Right hand Problems

[FretRage]

I have a problem with my right hand while picking. my pinky tends to magically set itself on the pickgaurd while playing. I know it slows my speed down but i can't seem to break the habbit.
HELP

[Krieselman13]

I have the sort of the same problem but even worse. I keep all my fingers but my index and thumb on the pick guard. I know it slows down my playing also. So, does anybody have any tips on what I should to to stop this; its gotten to be a bad habit.

[smfulla]

I sued to have the same trouble
But then I saw the way Kirk Hammett played, and emulated the way he played. So I guess, practising with the other way should help.

[barbietta]

What's a pickguard?

[slaughteredsoul]

lol wow i was too embaressed to ask hehe

[jaytee]

not all guitars have pickguards...

if you have one...it is the sheet of plastic resin that is attached to the body near the soundhole (acoustic) or under the strings by the pickups (electric) so that when you strum vigorously you dont wreck the finish on your guitar....

:)

--jt

[Phil]

Originally posted by slaughteredsoul
lol wow i was too embaressed to ask hehe

LOL! Sorry, just found the way you said that funny.

[slaughteredsoul]

LOL!!! ok im even more embaressed now but at least i know what a pick guard is.:)

[Phil]

You got the info, that's all that matters :)

[slaughteredsoul]

yup,true :) and now that i know what a pickguard is,same problem!! sometimes i keep my fingers on the strings while picking,and that messes me up a lot when i come to pick that particular string where my pinky and ring finger are resting..so how is it that kirk hammet plays,and what other way are you talking about?(smfulla)

[smfulla]

the 'other' way I was talking about was kirk hammett's and many other guitarists way. Now you said when you play you rest your pinky and other fingers on the pick guard/body. Well Kirk Hammett's style (most of the time) is to keep his middle, ring, and pinky semi-outstretched. I find this helps when going from picking to tapping. At first it'll seem abit... wierd, but with the fingers outstretched it reduces the risk of catching the strings, other than keeping your fingers behind your pick, which also slows down the movement from picking to tapping (obviously only a little bit, but when shredding, it all counts =]
Like I said before, practising should help

[gck]

1) I understand what smfulla means and I also play like that, with middle, ring and pinky outstretched.

2) About the anchoring with the pinky: for alternate picking anchoring the pinky is ok, it might even help you to develop a good alternate picking movement. I also do that when I'm picking on a single string only, however, when it comes to string skipping on non adjacent strings, I usually pick up the pinky again.
Tip: to my mind, it's much easier to pick without anchoring anything down if you have practiced a bit fingerpicking: get a fingerpicking practice which also includes fingerings (which strings to pluck with index, ring, middle) and do that: due to the fact that you have to hit each string with a specific finger, you will very quickly get the feeling of "where" a string is and therefore greatly improve your picking as well!

3) A pickguard on an acoustic (of which not all have one) is usually dark plate of a hard material (horn, "turtle" imitate, whatever) below the sound hole which should protect that area of being hit with a pick too often, hence "pickguard". On an electric, it's that plate that covers the cavities with the electronics.

4) I'm not sure, but I think Sheryl Crow sometimes anchors down middle, ring and pinky on the pickguard while picking. I saw it on the "Eric Clapton & Friends in Concert" DVD -> bad technique, if you would ask me :)