# Benson Picking



## FWB (Feb 14, 2010)

Has anyone messed around with this? It's like holding the pick with the "OK" gesture, and inverting the thumb joint. It reverses the angle of the pick with relation to the standard style of holding a pick, with the pad of the thumb and side of the index finger.

The Tuck and Patti article, which I'm sure many here have seen, claims it allows easier use of oscillation when picking from the wrists, and can be sped up to 20 NPS with minimal tension. I think it does help a little with tremolo picking like this, but whenever I change strings, it seems to immediately get caught on a string and stop. Not cool.

Shawn Lane apparently picks like this, and he didn't seem to have any trouble


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## darbdavys (Feb 14, 2010)

If that's what I think you're talking about, then Bulb picks this way. and, as we all know, he pwns


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## ShadyDavey (Feb 14, 2010)

I can't do it - SO very uncomfortable as the flexibility of my thumb simply does not allow me to position the pick appropriately. I wish I could but hey, there are plenty of other rapid pickers who don't pick that way so there's hope yet I guess


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## Keytarist (Feb 14, 2010)

I have read it on the Tuck and Patti site, but I can't get it. Would you like to explain it easily?. I wish that I could see a picture or video.
Seems very interesting, it is new for me.


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## damigu (Feb 14, 2010)

i've tried it, but it doesn't feel good on my thumb knuckle.


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## SevenStringSam (Feb 14, 2010)

i do it naturally. it is just so fluid feeling


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## FWB (Feb 14, 2010)

Keytarist said:


> I have read it on the Tuck and Patti site, but I can't get it. Would you like to explain it easily?. I wish that I could see a picture or video.
> Seems very interesting, it is new for me.


 
The best description I can think of is to keep your fingers like this picture, except you invert the first knuckle joint so that is points toward the palm, instead of away from the palm. This should reverse the angle of the pick with respect to the standard way of holding a pick.


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## Keytarist (Feb 14, 2010)

Thanks a lot for your description. I found a thread that can be very useful for you (from this forum).http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/music-theory-lessons-and-techniques/17135-shawn-lane-tone.html


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## splinter8451 (Feb 14, 2010)

Man I tried picking like that for a few minutes and it did feel good on the strings but it killed my thumb 

I think Ill stick to the way I normally pick


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## Keytarist (Feb 14, 2010)

I have a problem with this. My pick slips so easily!. Do you know what I'm doing wrong?. Picking feels better, and smoother than standard picking, but playing normally I have much more grip.


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## MaxOfMetal (Feb 14, 2010)

Perhaps if I had leaned this 6 or 7 years prior it would be worth the learning curve. It's certainly interesting, and I can see how it's mastery would be great, but it's too late for me to relearn how to pick.


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## Hollowway (Feb 15, 2010)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Perhaps if I had leaned this 6 or 7 years prior it would be worth the learning curve. It's certainly interesting, and I can see how it's mastery would be great, but it's too late for me to relearn how to pick.



Totally. I got waaaay too many other things I royally suck at to start relearning my picking style.


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## xtrustisyoursx (Feb 15, 2010)

Tosin holds the pick this way. It does help to have what I've heard called a "hitchhiker's thumb"


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## includao (Feb 15, 2010)

i have normal thumbs and i can do the same benson picking technique without any undue tension. 


the problem is not with the THUMB. the pick position changes the ATTACK ANGLE. the attack angle make you concentrate yourself from movements of the wrist


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## Keytarist (Feb 15, 2010)

How do you manage to keep the pick without it sliping?. That was the first issue I had with this technique after reading this thread. 
And, for the players that already achieved this technique, does it really let you play faster and better?.


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## xtrustisyoursx (Feb 16, 2010)

i've always played this way most of the time, esp for rhythm stuff.


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## MF_Kitten (Feb 16, 2010)

i´m trying to change the way i pick, and the way i hold the actual pick. not comfortable! 

i´ve been using the "pinch" grip on the pick, and picking flat onto the strings. i´m trying to change my grip and picking style so it´s at an angle, so i can go through the strings easier and with less resistance. my hand wants to hold the pick in the way i´ve done it from the beginning, but i´m trying to override it. not easy.

this pick holding style looks painful though. i´ve got some weird tremolo picking techniques that just sorta resulted from me not being very good. Dendroaspis said i tremolo pick almost like marty friedman, but not exactly the same. i had to check it on youtube, and indeed it´s kinda similar 

it´s hard to explain, and i´ll have to show it in a vid sometime...


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## etiam (Feb 16, 2010)

I'm wondering whether the grip itself or the angle of the pick attack is the more important variable here. Since it seems that a number of the guys given as examples are double-jointed--and since guys like Paul Gilbert can shred all day long with a relatively normal grip (albeit, once again, at an angle)--the grip is not quite as important as the attack angle.


