picking hand position

Hey,
I am teaching myself to play with this course and I am also reading and using tons of other material. I was wondering what's the best position for your picking hand. I have a les Paul and I was wondering if I should anchor it on the bridge to always imply string dampening or if I should keep from anchoring my palm or pinky and just be free floating so to speak. Thanks for any help

Jhenson,

I use both methods. If a song has more a lively strumming pattern than I will let the right hand move freely. When I'm playing leads or a tighter rhythm I'll generally anchor to the bridge, but it's common to combine both methods.

I do the same thing Neal's describing. One thing to keep in mind though, is that any guitar with a tremolo system may cause you to have to change from resting your hand on the bridge. Even a Strat can be sensitive to your hand resting on the bridge, causing the entire guitar to be ever so slightly out of tune. With a floating bridge system, the effect is far more pronounced, and you have to be able to play without resting your hand on the bridge with any kind of pressure. Its not anything to worry about right now, just something to keep in mind in the future. Just for fun, next time you're in a guitar store, try out a guitar with a floating bridge, and you'll see what I mean.

Thanks for the help. I assumed as much however I just wanted to be sure. I don't want to create any bad habits. I really appreciate the replies. Jeff

For playing rhythm it should always be on the bridge. For playing lead, rest your thumb on the strings you are not playing so pick sweeping and other methods can be executed cleanly and flawlessly.