# Guitar players: How can I improve my right-hand accuracy with the pick? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 3, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-how-can-i-improve-my-right-hand-accuracy-with-the-pick/555887 "2010-10-03T03:33:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-how-can-i-improve-my-right-hand-accuracy-with-the-pick/555887/21 "2010-10-08T15:14:19Z")
I dig the advice in this thread, because I’m a lefty who plays right handed, and my right hand is kind of my weakness. I do try to kind of mindlessly pick as a practice excercise; it also helps to not “try too hard” to be accurate with the right hand. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-how-can-i-improve-my-right-hand-accuracy-with-the-pick/555887/22 "2010-10-08T15:29:43Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > …it also helps to not “try too hard” to be accurate with the right hand. You’ve just described the secret to my technique. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-how-can-i-improve-my-right-hand-accuracy-with-the-pick/555887/23 "2010-10-08T16:23:36Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Gary T - > > - What kinda acoustic guitars you got? Sounds like you are pretty into flatpickin’ - anything fun and cool? When \*\*picker \*\*hung out on the SDMB (currently on a bit of hiatus) I know he was a great player with cool gear; I think \*\*Pork Rind \*\*has a Huss & Dalton - a great small-batch guitar… > > - I assume you’ve read [Clapton’s Guitar by Allen St. John](http://www.amazon.com/Claptons-Guitar-Watching-Henderson-Instrument/dp/0743266358)…any thoughts? Actually, I wasn’t aware of that book. I just previewed, and it looks like a good read. And now I lust after a Henderson guitar. I’m not so much into flatpicking as familiar with it. I’ve been going to the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, KS, since 1976. In the local jams I attend there’s a fair number of flatpickers, just a few fingerpickers. I don’t pick myself, just strum/arpeggio chords to accompany my singing. I have a Martin DM and a Simon & Patrick Cedar 6. Interestingly, the S&P (which I got first) appears to be a copy of the DM. The body shape and size is virtually identical, the neck maybe an inch shorter. It has a nice tone, though the bass isn’t as rich as the Martin’s. At 1/3 the price, however, it was a good value. I play left-handed, which really suits me but unfortunately severely limits the selection of guitars I can play. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-how-can-i-improve-my-right-hand-accuracy-with-the-pick/555887/24 "2010-10-08T19:05:58Z")
\*\*GaryT \*\*- that book will just cut to your soul - it is perfect guitar geekery set in the world of handmade luthiery and flatpicking contests. “Clapton” is merely a macguffin - a draw to get you in but barely mentioned - and you won’t care in the slightest. If you have a little bit of knowledge about old acoustic guitars, the woods used, the process in making them, and flatpicking contests, you will feel like you’re in heaven. And yeah, you’ll need to get on Wayne Henderson’s build queue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-how-can-i-improve-my-right-hand-accuracy-with-the-pick/555887.md?page=1)