In this lesson we will learn how to use the pick.

We will be playing on your guitar strings in this lesson. Because we will not be using any of our left hand fingers to create notes, we will be playing on open strings. Open strings are those that are not being touched by our left hand.

You may be wondering about tuning the guitar before working on this lesson. Tuning is not necessary at this point, however, if you really want to tune your guitar first, you can skip to the next lesson. Just be sure to return to this one after you've tuned your guitar!

The pick moves two ways on a string - down and up. Down is called a downstroke and up is an upstroke. Most of the time downstrokes are followed by upstrokes, moving back and forth.

The reason the pick rests against the side of your finger is because you have to be able to change the angle of the pick depending on whether your playing a downstroke:



or an upstroke:



Notice how the angle of the pick changes as you stroke down or up.

Get into playing position. Position your pick on the top side of your biggest string - the sixth string - and slowly, one at a time play six downstrokes across every string from your sixth to your first. Don't pause after every note - keep the pick moving until it's played every string. Try to keep the loudness and the rhythm even. When you've finished playing all six strings, then reverse the angle of the pick by using a swiveling motion, much like turning a doorknob, and play the same thing as a series of six upstrokes. You have just strummed the guitar down then up, but in slow motion.

If you feel the pick slipping from your grip as you do this, then you need to add a little more pressure, however, make sure the pick remains angled so the strings slide off it easily.

Most of the time you will not be playing all six strings at once, unless you are strumming chords. Playing notes and melodies requires picking one string at a time. Select one string - it doesn't matter which one, and play a series of downstrokes and upstrokes on the one string until it feels natural to you. Use the swiveling motion mentioned above to go from downstrokes to upstrokes. If you drop the pick every once it a while, don't worry about it. Play the repeated notes as slow or fast as you like, but make sure the rhythm and loudness is even between down and upstrokes.

After you have mastered playing repeated notes on one string, work the other ones to get a feel for their different thicknesses.

When you are comfortable with your pick technique, you are ready for the next lesson, where you will get it all in tune!