How hard do I pick?

[Ed DeGenaro]

... and also: How hard do you?

Now, that title sounds weird, doesn't it?
But in fact, I really don't know.

Fwiw, I am no n00b by any means, studied that stuff, teached for ages, make my living by playing, yada yada. Just so you know this is not some weird random, rethoric, tricky or whatever question.

I simply have *no* idea about how hard I pick in comparison to others.
What I did however notice is that I seem to have more issues with breaking strings than others (which is why I have Graphtech saddles on most of my live axes). I did however always relate that to playing lots of kinda funky stuff, which, at least in my guitarverse, seem to require hard picking.
Further, I recently noticed that I can play some things a little faster (and more accurate) when picking lighter.
Then, I just learned that Paul Gilbert (defenitely someone featuring a somewhat "decent" picking technique, ahem...) would use a very light pick and apparently also not pick too hard.

But then: What actually is not too hard? Where does it start and stop? Is there a happy (or even ideal) medium? From all I remember, not even picking nerds such as Troy Grady have ever measured picking strength scientifically. So how do I find out about a) the best picking strength and b) where I stand in comparison?

Anyone with any ideas on how to best explore this subject?

I used to whack the holy hell out of the strings but fir about the last year or two i actually concentrate on getting the same big whack/attack just by way of rest stroke, and then pick super light and then pick light and grip the pick as loosely as possible.
Seems to work for any grip whether traditional, Gypsy or Benson.

 

[Joshual-L]

Depends also on :

how loose your wrist is
How firm you hold your picks with your thumb
How deep you pick into the strings
Wich angle you attack the strings
How pointy your pick is
Wich material will it’s made

Just choose the wrong pick and all of your picking is going to hell.

Pro player here too (bla-bla-bla). I hit hard the string too and really hard on stage, I have maybe broke strings 10 times on stage in my entire life.

It depends on so many things …

Also depends on your nut shape, vibrato etc

 

[Eagle]

Depends also on :

how loose your wrist is
How firm you hold your picks with your thumb
How deep you pick into the strings
Wich angle you attack the strings
How pointy your pick is
Wich material will it’s made

Just choose the wrong pick and all of your picking is going to hell.

Pro player here too (bla-bla-bla). I hit hard the string too and really hard on stage, I have maybe broke strings 10 times on stage in my entire life.

It depends on so many things …

Also depends on your nut shape, vibrato etc

Yes it’s about tone and your own ability to pick with efficiency.

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

Yes it’s about tone and your own ability to pick with efficiency.

Imo it’s about the tone and articulation, at one point efficiency is nothing more than the hope to get to stuff I learned can/could/should be subservient so to say.

I gladly spent way too much time learning to play a part in an inefficient way when the result is preferable to me or whoever ask.

 

[TSJMajesty]

I'll pick hard enough to break strings, if I'm having trouble hearing myself live.

 

[metropolis_4]

How hard I pick, what type of pick I use, and where in the string I pick is all related to the dynamics of the music and the tone, texture, and attack quality I’m trying to achieve

 

[DrewJD82]

How hard I pick, what type of pick I use, and where in the string I pick is all related to the dynamics of the music and the tone, texture, and attack quality I’m trying to achieve

This, this, this and more this.

If I’m playing a Fear Factory cover my right hand is doing something ENTIRELY differently than if I’m doing my own music or something like a Gilmour solo, just as the way I dial in the gear for each is entirely different.

With high gain modern stuff, I go for that 50/50 relationship where without a heavy right hand, the amp isn’t going to sound as distorted as it needs to be for that kind of tone, nor do I like hard noise gates, so my muting is very different. With less gain I’m relying on a lot less right hand (picking hand) attack and muting.

 

[la szum]

I sometimes think monotheism has fucked a lot of us in the head.

It leads us to falsely imagine and conceptualize that there is only the one way..... the one singular approach....
the eternal and never-ending answer. It may be imagined, too.

When I look at the world I see different methods for different situations. It's all about context. Set and setting
matter. Hard and soft and everything in between is good---even when it comes to eggs. Why would it not
be so for picking..... or literally everything else under the Sun?

 

[la szum]

This, this, this and more this.

If I’m playing a Fear Factory cover my right hand is doing something ENTIRELY differently than if I’m doing my own music or something like a Gilmour solo, just as the way I dial in the gear for each is entirely different.

With high gain modern stuff, I go for that 50/50 relationship where without a heavy right hand, the amp isn’t going to sound as distorted as it needs to be for that kind of tone, nor do I like hard noise gates, so my muting is very different. With less gain I’m relying on a lot less right hand (picking hand) attack and muting.

Totally! After butt-strumming an acoustic for 10 years, when I went back to electric my right hand was way too
strong and dominant. It kind of still is. I need to lighten up even more. It just makes the digging in sound that
much more bold and impactful by contrast.

 

[FuzzyAce]

I picked so hard once that my nose bled.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Fwiw, it's not about picking harder for some stuff and softer for different stuff. It's sooooo obvious that each and every player worth his salt is doing that, feels like being a nanny having to even mention it. This is not about any "picking 101".

 

[Eagle]

Just like a car accelerator has nothing to do with revs. .

 

[Sascha Franck]

Just like a car accelerator has nothing to do with revs. .

Proving it yet again, eh?

 

[Eagle]

You can’t divorce the effects of how hard you pick and the consequences. The instrument and the sound dictate this. A discussion about the subject without this is beyond dumb.

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

Just like a car accelerator has nothing to do with revs. .

How about using the right technique or articulation? Rest stroke is loud AF done right and you’d never do it for shred licks…

 

[Sascha Franck]

You can’t divorce the effects of how hard you pick and the consequences.

I don't.
You just don't understand.
That's a whole lot of a difference.

 

[norminal]

Just don’t think too hard about it. Just pick.

 

[Eagle]

I don't.
You just don't understand.
That's a whole lot of a difference.

You just don’t know what you don’t understand.

 

[Sascha Franck]

You just don’t know what you don’t understand.

Blablabla.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Ok, reviving this thread for a bit.
I actually worked on my picking during the last months and there's noticeable improvements here and there. Which IMO also have to do with picking strength.
First thing I noticed was that I just needed a certain picking strength for certain things, especially when trying to "milk" certain notes. So that had to stay at least sort of.
Otoh, for faster runs, things seem to become noticeably easier when I pick somewhat softer (in combination with not digging into the strings just as deep).
Now, at first this sounds like "so, with faster runs we don't need to sound as articulate?" - but in fact, IMO the opposite is the case, at least on any kind of overdriven sounds, note separation actually seems to become better when picking a tad softer. Makes sense physically as well, as the string amplitude is lower, hence there's less sharpness following the attack (which can always become an issue with hard picking).

In a nutshell, I like that kinda progress (fwiw, I'm not particularly picking faster now, but things feel more relaxed).
One problem remaining would still be clean leads. I just like to pick clean leads harder, so I'm not exactly sure yet what to make out of things.

Fwiw, I found it to be a decent balanced picking strength when trying to pick as hard as my fingers in hybrid picking mode. Not too easy to get there, though.