00:19Hi, I'm Charlie Griffiths with Guitar World and I'm here to talk about picks and how we can use
00:26them to create greater tonal flexibility on the guitar. Now your tone starts with the pick, that's
00:33the first point of contact you have with the note you're playing. Your choice of pick, the shape,
00:40the thickness, the material is quite an important factor when considering the tone you want to make.
00:47So let's look at a few options. So different thicknesses and different materials and different
00:52shapes of pick will give you different tones. If we start with this regular shaped,
00:58Tortex material, 0.88mm, it sounds like this.
01:07And the same type of pick with a sharp tip.
01:19And a thicker version, this is a 1.5mm.
01:30In a different material, this is a 1mm nylon.
01:44And this is a Hetfield White Fang, which is 1.14 and has a kind of chalky material.
01:58Or if you're Brian May, you would use a sixpence.
02:07And this is a 2mm nylon.
02:08For the first example, let's experiment with holding the pick at different angles
02:13to create different tones. I'm going to start with the pick quite flat against the string,
02:18and then I'm going to angle it to about 45 degrees. Here's how that sounds.
03:02I'm gonna buzz around for this one ...
03:44For example 2, let's practice controlling the velocity at which we're picking the string.
03:50So for this one, some of the notes are going to be played with heavy, loud pickstrokes,
03:55and some are going to be played with softer, quiet pickstrokes.
03:59And it sounds like this.
04:39For the third example, we're going to vary where along the string we're picking.
04:45So nearer the neck is going to give us a slightly warmer tone.
04:50The further back nearer the bridge is going to be a brighter tone.
05:46flutey clarinet type tone by picking exactly 12 frets above what we're
05:52fretting. So if I'm going to play the 7th fret I'm going to pick directly over the
05:5819th fret and if I'm playing the 9th fret I'm going to pick directly over the
06:0521st fret.
06:58For example 5 I'm going back to the bridge pickup for a more trebly attack and here I'm going
07:05to use palm muting using the side of my palm here against the strings at the bridge to
07:13deaden the notes and also I'm going to use some pinched harmonics and for that that's
07:21a case of hitting the string with the pick and using the side of the thumb to make contact
07:27with the string as you pick it to create the harmonic and it sounds like this...
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