop the technique to a point where we do not think d u d u as we play , we just play and the right hand will automatically pick in the direction that best suits the music

But for that to happen the right hand needs to be trained to move in countless different combinations of directions including string crossing, raking, chords etc and a book like stick control, whilst intended for drummers provides some very interesting patterns for us as bass players if we are prepared to draw on that body of knowledge and think about how that can be converted to be useful.

I haven't used or considered pick grips but I have found bigger picks on bass seem to work well and combined with a relaxed technique and some dedicated practice pick slipping is far less of a problem for me

Hoping that helps....

 

I use three fingers with a pick (thumb, index, and middle). I've done it that way since 1963. If I just use my thumb and index the pick will turn, like yours does. I also prefer the rounded triangular shape. Started out with the big "Dorito" picks, but they're too big. I also use the standard smaller picks. Never a problem using three fingers. (Don't anyone come along and tell me it's bad form. I've played for a living like that some years ago. Still playing semi-pro).

 

when i switched to the big triangular white picks with the eagle on them, the twisting stopped

 

I <3 my dorito picks.

 

No way I will say that's bad form

....1963 is a fair time to know if something works or not....

 

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