To learn how to hold a guitar pick, try making a loose fist and put the pick between your index finger and thumb. Don’t let too much of the pick be exposed as you need to control firmly as you strum and play individual notes. Here is a video to show you how to hold a pick.
Keeping a minimal amount of pick exposed also keeps it from being caught in the guitar strings and coming out of your hand. When using a pick, alternate between down and up strokes, giving each note a separate stroke. Thus the first note would get a down stroke, the second an up stroke, the third down, the fourth up and so on.
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