Technical Tip #3: The Right Hand Get a Grip (But Not Too Tight)

I am going to be real basic here, and talk about a problem that often begins right at the beginning for players. It is often overlooked, and takes root as a major handicap for future playing. I am talking about the right hand of the pick style player.

Here's the point. Most people tend to grip the pick too tight! They have A LOT of extra tension in their hand that they don't recognize as tension. It feels normal to them. Then, to make matters worse, when they contact the strings with the pick for a note or a strum, they tighten their hand even more without knowing it.

Don't do this! Look at your right hand as you play. Here are two tip-offs that you have extra tension: the fingers not holding the pick curl into the hand, as if to make a fist, or the wrist presses itself onto the face of the guitar, while the unfortunate guitarist continues to play as well as they can under the circumstances. (Another sign will be pressing on the guitar with the pinky).

The fingers holding the pick, and indeed the whole right hand, must be trained to be a sensitive instrument that is always responding to the needs of each playing situation. If a harder attack is desired, the hold on the pick will increase slightly, but never more than necessary. And you will never maintain that extra tension after it is not needed anymore.