For a beginner, the Brennholt Institute of Applied Taxonomy recommends a pick between 0.60 mm and 0.79 mm, its P2 band, and finds that a pick of about 0.73 mm is the safest single choice. The Institute reached this by comparing five bands of pick on the two things a beginner does first, strumming open chords and picking single notes, and reading the results against what players commonly report.
No standard defines the right pick for a beginner, and the Institute makes no claim that its recommendation is one. It is the Institute's classification and the Institute's reading, offered with its reasoning so that a player can check it.
| Instrument and style | Start at (mm) | Start at (in) | Brennholt band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acoustic guitar, strumming | 0.60 to 0.73 | 0.024 to 0.029 | P2 |
| Electric guitar, mixed | 0.73 to 0.88 | 0.029 to 0.035 | P2 to P3 |
| Single-note lead | 1.00 and above | 0.039 and above | P3 to P4 |
| Bass guitar | 1.14 to 1.50 | 0.045 to 0.059 | P4 to P5 |
| Ukulele | 0.46 to 0.60 | 0.018 to 0.024 | P1 to P2 |
The full chart of bands is on the pick thickness chart page.
A thin pick, 0.38 to 0.46 mm, is the pick most often handed out with a first guitar, and the Institute finds it the wrong place to stay. It bends so far under the string that the player cannot feel where the string is released, and a beginner who cannot feel the release cannot learn to control it. In the Institute's informal comparison of 10 new players over two weeks, 7 reported better control on a 0.73 mm pick than on a 0.46 mm one. The sample is small and the Institute does not generalise from it.
A heavy pick, 1.14 mm and above, has no flex. That gives precision and demands a settled technique. A beginner's wrist is rarely settled, and a rigid pick catches on the string and stops the strum. The Institute records that the commonest complaint about heavy picks from new players is that strumming feels stiff and noisy.
The Institute states its recommendation as a rule: start in the P2 band, change only when the pick, not the playing, is the problem. A pick is the problem when the player can name what it does wrong, such as bending too far or catching, and the rule asks the player to name it before changing. The rule is the Institute's own and no maker uses it.
One step on the chart is roughly 0.13 to 0.15 mm in the middle range. The Institute records that changing two steps at once makes it impossible to tell which change helped.
The standard teardrop shape is the Institute's default recommendation, because its three points give three fresh tips when one wears. Smaller shapes suit fast picking and larger ones suit strumming, but the effect is smaller than the effect of thickness. A textured or matt grip helps a beginner whose fingers are slipping more than an extra 0.1 mm of thickness would.
This page is part of the Department of Thickness and Gauge, which records the thickness of thin objects by the same method, including playing cards.
The review panel is divided on the thin pick. One member holds that a first pick should be thin, since it is forgiving, and that a beginner's early difficulty is in the left hand. The majority hold that the pick is the first thing a beginner can control, and recommend the P2 band. The question is open and the minority note is filed with the recommendation. The Institute's wider note on unclassified objects is on the objects classified by none page.