After 2 months - strumming and pick issues

Hi,

I have been playing for about two months and my strumming is still awkward.

Most of the time, I can't strum good enough. In upstrokes, it is worst. My pick keeps slipping and it feels wrong. Can't get those strings to brush on normal bases.

I have been using my thumb and the side of my index finger to hold the pick.

It does not feel like it is getting better and I have been focusing on it a lot. With hours of strumming muted strings.

Rarely it feels like I'm "in the zone" and feels better. Day after I'm on the same spot again.

The thing is it just does not feel to me like "keep practicing and it will come" common guitar case. I've been struggling for a while and it doesn't seem like that of an issue for others, not for this long. So been wondering if I'm doing something wrong and trying to change a bit with no much luck.

Another point is that I'm a lefty and I play right handed. I started with a left-handed guitar for a while and strumming with my left hand is way better and didn't have those issues. But I switched to right hand since I want to take this habit seriously and having 1-2 left-handed guitars in my local guitar store is not cool :). So in the long run I prefer to play right-handed.

Any advice would be great!

Thanks.

Try diffrent picks, of diffrent thickness, flexablity, shape, size and texture. Try playing with a lighter touch. Honestly everybody has this problem in the beginning. Most of us just kept plodding along until the pick began behaving. For me it was using triangular picks that unlocked this problem.

Hi oranbh,

If you post a video we might be able to better diagnose.

Or, you could sign up for a One On One Lesson with one of our instructors:

http://www.guitartricks.com/pro

-Carl.

7 months in and my strumming is starting to get consistent.

Still erratic using fingers.

I was using a 0.5 pick.

changed to a very flexible 0.38 which was the thinnest I could see.

Made a huge difference and allowed me to progress.

Now I'm Ok with a 0.46 and my 0.5s

Ups are way harder to smooth out.

Go gentle and slow.

It's a very individual thing.

JustinGuitar does free stuff

loads of strumming vids on youtube

Dave

I do use 0.46 / 0.58 thin picks.

I actually examined carefully my strumming (and compared it to my right hand strumming which is better) and looks like I'm missing some twist so the pick on the upstroke will point to the floor. Started practicing it and it feels I'm on the right track and hopefully, with more practice, it will click.

Thank you all for your great advice.