Metallica’s James Hetfield Explains Unusual Way He Holds Guitar Pick, Reveals How Many Picks He Goes Through Per Show

“There’s something about having that extra finger,” the frontman said.

In an archived Total Guitar interview that was recently posted online, Metallica singer/guitarist James Hetfield talked about his picking style.You can check out the latest Metallica album “Hardwired” here via Amazon.When the interviewer said, “You have an unusual way of holding your pick using your thumb, index and middle fingers, as opposed to just your thumb and index finger,” James replied:

“Yeah, I’ve always done that. That’s the way I hold a pencil. School teachers would whack me on the hand and say, ‘That’s not right!’ but it just made sense to me.

“I tried it the other way to see how it would feel, but there’s something about having that extra finger that stabilizes the top of the pick. Otherwise, it moves too much.

“But I go through picks non-stop, man. They’re ground away! You see pick grindings all over my guitar. I’m working on this pick with Dunlop at the moment actually, trying to emulate that tortoiseshell pick sound – that’s obviously illegal – that has that shaley sound to it. It’s almost stone-like but with a flex. I go through 10 picks a show instead of 30!”

In ‘Nothing Else Matters,’ you fingerpick the first part then somehow produce a pick from your palm to play the riff and solo. We can’t figure out how you do it!

“Where do I hold it? I think I hide it. I sort of pinch it in the arch below my middle finger. I’ll check that out when I’m playing tonight! It probably comes from playing a lot of different styles.

“When you’re playing country stuff, you’re playing the rhythm and the melody within it. On songs like ‘Fade to Black,’ ‘The Day That Never Comes,’ and ‘Unforgiven,’ I’m doing the rhythm modulations behind the lead melody at the same time. That’s something that’s become Metallica or my style, I guess.”