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## Cancer (Feb 16, 2010)

etiam said:


> I'm wondering whether the grip itself or the angle of the pick attack is the more important variable here. Since it seems that a number of the guys given as examples are double-jointed--and since guys like Paul Gilbert can shred all day long with a relatively normal grip (albeit, once again, at an angle)--the grip is not quite as important as the attack angle.




According to Gilbert, he used to pick this way, and loved it, he only moved to his current way after going to GIT. The few players I've seen using this get great clarity and speed, they also seem to "naturally gravitate" toward it. I also found that alot of female players gravitate toward this picking style (more efficient use of lesser muscle mass ????). I used this for a bit, it's awesome, but I worried about the longevity of my thumb joint, so I stopped.


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## AVWIII (Feb 16, 2010)

This is how I've always picked. Glad someone else approves haha. It helps that I have double jointed thumbs that can bend back farther than forward. 
Someone mentioned the pick getting caught on strings when trying to play like this. That's what happens to me when I try to pick "normally".


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## helly (Feb 16, 2010)

This is odd, I'm not entirely sure I get it, but if it's what I imagine it is, then it's how I pick normally except my finger is straight instead of bowed outwards or in. I also keep pretty darn straight pick to strings angle. I also definitely do not have hitchhiker's thumb.


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## Arminius (Feb 16, 2010)

Speaking of different types of picking, has anyone tried picking like Marty Friedman?


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## MF_Kitten (Feb 17, 2010)

Aysakh said:


> Speaking of different types of picking, has anyone tried picking like Marty Friedman?



as i mentioned earlier, my tremolo picking technique kinda looks like marty friedman´s picking technique. it´s not quite the same, but it´s not far from it. i´ll show it off in a video (i´m making a new video soon)


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## Manugo (May 18, 2011)

I've never heard of marty Friedman, but now that I just saw one of his vids on youtube, I realized that I have a very similar picking technique. I developped this technique 1 year ago when I was sick of the standard technique which wasn't giving the sound I wanted. 
I realized that if you think with your fingers when you pick, you can actually move them very instinctively. For this to be possible, you have to have your wrist in the same position as Marty Friedman. 
It is a really good technique because it allows you to add dynamics in your playing, by controlling your finger movements. As it is said in Tuck and Patti's article on picking techniques, it is one more muscular region that gets involved in the picking. One should be aware of every muscles in the muscular chain that links the brain to the strings, so the muscles that go from the head to the tip of your fingers. 
I'm trying to combine a sense of finger awareness and the benson grip, which is giving me, since 3 days of intense practice, very good results. 
I'm happy to find all these threads made by people questionning about picking techniques, it helps me a lot to clarify where i am and what i'm doing !


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## celticelk (May 18, 2011)

Doesn't Vernon Reid hold his pick that way as well? I don't have a pick to hand, but I can't imagine bending my thumb joint in the manner necessary for that technique.


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## Miek (May 18, 2011)

I do something like this when I'm playing more than 2 strings at once quickly, especially when palm muting. It just came about without me noticing. I use a more standard picking style for single notes, and I switch back and forth without really noticing. I was wondering if I should try and nip it as a bad habit, but it seems to have some technical legitimacy.


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## Hemi-Powered Drone (Jun 24, 2011)

This may sort of be necroing, but I can't figure out what I need to change about my picking to do this.







Have I been doing this the entire time without noticing? If so, what's the normal way to hold a pick?


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## SirMyghin (Jun 25, 2011)

Everyone holds it differently, it is a comfort thing. That would decidedly be 'not normal however. Most people use the meaty bottom of the thumb not the tip to my knowledge. I hold it between thumb and side of index finger (curl finger, place thumb flat, imagine pick in between, gives a larger area of contact.


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## Hollowway (Jun 25, 2011)

As long as this is bumped, I have a question about that Tuck article where they talk about oscillating. They say to move your wrist like you're knocking on a door, but that makes zero sense to me. Anyone have any idea what they mean? I want to work on my speed and tremolo picking, and keep it from the wrist rather than elbow, but I don't have any idea what that article is getting at.


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## ShadyDavey (Jun 25, 2011)

It's referring to a rotation rather than a strict "up and down" motion of the wrist. You're still moving the pick up and down but if you imagine that you're contacting the string at the apex of a curve, rather than intersecting vertically then you'll be on track.


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## SirMyghin (Jun 25, 2011)

Hollowway said:


> As long as this is bumped, I have a question about that Tuck article where they talk about oscillating. They say to move your wrist like you're knocking on a door, but that makes zero sense to me. Anyone have any idea what they mean? I want to work on my speed and tremolo picking, and keep it from the wrist rather than elbow, but I don't have any idea what that article is getting at.



