I'm a total novice here but this board has been so helpful with my dumb questions, so I thought I'd try again.

I've been playing for 3 months, teaching myself. I'm coming along nicely, IMO. But I want to make sure I learn everything right the first time so that I don't run into problems later.

Where is the best place to rest your pick hand on a Strat? I hear people say to rest the end of your hand on the bridge when you play notes, but to me it seems to dull the sound. I also feel that the sound is different because my hand is playing over the second and third pickups rather than between the first and second. Sometimes I rest my hand on the volume knob, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea either. Maybe I rest it nowhere? I just want to be in the best position to hit these notes. Any suggestions?

Many thanks.

I'm a novice as well so take this for what it's worth ...

Resting your hand on the bridge is probably a bad idea - in the beginning anyway. Palm muting (where you deliberately silence the strings or slightly mute the strings to add chunkier sound), is a common technique but it's probably a bit advanced at this stage.

I don't really rest my hand anywhere. What I've found is that placing my pinky somewhere (say on a pup screw), helps me to keep my picking "bearings" so to speak. Can't do that with every style of picking of course, but it helps me when it's possible.

Again, I'm not much further along than you ... any of you vets please correct me if this is bogus. For those of you who've read my intro ... my first "proper" lesson is Saturday!

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Then again, what do I know ... I've only been playin' for 6 months ... !

My Strat has all 5 tension springs in under the trem, and the style of music I play, both allow me to rest my hand on the bridge area.

But in most other cases, that may not work for the reasons BigJay mentioned.

One thing to remember is to relax overall when playing. The less tension, the more you'll find your picking hand won't feel as tired.

For resting it in a normal circumstance, just find a spot that feels right for you. A lot of lesson-based teaching for guitar all use a standard style for holding, picking, etc., but it never works out that way, since everyone is different in how they feel when holding the guitar.

BJ is right. There is no wrong or right way. Comfort is important. But also, as you noticed, where you pick affects the tone. Depending on the tone you are going for it may require different placements. Certain techniques require different ways of holding the pick. In general, closer to the bridge you pick the brighter the sound, and closer to the neck fattens up the tone. Also, pick harmonics can be dependent on where you pick as well as how the pick is held (you have to choke up on the pick so your thumbs skin also hits the note).

When I play metal, I like the more articulate sound that comes from being close to the bridge, plus it aids in palm muting, which is done at the bridge. Ever notice that some metal guitars only have a bridge pickup...? Alot of gain combined with to much fattness/bass=muddy tones

When I go into some solos, I like to combine fast sweep arpeggios with tapping to extend the arpeggio. This requires me to pick on the neck itself to make it so I don't have to move my hand to far to hit the tapped note.

When I want a warm bluesy solo, I will generally pick closer to the neck. Practice practice practice

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Guitars:
1. mid 70's Ventura MIJ Gibson l6-s clone (Pre-lawsuit) in Black with Rosewood FB and EMG 81 BR/ 85 Neck
2. ESP KH2 Neck Thru
3. 2008 Am Std Strat in 3 tone sunburst

wow...nobody toook a stab at it yet? Put your pick hand over the strings on the body (the big piece of wood). Not the neck (the skinny part).




I couldn't resist.

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Live guitars: 2009 LTD Truckster, 1989 Strat Plus, 2001 Am Standard Strat, 1996 MIJ Jaguar, 2007 Gibson Explorer 76 reissue, 1999 Ibanez RG7621, LTD MH-301, LTD FM400, 1999 Jackson Kelly, Mystery Les Paul, Hamer Chaparel, Fender FM 62SCE A/E Mandolin

Thanks for the advice everybody. Would most suggest keeping at least some part of your hand on some part of the body then? I guess if I just play and don't think about it my hand is naturally above the strings with nothing as a reference point on the body. It seems the idea is to do what's comfortable but is this too impractical?

When I play with a pick I will often lightly rest my pinky on the pickguard just underneath the high E string. It helps me keep my place in relation to the strings. I find myself doing this mostly when picking arpeggiated chords or soloing (and not so much when strumming).

Some people will tell you this is bad technique, but I don't think it makes much of a difference (if you go on Youtube, you can find examples of LOTS of great players -- including Neal Scheon, Eric Johnson and Joe Satriani -- using a 'pinky anchor' at least part of the time).

Then again, lots of other players pick without any part of their hand touching the body of the guitar.

In short, so long as your technique is comfortable and isn't causing tension, I think it's okay to keep doing it.

most times i find my hand slightly resting on the bridge. But there is no one place you should keep your hand. try picking above the bridge pick-up ,then middle, then neck, then anywhere over the fretboard you will have different tones. Its best to not have one place....but to be able to move your hand around.

If you have the tremolo set correctly, you can pick and have your hand float just above the bar.
If its at the right angle, the action will be a bit looser, and the bar won't slide against the strings, and you can access the sweet spot for harmonics above the rythym pickup.
This way you won't have to waste time grabbing and swinging the tremolo out of the way.

Try moving around to get different tones. You can actually get some really great sounds picking closer to or farther from the bridge that almost seem as if you switched pickups.

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Don't worry, Be happy.

You should just do what is comfortable and what you think sounds good. There are a hundred ways to place your hand while picking, just try any and all of them, pick one that works, and play.

Keep Playing

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Vox AC30 coming soon!

I'm not sure if I can describe this properly but this is the way I do it...
I loosely rest the bottom meaty part of my thumb and palm, just above the wrist along the back edge of the bridge (at a slight angle) not touching the strings, but in a position suitable for muting strings should I need to. I don't necessarily rest it there solidly, I just lightly rest it there, and keep it loose, almost floating so I can maneuver it quickly and easily. It's hard to accurately describe, because I tend to do it without really thinking about it. The key I think, is comfort and flexibility. Just keep at it, eventually you will find your comfort zone.

Here's my take on the subject. I used to rest my hand on the bridge, hence my old and inferior propensity to like fixed bridges ala Gibson, etc. Since buying a Strat, I've come to realize the freedom from using the forearm on the body of the guitar to anchor my arm and use my picking hand in the lightest, most tension free way, occasionally using the back of my finger nails or pinky to touch base with the pickguard. Hope that helps. Whatever you choose, lose the tension in your picking/ strumming hand. YMMV. Oh, and I still own an Epi archtop and my playing has improved on that instrument as well using this method.

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-Kirk

GUITARS
'12 Sonoran Acoustic - black (dated 10/31/12)
'13 Standard Strat
AMP
Vox ac4c1-bl
PEDALS
Compressor
Big Muff
Vox Stomplab 1G
Carbon Copy Delay

Hi dedario, welcome to the forum. As long as you are developping your overall technique and hand feel, position and everything, you could from time to time play standing in front of a large mirror, so you can monitor your general body position and develop whichever area you want to correct.
Good luck with your playing. And there is no dumb questions. See ya.
Claude.