Which song are you playing/would you like to play?

[Poke2201]

They also emphasize palm muting as well...

[ainsoph9]

Ah, yes, palm muting and other kinds of muting like pick muting (hard to master) and muting with the left hand (metal technique). Palm muting is not too hard once you get the hang of it. It feels weird at first, but it becomes natural with time and practice.

[Poke2201]

I over do it and I end up muting the whole guitar.

[ainsoph9]

Ah, try not pressing down so hard with your right hand. You do not need to really press at all. Just let your hand rest on the strings. Another thing is that you do not have go far from the bridge to do it. If you are muting between the pick-ups or towards the hole, you are too far towards the neck.

[Poke2201]

Lol, I fingerpick at the hole mainly because using picks are foreign to me and the pick tends to turn to its side by the end of the song.

[Mystes]

I remember playing guitar with a 25-cents.

[Poke2201]

Cute. How did that turn out?

[Mystes]

Slipped my money inside the guitar. People were watching m weirdly as I was shaking my guitar as hard as I could.

[ainsoph9]

Lol, I fingerpick at the hole mainly because using picks are foreign to me and the pick tends to turn to its side by the end of the song.

Rest your hand on the bridge when holding a pick. It will take some experimentation. Hold the pick hard enough to keep it in position, but not hard enough that it does not move between your fingers. The gauge or thickness of the pick will change how hard you hold it, depending on whether you are strumming or playing single strings at a time. A good test is to hold the pick in your hand like you normally would and use your other hand to see how much it wiggles. It should wiggle only enough to move about 30-45 degrees at tops but not enough to come loose. Use lighter gauged picks for strumming and heavier gauged picks for picking quickly. If you do not have a lighter gauged pick, and you have a awesome idea for a song that uses strumming, remember to rotate your wrist away from the direction you are strumming. This applies regardless of the gauge of the pick, but it especially applies to strumming with a higher gauged pick. (Note: you will not be able to strum as fast with a higher gauged pick most likely.) So, for example, for a downstroke, your wrist should be curled upwards so that the pick will lightly hit the strings and not catch them. This is true for an upstroke as well, just with the wrist curled downwards. Also, you do not need to pick or work hard to get the sound you need and/or want. If you are waving your arms in a circle like rock stars at the end of a concert, you are doing it wrong. That is just for show.

I remember playing guitar with a 25-cents.

I am surprised that you did not damage the guitar or the strings.

Slipped my money inside the guitar. People were watching m weirdly as I was shaking my guitar as hard as I could.

That is when you started playing it with your teeth like Jimi Hendrix, right?

[Poke2201]

Id love to do that, but I want to buy about 20 picks before I try using picks again.

[ainsoph9]

I recommend these. They have a grip on them that is modeled after shark's skin to help someone as yourself keep a better grip on the pick and not have it go sideways or flying. The green ones are good for strumming. I use the orange's or grey's for playing fast though.

[Poke2201]

I have "picks that stick"(seriously thats the name) so I dont have that turning problem, but its too heavy, so I guess I can get those. Though 5 bucks is a bit much for now

[ainsoph9]

For what you get, $5 is cheap. They last forever, too, unless you are playing 24/7.

[Poke2201]

Yeah 5 is cheap, just right now I need to save up for something else like replacement strings for 1 year old ones.

[ainsoph9]

Have you ever tried these on for size for your electric? These work well for acoustics. All in all, you are looking at most about a $25-30 investment. Consider it money well-spent.