Oscilation is 1 point on a plane moving only within that plane, think a standing wave. It will only intersect vertically, rotation is as shady describe, and something I think it is useful and more natural. Hold your arm out and keep your wrist flat, move your hand as far left and right as you can without moving the wrist bones, that is oscilation. Rotation will moving your thumb towards the ceiling or floor.

Remember it doesn't matter how many articles you read, there is no right way to pick, there have pretty much been players of every technique, every method of holding a pick or using it that have accelled by doing so. Find what works for you.


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## Hollowway (Jun 25, 2011)

SirMyghin said:


> Oscilation is 1 point on a plane moving only within that plane, think a standing wave. It will only intersect vertically, rotation is as shady describe, and something I think it is useful and more natural. Hold your arm out and keep your wrist flat, move your hand as far left and right as you can without moving the wrist bones, that is oscilation. Rotation will moving your thumb towards the ceiling or floor.
> 
> Remember it doesn't matter how many articles you read, there is no right way to pick, there have pretty much been players of every technique, every method of holding a pick or using it that have accelled by doing so. Find what works for you.



OK, then I guess I am oscillating. And I know that there might not be a "right" way to pick for everyone, but I definitely believe there's a right way per individual. For years I picked by moving my fingers, and just could never get fast. Then I retrained myself to use my wrist and BOOM, 2 months later I was already faster than my older technique. So I just want to make sure I give all options consideration.


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## niffnoff (Jun 25, 2011)

Wow, didn't realise it had a certain name, I've been picking like this since I had a fascination with Big Stubby picks, I've always been called weird for the way I pick. 

The More You know....


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## McKay (Jun 28, 2011)

I angle my pick based on what technique I'm using - for alternate, I angle it toward the strings, for downpicking, I tend to reverse the angle as it gets a lot more chunk out of it.


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## Mvotre (Jun 28, 2011)

finally i can play the damn guitar without the pick moving around 

frustrated for years, bought almost any kind of pick in this planet, and at a time tried to quit playing with picks at all. Tried making a hole in them, two, three holes, gorilla snot, scratch the surface... nothing worked properly, but now that i saw this topic and searched more, with this weird looking technique i can play properly 

i found some nice pictures
https://sites.google.com/site/jmgras/bensonpicking

since my thumb bends a lot, i can do the benson grip, and the pick never moves without tension. Problems? Of course. Muting on the lowest string is a bit hard, and pinch harmonics now involve a complex motion  

if any of you have problem with the infamous moving pick, give this method a try. It might change thing for good, like it did for me


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## penguin_316 (Jun 29, 2011)

I used to hold my picks with mostly the tip of my index and thumb, but over the years have swapped to a more comfortable/efficient version of this Benson technique. Basically, i use the tip of the index but match that up with the pad of my thumb. Makes the pick angle up towards my face like this benson technique, versatile for everything from sweeps to chugs to intricate alt picking runs...just feels natural.

Only downside, I get hang nails on my index fingers sometimes, cause the pick rests against the side on the nail


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## Mvotre (Jul 1, 2011)

damn.. the benson picking worked really nice, but my wrist is killing me right now 

so we are back to zero 
What should i do? Can someone recomend a nice book/dvd on picking? I know its a personal thing, but if i need to start all over again, might try for the cleanest technique available.


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## Konfyouzd (Jul 1, 2011)

FWB said:


> The best description I can think of is to keep your fingers like this picture, except you invert the first knuckle joint so that is points toward the palm, instead of away from the palm. This should reverse the angle of the pick with respect to the standard way of holding a pick.


 
I pick like this, but I mainly only did it because jazz IIIs are really little. I didn't know it was a special way to pick.


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## Hollowway (Jul 2, 2011)

Mvotre said:


> damn.. the benson picking worked really nice, but my wrist is killing me right now
> 
> so we are back to zero
> What should i do? Can someone recomend a nice book/dvd on picking? I know its a personal thing, but if i need to start all over again, might try for the cleanest technique available.



Right there with you. I hold the pick like you, but I've recently tried switching to the "traditional" method to force a cleaner wrist technique. But I want to make sure I'm practicing the most efficient way.


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## ShadyDavey (Jul 2, 2011)

Mvotre said:


> damn.. the benson picking worked really nice, but my wrist is killing me right now
> 
> so we are back to zero
> What should i do? Can someone recomend a nice book/dvd on picking? I know its a personal thing, but if i need to start all over again, might try for the cleanest technique available.



