Holding pick but playing with the side edge

gypsydream

This becoming hard work. OK. I'm am talking about using the side of a guitar pick rather its point ( the part that the vast majority use) Now, the question is...when picking with side of the pick, how is the pick held? That is ...when looking down at your hand, is the pointed part - the usual striking point -pointing to the left or right - again, in the photos above, the thumb obscures the view.

Carlo Gentenaar

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/108837#Comment_108837

First of all it's not very sympathetic of you to call someone who is trying to help you by responding to your question "daft" is it? And second; have you tried playing with the tip inward and outward and did you hear a difference in sound then? I can't imagine you did. And no if you ask me how to strike the strings for a gypsy jazz sound I would absolutely not tell you to go with whatever you like best.

pdg

Pointed part to the right probably is best -- more stability in the hand.

gypsydream

I was hoping that this topic might have been discussed here or in interviews with top players, and some sort of consensus existed about the best way to hold a pick when playing with the side. A case of "Why try to reinvent the wheel", and all that.

wim

The pointed part should point to the right. Unless you're left handed, then it should point to the left. If you're playing left-handed by turning a right-handed guitar around, then you'll also need to turn the pick upside-down. With the dunlop gator, the dinosaur logo should be facing to the floor. But for the tortex picks, the logo needs to point to the ceiling. This is because tortoises have some difficulty to right themselves when placed upside-down. It's not a matter of what you like best, but what is best for the tortoise!

If you're in the southern hemisphere, the instructions are opposite.

Hope that helps!

Buco

For the sake of reaching consensus, pointy part to the right. Although I never understood this sideways business because you can get Golden Gate or a Dunlop picks with round tips, (popular with mandolin players) and they're just as good, cheap and easy to get and there's no second guessing which way to use them.

gypsydream

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/108849#Comment_108849

Interesting, but it's not a dinosaur on the the gator pick it's...wait for it ...an alliGATOR

Buco

There's been people with excessively sarcastic tone on the forum but boy, you can bat with the best of them. There is a pick with an actual dinosaur graphic, I have/had them but couldn't dig one out now...either way, alligators and dinosaurs stomped the earth at the same time so is it one or the other...

billyshakes

https://djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/108851#Comment_108851

Someone missed the sarcasm in Wim's post. 😜

But, if we are to be lexically semantic about it, the word dinosaur, as is well known, was a neologism constructed by a 19th century paleontologist from words from Ancient Greek through scientific Latin (Linnaean taxonomy) meaning "terrible lizard." The word alligator is largely believed to stem from the Spanish word el lagarto meaning "lizard." Synonyms for terrible are dreadful, horrific, frightful. Antonyms for terrible are delightful, lovely, charming. I daresay most would consider alligators to fall into the former category, not the latter, making it a terrible lizard. Therefore, alligator=dinosaur. QED. 😜😜

Back to the topic. I like Paul's premise that pick tip inward gives better stability.

gypsydream

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/108854#Comment_108854

Surely, you'd have to be dead at least 10 yrs not to get - what you see - as sarcasm! BTW, us Brits are the kings of sarcasm! (it generally goes over the heads of your average American., or so I've been told! )