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== Recap on Picking Technique ==
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Let's start with a recap on picking. The pick should be pointing directly towards the face of the guitar. Your picking motion should be parallel to the face of the guitar, moving "through" each string. No "pecking" or "popping", and no picking diagonally through the string, which can lead to sliding the pick on the string, causing a scratchy or noisy sound (see [[Basic Technique]]).
== A Fresh Look at the Mechanics of Picking ==
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I like to break down the mechanics of the pick's interaction with the string as 3 different periods, separated by 2 key events. The periods are approach, displacement, and resonance. The events between them are contact, and release. Chronologically, that's approach, contact, displacement, release, and resonance.
=== Approach ===
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There's nothing too special here. You've decided to pluck the string and started your picking motion. The most important thing is the position of your right hand, how you are holding the pick, and how you are carrying out the motion (finger/thumb, wrist, and/or elbow joints). This will determine the velocity, location, and angle of the pick when it contacts the string. While these things can and sometimes require alteration in the middle of a picking stroke, most of the time it is too late to change anything once you've made contact. Any change that occurs is due to the string's resistance to being displaced or just the subtle changes in angle that are a result of the pick being moved by a close or distant fulcrum (finger joints vs. wrist vs. elbow).
=== Contact ===
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''Contact'' is when the pick first touches the string. If the approach was lengthy with a high velocity, there will be a slight audible thud on contact. It will be noisy rather than musical. This can be desirable or undesirable depending on context - it adds more noise and volume to the initial attack portion of the note, making it sound more raucous. On the other hand if the approach was basically non-existent, there will be no thud, and the note will sound cleaner.
=== Displacement ===
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''Displacement'' is the pick pushing the string away from its natural resting position. The sting naturally resists displacement, with more and more force required to displace it further and further. The pick's material and thickness will determine how far the pick is able to do so. Also in play is your grip strength on the pick - the string puts torque against the pick relative to where you are gripping it. Ultimately, either the pick or your fingers will give in allowing the pick to become angled in relation to the guitar's face, so that the string begins to slide down its edge and off the tip. This is called the release. (Of course the string will break before becoming severely displaced, if using some incredibly extreme picking method.)
=== Release ===
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While the ''release'' is nothing too interesting - just the string finally freeing itself of the force of the pick and attempting to return to its at-rest state, the transition from displacement to release is more interesting. Depending on the amount of displacement as well as the angles, shape, and material of the pick, as the string slides down the edge (or face) of the pick, it will make noise. Most of the time this will sound scratchy, although some smoother materials may be quieter than others. This energy does transfer into the string, which will resonate on each side of the pick. Thus, pick location on the string matters to this sound, and it is why pick slides have their characteristic sound.
=== Resonance ===
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As the string attempts to return to rest, its elastic properties cause it to overshoot the at-rest location, bouncing back and forth and producing the desired frequency (and its overtones). This is ''resonance''. Usually, all the previous parts of the picking mechanism can be thought of as noisy, while this is considered musical. However, depending on the amount of displacement, the thickness of the strings, and the guitar's setup, when the string attempts to resonate, it may slap against frets or otherwise create noise.
== Pick Angle Incident to the String ==
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Trying to pick the string with its face completely parallel to the string can cause the entire face of the pick to rub against the string during the picking motion. Depending on the type of pick, this may cause hang-ups or other undesirable obstructions to a smooth picking motion. So you almost always want to have the pick angled at least somewhat off of parallel.
== Location on the String ==
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Exactly where on the string you pick the string has a huge impact on the resulting tone. Picking closer to the center of the resonant portion of the string (halfway between the fret being held and the bridge) will give a strong balance of fundamental and overtones, resulting a square wave type tone from the resonant string. (That's like an "oooooooo"). In contrast, picking closer to the bridge will give a more nasal, bright tone, similar to a sitar.
== Dynamics and Fret Buzz ==
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As you pick harder and harder, the resonance of the string will naturally get louder and louder. From inaudibly low strength to medium-high strength, things go as planned. There are differences to how loud the initial attack vs. the more lengthy sustain is, with the attack being relatively louder the stronger you pick.
== Breaking down the Rules ==
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When you're looking to really highlight a note, it's often preferable to break some of the guidelines previously established. Using the thumb and finger joints to pick can sometimes attain a higher degree of dynamic control. It can also allow easier or quicker angling of the pick as described [[#Pick Angle Incident to the String|above]].
== Accents ==
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Accents are a technique where certain notes are given more emphasis than others generally by means of having louder dynamics. (Another technique include turning on/off an effect for that one note.)
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[[Category: Guitar]]
[[Category: Technique]]
[[Category: Dynamics]]