An often overlooked aspect when you are starting the guitar is how to hold your pick.
A lot of times we just kind of pick it up and start using it.
It is very important to start off holding your pick correctly
because it is really going to affect everything, everything you play.
Whether you are picking single notes whether you are strumming etcetera.
Here is how one of my first guitar teachers taught me how to hold the pick.
A little bit cheesy but it works.
First you make a gun with your right hand.
Then you curl your index finger in so that it's touching the palm of your hand
and you place the pick with the large part directly over this joint on your first finger.
Then you bring your thumb and your first finger together you are holding the pick correctly.
Now you want to make sure you are relaxing the rest of your fingers and that you keep this kind of form the whole time.
When you bring this to the body of the guitar and you start strumming it should be directly in line with your playing.
Some common ways that people hold the pick incorrectly are they try to hold it like this.
That works decently well for strumming chords but it is really lousy when you start trying to play individual notes.
There is too much play here.
So again make sure you are holding it like this.
You are leaving just a little bit staying out here to pick your notes and that you are relaxing these other fingers.
All of the movement that you produce with your pick should be coming from your wrist.
As opposed to using your arm or your shoulder.
Again when we start playing scales when you start strumming aggressively if you are using too much of your arm
your shoulder is going to be sore and you are not going to have fun playing.
So make sure you are just using your wrist.
Let's go ahead and look at in the next session a few basic ways to tune your guitar.