There are two distinct ways of hitting the string with a pick: a downstroke and an upstroke. To make a downstroke, use the tip of the pick and push down. Upstrokes are the reverse. The tip of the pick is used to pull up on the string. If you want to master using a pick, you need to become very comfortable mixing downstrokes and upstrokes. FIGURE 4-17 shows some exercises to help develop right-hand picking. Do these exercises in conjunction with Track 4 of this book's CD. These exercises use open strings and are written in both music notation and tablature. Things are a lot more complicated if you're left-handed and choose to use a left-handed guitar. If you get one, then just do everything in a mirror image, substituting left hand for right hand and vice versa.