-
Strumming and Pick Choice
I notice when I am strumming that my hand is very on the strings. I have tried different picks, heavy, medium, thin, but they don’t control the heavy handedness of my strumming. Anyone else having this issue? How did you resolve it?
-
6 Replies
-
Hey @abrew67gmail-com I have a tendency to grip picks too hard and to strum/hit the strings hard. It doesn’t have anything to do with the pick. Check to see that you don’t have a death grip on the pick. Practice on muted strings strumming with a feather-like strum – barely hitting the strings. Then try it without the mute. Missing the strings a few times is notmal when playing/strumming, so don’t worry too much if that happens. Another recent suggestion was for me to get a pair of drum sticks. During idle time or times of mindlessness, hold the drumstick and use it to rock your risk back and forth, as if you were strumming the guitar. It teaches you to hold the drumstick loosely and to only strum with your wrist. It develops muscle memory of the motion and the softness from the motions of strumming. It takes time, practice and patience to overcome a habit of heavy strumming. Be kind to yourself. 🙂 Good luck.
-
Great Advice! I will try them out. Definitely trying to be patient with myself.
-
Another suggestion. Purchase some Gorilla Snot. It will reassure you that the pick won’t turn or fall fro your grip. This gives you permission to strum lightly, barely touching the strings.
-
-
-
@abrew67gmail-com , @Loraine had some great advice. I’ve been working on strumming for 3 1/2 years, and still don’t think I strum well. It’s all in my technique though. I think the pick choice is not the biggest concern. Great players can play with any pick. I have been trying thicker picks lately though, and have been trying VERY, VERY hard to just have 1/4 to 1/8 of the tip exposed. My thumb and index fingers still hit the strings often. Again, technique.
-
I bought a variety pack of picks as I was losing the grip on the one I had. Likely from the hard strumming. Finally settled on a small stiff pick and doing as you say and letting very little show. Still hitting hard, but going to keep at it and do some drum stick exercises as Loraine pointed out.
-
The harder the pick, the harder it is to strum lightly, especially as a beginner. I suggest a .5-.62 thickness until you get better. You will hit the strings hard with a thicker pick, until you get better. I’m nearing 4 years playing, and I still use picks below 1.00. On average I use about .62. Use the harder picks for flatpicking.
-
-
Log in to reply.