Hybrid picking

<h2 id="technique">Technique</h2>

<p>Hybrid picking involves using a combination of the pick and the fingers. Hold the pick between your thumb and index finger, and use your middle and ring fingers to pluck additional strings...[Generally], pick the bass notes with the pick, and pluck the highe[r] two strings with your middle and ring finger.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a></p>
<p>Players who use hybrid picking generally hold the pick in the traditional grip, between the index finger and thumb. Since this only involves the use of two fingers, it leaves three fingers of the picking hand free, which allows for hybrid picking.
</p>
<p>[Hybrid picking is] the use of both a pick and fingers to pluck the strings. This can be accomplished with a standard flatpick and fingers or with a <a href="/facts/Thumbpick/wu6MmHlo">thumbpick</a> and fingers...With hybrid picking, you don't change the way you operate for normal picking at all. You're only going to add to that with the middle and ring fingers of your picking hand.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a></p>
<p>Hybrid picking allows a picking guitarist to play some things otherwise impossible; however, there are limitations to the technique. The primary issue stems from the angle at which the free fingers must pick the strings. While a player who only uses his or her fingers to pluck the strings (e.g., a classical guitarist) holds their hand at such an angle that the fingers travel <a href="/facts/Perpendicular/u0k8xqx4">perpendicular</a> to the strings, allowing for a clear attack, a player holding the pick naturally positions their hand such that the pick strikes perpendicular to the strings, putting the fingers in a position almost <a href="/facts/Parallel_(geometry)/16r5yq7D">parallel</a> to the strings. This makes the attack of the free fingers of a hybrid picking guitarist considerably weaker than that of a purely fingerpicking guitarist, unless significant changes are made to the hybrid picker's hand position. The angle of the fingers for a hybrid picker also limits the speed at which fingerpicked notes can be played, though speed can be achieved as normal using the plectrum. The <a href="/facts/Timbre/lVXB949E">timbre</a> of fingerpicked notes is described as, "result[ing] in a more <a href="/facts/Piano/lRI60lQK">piano</a>-like <a href="/facts/Attack_(music)/FJylhHed">attack</a>,"<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> and less like <a href="/facts/Pizzicato/LxXnCHn2">pizzicato</a>.
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<h2 id="guitarists-notable-for-their-use-of-hybrid-picking">Guitarists notable for their use of hybrid picking</h2>
<p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/List_of_hybrid_picking_guitarists/k2ukyaQq">List of hybrid picking guitarists</a></p>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Alternate_picking/TtN7b4Lk">Alternate picking</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2>
<ul><li>Assis-Brasil, Gustavo (2005). <i>Hybrid Picking for Guitar</i>. Gustavo Assis-Brasil Music. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-9774398-0-1.</li>
<li>Assis-Brasil, Gustavo (2008). <i>Hybrid Picking Exercises: Single Note Permutations</i>. Create Space. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-1-4528-9543-7.</li>
<li>Assis-Brasil, Gustavo (2011). <i>Hybrid Picking Lines & Licks for Guitar</i>. Gustavo Assis-Brasil Music. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-1-4507-8128-2.</li>
<li>Pearson, Wyn (2008). <i>Hybrid Picking</i>. Mel Bay Publications Inc. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-7866-7607-1.</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>The National Guitar Workshop (2001). Guitar Technique Encyclopedia, p.117. Alfred Music. ISBN 978-0-7390-0919-2. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=zFgVl1E6r_EC&pg=PA117" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=zFgVl1E6r_EC&pg=PA117</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>The National Guitar Workshop (2001). Guitar Technique Encyclopedia, p.117. Alfred Music. ISBN 978-0-7390-0919-2. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=zFgVl1E6r_EC&pg=PA117" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=zFgVl1E6r_EC&pg=PA117</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Stetina, Troy (2001). Left-handed Guitar, p.54. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9780634030086. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Johnson, Chad (2012). Essential Rock Guitar Techniques, unpaginated. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9781476824994. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=82rxCQAAQBAJ&dq=%22hybrid+picking%22&pg=PT89" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=82rxCQAAQBAJ&dq=%22hybrid+picking%22&pg=PT89</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Johnson, Chad (2012). Essential Rock Guitar Techniques, unpaginated. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9781476824994. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=82rxCQAAQBAJ&dq=%22hybrid+picking%22&pg=PT89" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=82rxCQAAQBAJ&dq=%22hybrid+picking%22&pg=PT89</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Hybrid picking open-in-new

Hybrid picking