Which Guitar Pick to Use - 3 Top Tips to Make the Right Choice
If you are learning to play the guitar and are wondering which guitar pick to use, the good news it is really easy to find out what type will be right for you.
There simply far too many different varieties of pick, some are totally impractical for general use.
All we need to do is narrow things down into 3 main categories, which are:
The aim is to find the best guitar pick that you can use naturally, so that it is not on your mind whilst you are playing.
You may have the wrong pick if :
Let me explain how each of the categories play an important part.
Which Guitar Pick To Use - Gauge Thin picks are flimsy to the touch and I found that if you are doing anything other than very gentle strumming with slight hand movements, you will not get the any power so your poor fingers end up taking a battering if you want to make some noise.
Thick picks are impossible to bend, unless you are super human.
These are more commonly for thicker strings or even bass guitar, otherwise you will find that you will either snap your guitar strings all the time, or you will keep dropping your pick, as there is no 'give' whatsoever so either the string goes, or you have to relax your grip on the pick, meaning you are always dropping.
Medium picks are a combination of the two, enough rigidity to give power, with enough give so that it doesn't constantly ping out of your hand.
Which Guitar Pick To Use - Texture Smooth picks are more likely to pop out of your grip if you are playing with quite a lot of motion in your strumming, or a lot of power.
Unless you are able to grip the pick firmly, this is more geared toward gentler playing, although it doesn't make a massive difference, unless you've got sweaty hands.
Textured picks are rough where your finger and thumb hold on, making you less likely to drop the pick, particularly if you have sweaty hands.
Textured picks are not uncomfortable to hold, compared to a smooth one, so I would go for textured every time.
Which Guitar Pick To Use - Shape Standard shaped picks look the most boring, a bit like a rounded off triangle.
They are the most common, but are the most practical.
Non-Standard shaped picks are aimed at helping all for all kinds of techniques, I have tried these over the years and always come back to the standard shaped pick.
If you are learning to play the guitar and want to experiment with a few different styles of pick, they are really cheap so grab a small few and you will soon realise which guitar pick to use to get the best results.
There simply far too many different varieties of pick, some are totally impractical for general use.
All we need to do is narrow things down into 3 main categories, which are:
- Gauge
- Texture
- Shape
The aim is to find the best guitar pick that you can use naturally, so that it is not on your mind whilst you are playing.
You may have the wrong pick if :
- it feels uncomfortable
- you have to keep adjusting its position
- your strumming fingers are sore (even broken skin)
- it keeps pinging off when you strum
Let me explain how each of the categories play an important part.
Which Guitar Pick To Use - Gauge Thin picks are flimsy to the touch and I found that if you are doing anything other than very gentle strumming with slight hand movements, you will not get the any power so your poor fingers end up taking a battering if you want to make some noise.
Thick picks are impossible to bend, unless you are super human.
These are more commonly for thicker strings or even bass guitar, otherwise you will find that you will either snap your guitar strings all the time, or you will keep dropping your pick, as there is no 'give' whatsoever so either the string goes, or you have to relax your grip on the pick, meaning you are always dropping.
Medium picks are a combination of the two, enough rigidity to give power, with enough give so that it doesn't constantly ping out of your hand.
Which Guitar Pick To Use - Texture Smooth picks are more likely to pop out of your grip if you are playing with quite a lot of motion in your strumming, or a lot of power.
Unless you are able to grip the pick firmly, this is more geared toward gentler playing, although it doesn't make a massive difference, unless you've got sweaty hands.
Textured picks are rough where your finger and thumb hold on, making you less likely to drop the pick, particularly if you have sweaty hands.
Textured picks are not uncomfortable to hold, compared to a smooth one, so I would go for textured every time.
Which Guitar Pick To Use - Shape Standard shaped picks look the most boring, a bit like a rounded off triangle.
They are the most common, but are the most practical.
Non-Standard shaped picks are aimed at helping all for all kinds of techniques, I have tried these over the years and always come back to the standard shaped pick.
If you are learning to play the guitar and want to experiment with a few different styles of pick, they are really cheap so grab a small few and you will soon realise which guitar pick to use to get the best results.
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