Building a Foundation, Pt. V – Picking Hand Position

      Last month I discussed the different variants of how to hold the guitar pick; this month’s post will discuss hand position when picking. No matter how the student holds the pick, their hand position is generally adjusted over time for maximum effectiveness. To clarify, a picking hand position differs from a strumming hand position as the picking position is one the hand assumes when playing things such as individual notes, power chords or palm muting. Whereas, a strumming hand position is one the hand takes when playing multi-string chords such as the open “E” which requires all six strings. A player will need to master each position and easily switch between them depending upon the musical situations.     

      As an advanced player, my picking hand position leans back onto palm of my hand. The hand is anchored so that it has a stable base from which to play from resulting in an accurate pick attack and clearer, well defined notes. If the hand is not anchored and

Anchored Hand Position - best for individual note picking



 floats above the strings when playing, picking will become inaccurate and notes will not sound clearly. Although the floating hand may not be optimal for single picking and the like, it is the hand position of choice for strumming.

 

Floating Hand Position - more suited for strumming 

 

      For many students anchoring the hand from the palm is not a desirable position when they first start to play; therefore, I have them adopt a modified anchor position. In the modified anchor position the hand is anchored by the “extended” fingers of the

 Modified Anchor Position

 

fan formation (see June post on Pick Basics) as opposed to the palm. Then, over the course of weeks as a student develops picking facility the hand is gradually adjusted to the anchor position. Next, month I’ll be discussing the three basic types of picking that  beginning students will need to be familiar with– til’ then!

Building a Foundation, Pt. IV - Pick Basics

         When most players are starting out they will be using a pick or plectrum to play the guitar. Although there are slight differences in how the guitar pick is held from player to player, generally it is held between the thumb and index finger.

Pick is held between thumb & index finger

The thumb should be straight and relaxed to avoid tension build-up, while the index finger is slightly curled to avoid interference with the strings when playing. Moreover, in my experience the more a

                              Index finger curls to avoid strings


player “chokes-up” on a pick the more control one will have – i.e. the less of the point of the pick a player uses the easier the pick is to control. This is especially true when playing single notes as opposed to chord strumming.

                                                          

                                      Choking-up on the pick

                                                                   

 

Not choking-up on the pick

          Another consideration to mention regarding “Pick Basics” is how the pick is held in conjunction with the rest of the hand. There are three formations that the hand will generally take when playing: the fan, fist or cup. First, in the fan formation the fingers which are not holding the pick (middle, ring and pinky) are outstretched and slightly bent at the second knuckle to create a relaxed hand. This formation takes its name from the outstretched fingers mimicking the “guard-sticks” of a hand fan. Second, the fist formation has the remaining fingers actually “tucked” into the hand as if making a fist. Third, the cupped formation is somewhere between the fan and fist, as the remaining fingers curl-up to “cup” the hand.

 Fan

Fist

                                                                         

Cup

          The hand formation a player adopts seems to be of natural occurrence. I have experimented with all three and favor the fan or cupped formation as my hand feels relaxed and the weight more evenly distributed throughout. Conversely, the fist formation feels “heavier” or “awkward” and my hand tends to tense-up. Needless say, with my students I tend to stress extending the fingers outward in a relaxed manner when playing.
           I hope this has provided some food for thought as next month we’ll be continuing with more building blocks to be covered in the first lesson.

Building a Foundation, Pt. III - Naming the Strings

            It may seem like a trivial thing to mention, but since these first few posts are dealing with the initial guitar lesson Naming the Strings is on my “To Do” list. I generally like to introduce the strings of the guitar in conjunction with a diagram that the student can refer back to. Moreover, I emphasize that this is a diagram they will want to become familiar with as they will be seeing it or something similar many more times.
          Since the strings of the guitar are named by both numbers and letters, I prefer to introduce the “numbers” first as it is easier for a student to memorize. We do discuss the letter names in the first lesson, but naming strings by letter is stressed as we delve into sight reading, movable chords and basic improvisation.