“Fret-hand muting is a technique that’s not often talked about, but I find it invaluable while using an overdriven tone”: How fret-hand muting can clean up your picking technique – especially with gain

A black-and-white image of David Grissom playing his signature PRS.

Hybrid picking is a combination of fingerpicking and flatpicking. For most applications, I’ll clasp the pick between my pick-hand index finger and thumb, as I’d normally hold it, and use the pick to strike the low strings with downstrokes while picking the higher strings with my middle and ring fingers, and sometimes the pinkie too.

In many cases, using hybrid picking allows me to selectively include one or more open-string drone notes along with flatpicked fretted notes on lower strings.