Did you ever pay attention to the different pick-holding techniques you see? I did. In fact when I was a kid, playing air guitar, it was my right hand I paid most attention to because I somehow felt like it was the way I held my pick that would determine what kind of guitarist I would be. I noticed that there were quite a lot of differences in the ways that my various role models gripped their picks.
As opposed to the usual thumb-index finger grip, Eddie Van Halen tends to hold his using his middle finger and thumb. However, Metallica front man James Hetfield uses his thumb, fore finger and index finger. Pat Metheny holds his like Hetfield does, except he uses the round end rather than the pointed end, and he is not alone in this; George Lynch does the same, as does Stevie Ray Vaughan. The reason for this isn’t entirely clear, but Stevie was once cited as claiming that this method allows for more ‘string attack’. Beating all others for ingenuity however has to be Jimmy Rogers and Freddie King who were both able to use two picks at the same time!
The next thing that I noticed about pick preferences was the motion itself. Personally, I always thought circle picking was a little OTT and probably should have seen the end of days along with the end of glam rock, however it does seem to keep appearing. I think that in terms of effect, it is difficult to immediately spot the difference between alternate and economy from a distance. However, since I have now progressed from air guitar to real guitar, I have to say that economy picking is what has prevailed for me as my natural choice. I understand that this has been the choice of many others as well, including I’m pleased to say some of the greats!
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