How to Choose the Right Guitar Pick for You

There are many guitar pick manufacturers out there today, with tons of different sizes, types, and shapes of guitar picks. But how do you know whicih one is right for you? I am here to provide some personal tips on how to pick which guitar pick is right for you.

Start Small

Starting with the more thin models of guitar picks is ideal, as they won't jump away from you when you're playing guitar. Newer guitar players seems to have less of a grip, which can be due to no callus' on their fingers. If a newer guitar player is playing, they also tend to get a little sweatier than a more experienced player, creating a sort of lubrication between their fingers, and the guitar pick itself. This is a major problem since it can mess up a your learning progression when learning a new song, chords, or scales.

The lightest and thinnest sizes of guitar picks are generally Guitar Pick Evolution

As your playing evolves your gutiar pick selection should as well. Once you can play the basic chords, the basic power chords, and some major and minor scales, I suggest that it is time for a guitar pick upgrade. Now you should be looking at mediums, or even heavy guitar picks, depending on what your preference is. By now you should have developed at least minor callus', which help grip the guitar pick. Some guitar picks, such as Jim Dunlop guitar picks, have built in grips, making it easier to grip altogether.

Medium and heavy picks are classified in size by 0.73 millimeters, which is the smallest medium guitar pick size, to 1.20 millimeters, the biggest heavy guitar pick size.

Medium and heavy guitar picks help with pinch harmonics, single note picking, pick slides, and more. The smallest guitar picks cannot really do that nearly as well as the mediums and heavy guitar picks.

The Monsters

There is another category of guitar picks, which are the biggest and heaviest. The "extra heavy/thick" guitar picks are about >1.50 millimeters in size. With your playing experience by now, you can handle these big guitar picks, but sticking with a medium or heavy guitar pick may suit your style better anyway. I personally play with heavy guitar picks since they perfectly balance my playing. These extra heavy guitar picks are too clumsy and big for me, so i don't trust them nearly as much as my heavy ones.

The Encore

Picking your guitar pick may be vital to your guitar playing. Start small and work our way up in size. As callus' form on your fingers, it gets easier to grip the guitar pick. Getting a brand of guitar picks with a built in grip, like Jim Dunlop, may help maximize your playing altogether, but that's pure preference of course.

Questions/comments? E-mail me at chem1calburn@yahoo.com or simply message me via Associated Content.