Pick or No Pick

Let's talk guitar picks briefly. Using a guitar pick is a matter of preference. Some prefer to simply use their thump and/or fingers to strum and play the guitar. There is a pretty distinctive sound difference. A pick usually brings out a much louder and crisper tone while using your thumb and fingers will likely give you a softer tone. I prefer to use a pick, my dad prefers to not use a pick.

If you are going to use a pick, one of the first things you are going to need to learn is how to hold the pick. Although it seems like a simple thing at first there is a right way and many wrong ways to hold a pick. It will not likely come naturally and most likely you will revert to simply using your thumb at some point or another. But if you stick to it, holding and using a pick will become second nature after a while.

Instead of trying to describe how to hold the pick, I will point you at another one of my early resources for online lessons. The following is a youtube video of Jen on Mahalo.com. Mahalo has videos for everything including guitar lessons. You should definitely check out their other lessons if you get a chance.