Great lesson for someone like me just learning guitar while playing banjo for 4 years. Naturally want to anchor because of banjo so helpful to practice open and closed. Notice learning guitar has helped my banjo, too, especially practicing finger style as well as flat picking. Lotssssss to learn on both instruments so really appreciate how you break things down.
Discuss the Guitar lesson: Guitar Pick Hand Study
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Great lesson! I thought I generally had good pick hold position but then I went to play and realized I hold the pick with my index and middle finger along with my thumb! Do u think that it’s a bad habit I should change or do u think it’s not a big deal?
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I would try holding with just thumb and index for a while, as I show in the video, and see what fruit it produces. Keep me posted!
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Wow!! I’ve been playing guitar off and on since I was in high school. I took a few lessons from people but they never mentioned anything about how to hold the pick. I just held it like I thought it was supposed to be held. I learned a few songs and could do decent with them but any song that was at a faster tempo I would get so much tension in my hand. I tried working on what was causing the tension but I got so frustrated multiple times that I just put the guitar down and would play my banjo instead. After watching this lesson I realized I’ve been holding my pick wrong all along and I wasn’t rotating my wrist.
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Right now I probably feel like Ben did when he realized he had his banjo picks on backwards 
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To come close to that distinction, you’d probably have to hold the “drop” end of tear-drop pick and pick with the other end! 
Good memory though!
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Awesome man!! It’s a long journey to be on but just noticing this and learning a solid grip/position is the most crucial part. It’s easy to get used to a grip that limits your power/tone/flexibility, so it’s great that you’re making a conscious effort now.
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That was a great lesson . Do you change from open hand position to closed hand position in the same song. This one lesson was worth the membership price.
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Yes, I may do that from time to time when the tempo is at a certain speed and I’m attempting a technique that prefers one position over the other. I’m getting to where more and more I like the closed rhythm position, so I’ll switch when I go to arpeggiated crosspicking type stuff.
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Maybe in a future segment you could address pick angle as the pick hits the strings and what’s best for speed while still keeping good tone?
Great session, thanks!
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Yes, I was going to make the same comment about pick angle.
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Well, I’ve practiced with holding my pick the right way and it’s definitely something that will just take time getting use to again. I can play fast and precise when holding it the wrong way but then I feel clumsy doing it the right way so it’s hard to consistently practice with the right way. Thanks for your help!
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Love this lesson. I just came back to it when I’m questioning my existential musical existence. lol. I get lazy sometimes and need a recalibrate my picking hand.
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Is it forming a bad habit or bad practice to use a thumb pick with the guitar? I am learning banjo also and it just feels better.
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Lots of great guitar players use a thumbpick, but it’s primarily a different style than bluegrass flatpicking. I’ve known just a couple folks who could legit mimic the bluegrass flatpicking sound with a thumbpick, and not many even try.
Personally I’ve tried, but the lack of “give” in a thumbpick makes it hard for me to strum the way I can with a flatpick.
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watch Tommy Emmanuel play with a thumb pick Chet Atkins style. Its incredible. He’s my guitar hero. I met him at Old Settlers Music Festival a couple years ago. It’s even more impressive in person.
He explains his technique here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm2ODiNUhac
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For someone just learning to use the wrist in the way you teach, is it normal for me to feel a little out of control as I strum? Will this improve with time and practice?
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Yes, and yes 
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Thanks!
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Ah this lesson is a great help! Couple things I noticed when spending a lot of time strumming and evolving my grip after watching. 1. Creating a sort of barrier with the contact point between the inside bone of my thumb and the top of the index finger, letting the outside of the thumb relax up, just a shade, keeps the pick from slipping deeper into the grip. 2. I gotta work on keeping my lazy X from getting too lazy. My index finger likes to wander out and I sometimes catch strings with that fingertip.
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