Music playing
The next section is about holding the pick. Now, I have yet to see a video that includes holding the pick, which is one of the most important things that you can do. You watch when you go to concerts and people watching or whenever they watch the guitar player play, they are there. They are watching this in because it looks interesting and it is moving all over the place.
But, this is actually just as important if not, more important. I have so many people come to me and go “You know Charles, I have not been playing guitar for 25 years and I just cannot get it right.” And I am like, “let me hear you play a little and we will see what is wrong and see if we can fix it.”
Once I do, I see they are holding the picks straight in, near by point of the pick like this here and they are doing like this (Music playing) and they will say, “It does not sound good.” Well, of course it does not sound good. They are holding the pick all wrong and that is so important. So, what I am going to do right now is show you how to hold the pick.
Start by holding the pick in the opposite hand that you are going to use. Point it towards the ceiling, so it pick straight up. Once you put your thumb of your right hand what you are going to be holding the pick in or left hand which ever hand you play the guitar with, you strum the guitar with, never let the pick be above your thumb like this, never. Always have it right even with this right here. Otherwise, we can almost put a level on there that would right even with your thumb.
Now, we are going to take your index finger and not like this. I see people holding it like this and holding it like this. You are going to use the side of your index finger, just like this. Almost like, okay. Now, with the point of the pick, once you got it straight up, I want you to pretend that this is the big hand on the clock; turn it also until it reached 10:00.
Like this here, can you see that? Now, I will just strum strings, never and I repeat, never use the point of the pick. Because if you do, when you start to down strum, it is a common mistake beginning guitar students (Music playing). The down strum sound good. But when you go up, it gets all hang up in the strings (Music playing). Once again, you are like, “Man what is wrong?”
You never use the side of the pick or the point of the pick. What you are going to be using is the side of the point of the pick like this (Music playing). Have you ever been to a lake and taken a flat rock and skip it across there? Same thing. Let us imagine this, pretend that this is the water line, okay. And under here, is underneath the water, up here is the air. Same thing with that skip in the rock thing. Never let your pick go in the water like you see here. Can you see that?
So, your pick is below the strings like that in the body, you are dead. Just like skimming that rock. See this? The side and the point of the pick and just evenly (Music playing). Just like this, your wrist, it is all in the wrist. It is not in the arm, which is another common problem I see in my first year guitar students (Music playing). I see them strumming with there arm like grinning through the strings like this here. It is not like that. It is almost like, if you are shaking water from your hand, just like this.
Just nice smooth movements like a pendulum monogram for the clock. It is all in the risk. So, when you strum the guitar (Music playing) see that? See how my wrist is going? Side to side, look at my arm (Music playing) is it moving at all (Music playing) just my wrist (Music playing).
And that is how you want to hold your pick and that is how you want to strum or even if you are picking single notes, the same thing. The side of the point of the pick never put your pick in the water (Music playing). Can you see that? Never let the pick go beneath the strings here. Just glide them, right across the verity (Music playing) just almost like you are polishing the top of the string. That is how you want to pick and that is how you want to strum. Remember, nice and smooth (Music playing) just move the right wrist back and forth, just like that (Music playing).
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