How to Hold a Guitar Pick

One would think holding a guitar pick is somewhat intuitive. Place the pick between your pointer and thumb and strum away. But holding a pick, and picking technique, is much more nuanced than that.

In this post we’ll cover how a beginner typically will hold a pick and how that differs from what you should do. Then once you’re comfortable with how you’re holding your pick, check out our picking and finger independence exercise lessons.

An Easy Picking Mistake to Avoid

Many beginning guitar students will hold the pick between their thumb and pointer and middle fingers as if it were an extension of their fingers. Figure 1 is an example of this.

Figure 1- Don’t hold the pick straight out from the fingertips.

Figure 1- Don’t hold the pick straight out from the fingertips.

While holding a pick like this may be much easier for very young kids, there are a number of problems it presents for everyone else. For example:

  • It puts unnecessary pressure on your forearm which, overtime, can cause muscle or tendon problems.

  • It limits your ability to do more advanced techniques like speed picking, pinch harmonics, hybrid picking or two-hand tapping.

  • It influences the positioning of your hand in order to accommodate how you’re holding your pick which, like #1, can have implications for your shoulder, arm and back muscles (See Figure 2).

Figure 2 - How holding a pick like in Figure 1 cranks your arm and forces poor posture.

Figure 2 - How holding a pick like in Figure 1 cranks your arm and forces poor posture.

How to Hold A Guitar Pick

To hold a pick in a way that will set you up for success later, follow these steps:

  1. Place the top edge of the pick along the bottom part of your pointer finger. The pick should rest on the side of your finger. See Figure 3.

  2. Place your thumb on the pick so the interior side of your thumb covers the top edge of the pick. The sharp end of the pick should be pointing out from between your fingers almost like a flag. See Figure 4.

  3. Keep your other three fingers relaxed and comfortable while also making sure they don’t accidentally hit the strings while you’re strumming.

Figure 3 - Curl your pointer finger and place the fat end of the pick on the side of your finger. The pointy end of the pick should

Figure 3 - Curl your pointer finger and place the fat end of the pick on the side of your finger. The pointy end of the pick should

Figure 4 - Place the guitar pick between your thumb and pointer fingers as if it were a flag.

Figure 4 - Place the guitar pick between your thumb and pointer fingers as if it were a flag.

I’ve found that this way of holding the pick works for 99% of players, but you may have to play around with it slightly if you are a very young player or you have exceptionally large, or small, hands. Finally, holding your pick like this also allows for better posture by aligning your hand and arm to the strings (see Figure 5).

Figure 5 - Properly holding a guitar pick enables better posture for much easier playing.

Figure 5 - Properly holding a guitar pick enables better posture for much easier playing.