OK. Nearly there...just make sure that if you are using a pick that you are holding it correctly. I recommend using a pick when you begin and learn fingerstyle later but it is up to you of course...

Video Lesson

Holding Your Pick

Hold the pick so that it comes out of the side of your thumb and hold it with the tip of the first finger, see the pictures below, the rest of your hand should just be relaxed. Make sure that the pick is coming out of the side of your thumb - that is by far the most important aspect.

Recommended picks

	Jim Dunlop Nylon - .38mm or .46mm - These are very thin and great for strumming. But any very thin pick will be fine, just try and get as thin as possible. I think this one should be 1st choice for beginner players! Good for beginners on electric, steel or nylon string guitars.
	Dunlop "Tortex" - .60mm - These are a little thicker, better for playing one note at a time but require more control and therefore not so good for beginners.
	Jim Dunlop Jazz III - Very thick pick that I use for electric playing. I never use it for playing acoustic guitar, it sounds kinda dead or flat and has no percussive "click", but excellent for electric guitar. The thicker pick gives excellent control for complex stuff too. I use it for both rhythm and lead playing on electric. As it happens, the vast majority of pro players I know use this same pick!! strange, but true.

Common Questions Answered...

My pick seems to turn around in my hand, what is going on?
This is real common when you start out. If you try and hold it too hard then your arm will feel tense, but if you hold it too loose then it falls out or turns around. The solution...

Is practice. Don't let it worry you in the early stages, it's new and it will take a while for your hand to deal with holding the pick with exactly the right amount of pressure not to be too tense or too relaxed.

What angle should the strings hit the strings?
When you are strumming with a light pick it's not too important but if you feel like your pick is getting stuck in the strings, it might be because you are angling the pick in suck a way that it's getting caught up in the strings.

To get it right - start by lining the pick up with the strings so it is pointing exactly 90 degrees out of the strings. then turn it so the part of the pick nearest the neck of the guitar is angled down just a bit, say 15 degrees. This way the pick will glide over the strings rather than getting caught up in them!

I sometimes find my second finger holding the pick too - is that bad?
Yes it is. Try and just hold the pick with your thumb and first finger. Using ither fingers will most likely put your wrist at a strange angle and cause problems later on when you try tpo develop your technique further.

That said, many great players use strange techniques and hold the pick funy, but what I always recommend is strating the "right way" and really giving it a good go before you decide it doesn't work for you. George Benson holds his pick kinda upside down, Brian May Used a coin and Jeff Beck gave up on using the pick all together, so it really is your decision in the end.

Often people who start using a thick pick use 3 fingers to try and hold onto it when they strum. Better solution is just to use a thinner pick and hold it the right way!

Using your second finger on the pick will:

1. Change the algle of your hand and so changes the angle the pick hits the strings in a bad way.
2. The changes palm angle makes it hard to do palm muting
3. Doing hybrid picking is almost impossible if you decide to get into it later.
4. Won't be able to use the 2nd finger for tapping in rock stuff.
5. It can also hinder your ability to manipulate the pick.

I know it can feel real weird if you started using 3 fingers to hold it, but I really think it's worth trying to get back to holing it with just thumb and first finger. It will take a bit of time to get used to how hard to hold it. But like everything else, it's gonna take some practice!

Do I need to hold it different when I strum?
Yes. When you pick out notes one at a time, you don't want too much pick poking out - when you strum it's ok to have a lot more coming out your thumb. As you play more you will learn to manipulate the pick and how much is coming out WHILE you play! Sounds hard but it just happens naturally, don't stress about it, it will happen when it's ready and not a second earlier ;)

I like the "back in the old days" style, is it really bad to hold the pick at the knuckle?
Well, no - there are many great players that played that way - but there are issues with it. I recently taught a guy who showed up with blood all over his guitar because his knuckle was hitting the strings a lot. That's no good. It also makes it hard to use "circle picking" which is a more advanced technique you certainly won't be ding in the beginners course, but is very useful later on when you want to start speeding things up a bit!

I like the Jazz III but they feel too small for strumming...
Then try the Jazz III XL which is the same shape and thickness but a bit bigger. Lots of people like them..

When I do a lot of strumming (with a pick) the nail on my index finger gets worn down quite a lot, it's kind of towards the right side (or bottom as I'm playing). Is this normal? Am I doing something wrong?
That means you are letting your finger hit the strings when you strum. Sorry to say but it's a very bad habit. Need to adjust your finger position on the pick and the angle of your hand as you are doing your down strums. You would be better off trying to fix this now rather than later - just go back to doing it nice and slowly and make sure that is not happening. It's going to be a bit tough to make the change but it's so worth it.

If you don't stop it now it will effect your sound later, and you 'll hurt your fingers if you practice lots!!

HELP!!!!

If you need to ask a question about this lesson - there is a topic set up specifically to help you with this lesson. To help you find it easily you can click the following link and it will take you right the topic. You'll be able to see questions that other people had and ask your own questions! Hopefully one of the very helpful members of our community will be there to help you soon, I do go there and answer stuff too - but there are just too many questions for me to answer alone! So click this link to get help with this lesson!

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