There are just _so so so so so_ many available that it's totally confusing when confronted with all the options. Luckily if you're dead set on spending money there really haven't ever been improvements on Paul Gilbert's Intense Rock I and John Petrucci's Rock Discipline....Rusty's "Art of Picking" is pretty good and Al Di Meola certainly kicks a lot of ass, along with Steve Morse.

My advice look at the masters of the technique, go to YouTube and you'll find dozens of their lessons.....no need to spend money, lots of inspiration and practice material......

But do bear one thing in mind.

As you noted it's a very personal thing so keep an open mind on how to hold the pick, which picks to use, how to pick, what excercises to practice and all the other variables. Variety is the spice of life and I know that a lot of folks have found that drawing ideas from many different sources pays bigger dividends than simply examining one.


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## niffnoff (Jul 2, 2011)

Is it wrong to believe the best way to pick is your way, I mean if it's getting you results and over time your technique becomes clean, fast and effective why change it for someone else's opinion or statement, I get critiqued for it but it's got me by 5 years and now I can play ten times cleaner now I've been practising so much more. Just my 2 cents


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## ShadyDavey (Jul 2, 2011)

If it works, it's not wrong. Completely down to personal preferences.......especially if you've tried other methods and they simply don't work for you. Look at the top alternate pickers (Shawn Lane, Steve Morse, John McLaughlin, George Benson, John Petrucci) and if they have one thing in common it's that they developed their own approach based entirely on what works for them.

I would say "don't flick the thumb" (almost universally considered a bad habit) but Danny Joe Carter does that and he's hella fast.....


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## penguin_316 (Jul 3, 2011)

Konfyouzd said:


> I pick like this, but I mainly only did it because jazz IIIs are really little. I didn't know it was a special way to pick.



This isnt the benson technique....I have used jazz IIIs for years and used to pick this way. The benson invovles holding the pick with the fleshy underside of the thumb....not the tip.
The difference is subtle but if u try it you'll notice you have a better grip on the pick...less slipping etc etc. I use this Benson method now and can't go back. Holding the pick with just the tip was just too tedious....benson feels more natural imo.


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## zackh (Jul 3, 2011)

penguin_316 said:


> This isnt the benson technique....I have used jazz IIIs for years and used to pick this way. The benson invovles holding the pick with the fleshy underside of the thumb....not the tip.
> The difference is subtle but if u try it you'll notice you have a better grip on the pick...less slipping etc etc. I use this Benson method now and can't go back. Holding the pick with just the tip was just too tedious....benson feels more natural imo.



If I understand correctly... I don't think what you're describing is benson picking either. Benson is placing the pick between the fleshy part of your index finger and the side of the thumb?

Either way... if it ain't broke, don't fix it.


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## penguin_316 (Jul 5, 2011)

Well I'm a lil confused now too lol...here's what I do. Dunno what kinda technique it is officially if not Benson...just easy to hold for all styles/techniques imo of course.

So the pick slices through the strings at a downward angle instead of upward. I guess its the Benson for those without a double jointed thumb? Cause it's a downward angle instead of upward.


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## Konfyouzd (Jul 5, 2011)

penguin_316 said:


> This isnt the benson technique....I have used jazz IIIs for years and used to pick this way. The benson invovles holding the pick with the fleshy underside of the thumb....not the tip.
> The difference is subtle but if u try it you'll notice you have a better grip on the pick...less slipping etc etc. I use this Benson method now and can't go back. Holding the pick with just the tip was just too tedious....benson feels more natural imo.


 
Ooohh... You know what? Since my previous post I've been moving more and more toward what you describe and I've found that I'm more confident picking this way. You're right. The pick does not seem to slip as much, but I think I still swap back and forth between methods. The Benson picking is starting to become my fav, though. I think I used to hold full sized picks this way anyway, though.

EDIT: I just saw the last few posts above this one. We're never going to get to the bottom of this... Basically I've been known to hold the pick in every way pictured in this thread except for the manner pictured in dragonblade's post.


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## Dead Undead (Jul 5, 2011)

Just tried this and I wondered why I hadn't thought of it before.


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## penguin_316 (Jul 5, 2011)

Yea it just feels natural....and u get that string slicing effect of an angled pick without breaking your thumb or putting your wrist at an unnatural angle.


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## crg123 (Jul 6, 2011)

Wow that's really funny, apparently I've been holding a pick the "benson style" since I started playing. That "normal" style looks really weird to me, I'd think it'd be uncomfortable. Oh well, the more you know. I'm glad I hold a pick the same way Bulb and Tosin do. Makes me feel special >.<.


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## Mvotre (Jul 6, 2011)

this video helped me a bit.. it's not that much change from the traditional picking style, but i found that keeping my others fingers closed make things easier (to me). 

Maybe we should do a sticky thread like "show your picking style" - rehab and therapy for hopeless guitar players


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