Learn to Play Guitar Fast - How to use a guitar pick correctly

Do you want to master guitar picking with a flatpick? This an an essential technique for speed and proficiency on acoustic and electric guitar. Do you have problems using a guitar pick? You are here because you want to learn to play guitar fast and to do that you need to master guitar picking technique and use a plectrum correctly. Great pick technique is vital to play guitar fast. This page will show you how to pick guitar well.

Take a look in any rock or jazz guitar tutor and you will nearly always see one or two choices given on how to hold a guitar pick. Orthodox and metal grips come to mind for a start, but here are a few tips and tricks to get you started - ways you can use to pick guitar well. Whether you are looking for acoustic guitar instruction or you want to learn speed picking on electric guitar, one of the first steps you need to master is that basic plectrum technique. There are many effective ways of picking guitar and in this free guitar lesson. I will show you the right way to use a guitar pick.

Photographs and images used here are my own, please do not copy.

Or OUCH I broke another E string

Your plectrum grip is going to be personal to you. I have a way of holding my guitar pick that I thought was quite unique until I found one of my colleagues also holds his plectrum that way.

Interestingly enough, Justin Sandercoe recommends against the two finger grip that we both use for picking guitar, but it works well for both of us as professional guitar players. I have a lot of respect for Justin, but there are worse guitar pick grips recommended than the two finger grip. If I want to hybrid pick I drop back to a one finger guitar pick grip and I use all three spare fingers anyway. The key principles are easy however.

A correct guitar pick grip saves money and time! A plectrum acts like a lever, and works like a crowbar if you are not careful. If you hold a plectrum too far back it is difficult to control. You need to hold your guitar pick really close to the tip, then you don't have to grip so tightly and your wrist won't lock up. Sorry Tom, but 2 cm back from the tip is much too far and you appear to be showing about half of that anyway. In my view, half a centimetre is about right for a good guitar pick grip. Get this right to master precision playing for lead guitar and you will also avoid dropping your guitar pick in a song or breaking guitar strings!

I once bought 1000 plectrums on eBay - I gave most of them away. It is a cheap way of buying plectrums. We all lose them and as a teacher I often just give them away.

Learn Guitar Fast - Important guitar basics - how to pick guitar well.

On line guitar lessons rarely go back to absolute basics, but your plectrum technique is so important. Now you have the guitar pick between your finger and thumb, rest the guitar pick on the top string (Bass E string) to start with. Your fingers and thumb should appear to be pointing towards the head of the guitar where the tuning pegs are. Your wrist should be flat and slightly dropped to make it more relaxed and easier to control. This also enables you to "palm mute" later. If you hold the guitar pick hand up it should like a bit like a snake or bird's head. Play some slow strokes just on Bass E by pushing the guitar pick gently with your thumb.

The different hand positions for guitar pick and finger picking

The hand position for fingerstyle or classical guitar is completely different! For your fingers to work efficiently they need to point towards the floor with your wrist being raised. (See photo) You cannot play plectrum guitar properly with a classical hand position, nor can you play fingerstyle guitar properly with a dropped wrist.

How do you control a guitar pick properly?

When you have the pick grip right, you can use the guitar pick almost like an extension of your thumb. For single note playing, use down strokes of the plectrum for slower notes, faster notes are best picked down and up alternately. On the upstroke just push the guitar pick up gently with your finger. Your elbow should absolutely NOT be moving when you pick single notes - if it is, you are in danger of developing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome as well as playing with a ham-fisted technique. If you can't play without using the elbow, review your grip on the plectrum.

How to tremolo pick guitar in thrash guitar style

For a mini-tutorial in thrash style tremolo picking, follow this link I have set up for you on Google Docs. You can print it or work off screen. A good example of where to use this style of playing is One by Metallica. (How to play One by Metallica here)

Thrash Style Tremolo Picking Exercise Here

Pick of Destiny Gifts for Guitar Players

Tenacious D had some cheeky hits with Tribute and Wonderboy amongst other things. One thing is not in dispute - their ability to wield the Pick of Destiny! Here is the TAB book for the album.

Getting fine control of your plectrum when you pick guitar

Although your wrist will move slightly when you pick single notes, it is NOT your wrist that makes the note. This is where so many amateur guitar sites (and some pros) get it wrong. Thumb and fingers should guide the guitar pick in lead playing, wrist comes in for tremolo picking only. Where the "play from the wrist" instruction slips up is this: if you are turning your wrist to play with a guitar pick, then you are moving through a circle, moving further than you need to, and you will not be able to play guitar fast!

Here are some pages where you can learn songs, chords, techniques or just enjoy the music . You can check them out on my profile if interested.

20th Century Boy

Band In A Jam Project

Best Songs To Learn On Guitar

Born To Be Wild

Hallelujah

Harley Davidson Guitar Stuff

Hey Joe

Highway to Hell

House of the Rising Sun

Johnny B Goode

Improvise on guitar - first lesson

One

Perfect Day

Play Guitar REALLY Fast

Satisfaction

Smoke On The Water

Stairway to Heaven

Summer of 69

Basic Chords For Beginner Guitar

Here are some basic guitar chords for you to try. I have uploaded them to Flickr so you can copy them from photos.

E chord

D chord

A chord

For more chords in diagram form please click here.

Guitar Chords For Beginners

Or guitar - how to play without breaking strings! Even the best guitar lessons I have seen do not tell you this. Do not "slice" strings. Notes and chords should be played with the flat of the pick. Slicing strings with the plectrum is the number one cause of string breakage. I can play really hard with a 2mm plectrum on .009 - .046 strings and yet I never break a string in performance because I keep the correct pick grip, a loose wrist and never slice with the pick edge. I only need to change electric guitar strings when they sound dull.

When you strum chords, keep the wrist loose and bouncy. The elbow will move when you are strumming, but it should be your fingers and wrist that are controlling the pick. A relaxed wrist avoids breaking strings!

You won't break many strings if you play as I do - even though I play quite aggressively with a 2mm thick guitar pick. I always choose Elixir strings because they keep their tone for up to a year in daily use. That is pretty amazing, but they ARE expensive. As I very rarely break strings it is worthwhile spending that bit more. As guitar players we all have favorite string brands though and you might choose to buy your guitar strings here. This is a great selection! If you have a favorite brand of guitar strings, just type it into the box and search.

The choice is yours, but the dream is the same... If you love the guitar, I hope you have found this page useful. Thank you for visiting.