Help on correct picking posture

Question by Landon Koon
(Montgomery, Texas)

I am a slightly in between beginner to intermediate guitar player but I am stumped on one problem. Recently on a youtube video a guy showed that his way of picking efficiently and fast was to move his hand and arm diagonal across the strings every time he went up a string so when he played notes on the low E string his hand would be somewhere by the bridge and when he played the high E string his hand would by resting on the b string and the other top strings muting them and his hand would be more towards the neck of the guitar.

If you can understand this please tell me whether I should pick using this technique or just tell me the proper way too pick if this technique is not correct. I just don't know whether I should be moving my hand diagonally towards the neck the higher the string I go or just rest my hand on the bridge and move it down the higher the string that I pick. I would really appreciate if I got a good answer and kind of a breakdown on how to efficiently and correctly pick. Thank you

Answer

There are several ways to pick, one of which you saw in that video. There is no single correct way.

What you need to do is find the one that feels most comfortable to you.

I personally like to rest my hand on the bridge for faster picking (but then I'm more of a legato player)...



I simply pivot my hand on this spot which has enough coverage from low E to high E.

Others prop their 4th finger as follows...



Others don't rely on any prop at all, they just learn to keep their pick hand a set distance from the strings and control the movement from string to string.

I suppose the benefit of picking the way the guy did in the video (using the strings as a prop) is that you mute unwanted string noise as you're picking. However, you naturally find your own way of muting using the other techniques, e.g. with a more controlled fret hand.

I honestly believe you could pick any one of these methods and it wouldn't make any difference - you'd just adapt.

It's like holding the pick. Some guitarists make a fist and lodge it between their thumb and curled index finger, others hold it between the flats of their finger and thumb tips. The former provides more stability, the latter more flexibility.