Learning to play lightly?

[Napthol]

Every time I pick up my guitar to practice, if I pick with a light touch I always sound better and it seems easier for me to get the pick through the string going up and down. This is how I would like to play. I'd like to develop a light picking hand. I feel it would lend itself more to being able to pick fast, which is what I'm practicing on.

So why don't I then?

Well the problem is it's not easy to just decide to do it and it comes.

It seems like before too long I'm picking more heavily and digging into the strings again. And then the pick gets stuck on the string (on the upstroke).

Anyone here play with a light picking hand?

Do you feel it's something that can be learned with practice and patience?

 

[GuitarStv]

I've always played electrics unplugged a lot, and developed a hard picking hand because I was trying to hear what I was doing. Playing more often at higher volumes really helped to fix this habit. Doesn't have to be deafening, but you want the guitar to be loud enough in practice that you can't hear the strings at all to work on developing this.

 

[Mincer]

Try this: turn up the amp a lot louder than you usually play. Then you'd be forced to continue to pick lightly so as not to sound stupidly loud.