I recently noticed that the overwhelming majority of players tend to hold their pick with their thumb straight and the tip of their index finger is presumably slightly curled to grip the underside of the pick. My thumb is “cocked.” Essentially, I pinch the pick, except for it tends to rest slightly off to the side of my index finger. I can’t be the only one who does this, surely? I mean, make a kung fu fist—my index finger and thumb hold the pick in a similar position, though not that extreme.
1 Like
Dave Mustaine does.
Its a really good grip too, try most his rythem stuff and that grip is what lets him do it fluidly.
2 Likes
Yep! That’s it! Thanks!!!
Idk if it’ll help at all, but I know from my own experiance if I don’t think my picking looks cool, it’s not valid to me, really stupid, but I’ve sufferd with that for many years now.
The techniqe you are doing definitely looks cool. It looks agressive. Might be my own personal issue…
2 Likes
It doesn’t matter to me how it looks, really. It’s just wild that I’ve played for so long and just recently noticed almost everyone plays with their thumb straight. It’s weird. Because if I curl my index finger and leave the other fingers fanned out without curling my thumb, it creates an odd and unpleasant sensation in my wrist. But I know I’ve seen a couple players do it my way. But I sure can’t seem to think of them right now. I’m just glad you came up with Mustaine. Thanks!
Looks like Uli does it as well.
I do this, I’m a nobody but I definitely picked it up consciously or subconsciously from watching Mustaine a lot.
2 Likes
Tony MacAlpine does something like you describe during his fast alternate picking passages - thumb is very bent at the knuckle. Linked to an example:
3 Likes
Man, he plays so smooth, like yeah, just waitin for the next track, lol