How to hold guitar and pick

Fundamental Techniques for Electric Guitar

Hi, guys. I just wanted to share with you some of the fundamental techniques for electric guitar.

How to Hold the Guitar

We're going to start really basic, beginning with something as simple as how to hold the guitar.

• Positioning: Most of the time, electric guitar players will sit the guitar across their right leg, with the neck going across the body.
• Neck Control: One thing to be careful of when you're practicing or playing at home is not to allow the neck of the guitar to descend towards the floor. We want to keep it nice and level, maybe even slightly upright. If it starts going towards the floor, you'll end up with a bad hand position on your left hand.

Good Posture

It's easy to be relaxed while sitting at home, which is great, but we want to avoid:

• Bad Posture: Resting the forearm of your fretting hand on your leg while playing. This can lead to pain in your forearm.
• Arm Placement: Avoid having your elbow digging into your chest, as that restricts your movement on the guitar.

So, sit with the guitar across your body, not pointing too much towards the floor or the ceiling, just nice and level. Keep your elbow relaxed, and let everything feel reasonably natural.

Right Hand Technique

For the right hand, you will probably be using a pick. If you've chosen this course for popular music, you'll use a pick 99% of the time.

• Holding the Pick: Hold the pick between your thumb and your first finger. Choose a pick with a pointy end.
  • Place your thumb across so the point is sticking out underneath your thumb joint.
  • Tuck your first finger behind your thumb.

"The reason to avoid this: if your first finger goes down, your fingernail can hit the strings first, and it doesn't sound great."

So, tuck that first finger out of the way so you can show the pick to the strings.

Pick Pressure

• Grip Strength: Don't hold the pick too tightly. Just hold it tightly enough so that you don't drop it.
• Adjusting the Pick: Adjust the amount of pick that you show to the strings depending on your playing style:
  • For intricate playing, show a minimal amount of pick.
  • For strumming, you can afford to show a little more.

You can maneuver the pick between your thumb and first finger without needing to move it with your other fingers.

Other Finger Positions

• Finger Positioning: My personal preference is to have my other fingers relaxed and slightly splayed out. This provides easy access to my volume and tone controls, and allows for some finger-picking techniques.
• If you prefer, you can bunch your fingers into a light fist, but remember: nothing about playing guitar should be tense.

"Adopt a nice and relaxed posture while experimenting. See which finger positioning you prefer!"

Conclusion

Feel free to experiment and see how you get on!