How to Hold a Guitar Pick Correctly
Pick grip seems like a minor detail next to playing technique itself, but it's exactly what decides whether the pick gets stuck between strings, whether the hand tires out in five minutes, and whether you can play fast without tension.
How many fingers hold the pick
The pick is held by the thumb and index finger; the other three stay free, slightly curled, neither clenched into the palm nor splayed out - they don't take part in the grip, but their tension (a clenched fist or, on the other end, fully straightened fingers) transfers into the wrist and gets in the way there, not in the grip itself.
How much pick sticks out
Only a little should stick out - roughly the tip of the pick, 3-5 millimeters. If too much sticks out, the tip flexes too much on impact and catches on the strings; if barely anything sticks out, the sound gets quieter and duller, because the strike ends up flat instead of sharp.
An angle of attack, not dead perpendicular
A pick held dead perpendicular to the string catches on it more than a pick angled slightly diagonally (usually 10-20 degrees) - that one glides across the string instead of striking it head-on. It's this small angle of attack, not just how hard you strike, that decides how easily the pick passes through the string.
Grip strength: holding, not squeezing
Too tight a grip is the most common cause of hand fatigue and a 'choked' sound - the pick only needs enough pressure to not slip out on impact, nothing more. A simple check: if your fingers tire out faster than your wrist does from the motion itself after a minute of playing, the grip is too tight.
How to check your grip in practice
Play for a few minutes at a comfortable tempo and notice exactly where fatigue shows up first - if it's the thumb and index finger before the wrist, the grip is probably too tight or the pick angle is off. A correctly set grip is the last thing among the muscles involved to get tired.
Try it in practice
Open the metronome