Trouble holding the pick correctly

I have been playing for years and have found myself getting lax on holding my pick tight enough for it to stay in the right position. When I am thinking about it, I do okay but as soon as I let lose, I find my pick sliding a little. Anyone else with this problem and what are you doing about it? I try to practice the correct way and hope that will over come my bad habit. Thanks in advance.

The picks also makes a difference. I dont remember what picks I used to have (might even be a "no namer") but it would always slide. I thaught it was normal and I learned to live with it. Untill I baught dunlop's tortex picks and it dosnt slide anymore (heavier guage to). Thats for my types of fingers ;)
Go to the nearest music shop and buy 10 different brand of picks. Also different gauge if you want to fully experiment. Play around and make your pick (wow thats a poor joke :p)

Originally Posted by: SebastBergThe picks also makes a difference. I dont remember what picks I used to have (might even be a "no namer") but it would always slide. I thaught it was normal and I learned to live with it. Untill I baught dunlop's tortex picks and it dosnt slide anymore (heavier guage to). Thats for my types of fingers ;)
Go to the nearest music shop and buy 10 different brand of picks. Also different gauge if you want to fully experiment. Play around and make your pick (wow thats a poor joke :p)

Thanks a lot. Good idea. I have had picks with ridges where you hold them and I don't think they slipped as bad. I don't recall what brand they were but I will get a few different kind of picks when I get my new guitar.

You should be able to hold any pick firmly... they make some picks out of Lexan, a very hard plastic that looks almost like glass... very smooth and "slippy" but many players swear by them. When your pick moves around, or worse, flies out of your hand, its most likely because you're not keeping enough contact on the pick with your thumb and forefinger (or 2nd finger if you're different!) and its usually the thumb that's misbehaving. The best "clamp" you can make between your thumb and finger is to keep your thumb straight. But this usually isn't all that comfortable, so we tend to bend our thumbs a bit... bending your thumb too much though will cause your thumb pad to rise off the pick, and allow it to move. When you're "letting loose" try to pay attention to how you're actually gripping the pick.. what parts of your thumb and finger are making contact. If you're bending your thumb a lot, you'll need to move the pick a little more to the side of your finger to keep a good clamp on it.

Hope this helps!

You could try scratching the surface with a sharp object. It puts a grit onto the pick. Helped me before i switched to tortex. :)

The type of pick you use definitely has a big effect on how well your able to hold on to it. I started using 2mm and 3mm Dunlop Big Stubby picks while studying Jazz. Needless to say, pick droppage became a thing of the past. Big Stubbys are great as they have an indented area which gives you a much better grip. Also, the thicker picks seem a lot easier to hold on to.

When I was recording acoustics on my sisters album, the producer decided it was a good idea that I used the thinnest pick possible. I think they were 0.4mm or something like that. Anyway, while I was playing the pick kept turning around in my hand. Not great for a stressful recording situation. Morale of the story, if you can handle it then use a thick pick. Anything over 1mm should solve your pick droppage problems.

Hey Y'all,
Here's a web site to check out some picks...
http://www.jimdunlop.com/product/Primetone-picks
Happy pick hunting
Gordon