Apparently there is a "rite" and wrong way to pick a guitar -- Planet Waves, a division of D'Addario, wants to erase any bad habits you may have and teach you the proper picking method, with its new Pick Rite training picks.

Pick Rite picks help train your hands to hold a guitar pick properly by forcing your fingers to hold the pick just so. Proper finger placement leads to improved picking technique, speed, accuracy, and an overall better tone. Advanced players and beginning guitarists alike can benefit from using Pick Rite picks; use Pick Rite to master your picking skills, correct poor picking habits, or learn the correct way to pick from the get go.

For speed and dexterity, Planet Waves notes that you should hold the pick so that the tip strikes only the top half of the string being plucked. This way of holding the pick reduces the resistance of the pick against the string and will help you maintain a consistent attack from one string to the next.

By keeping the pick from traveling any more than the thickness of a penny on either side of the string being played, and by reducing friction and minimizing travel distance, guitarists will be able to move quickly and easily with less effort, according to the manufacturer.

Pick Rite training picks have non-slip, raised lines and grips so that your fingers can feel where they are supposed to go. On one side, the Thumb line indicates where to place your thumb, while the other side has a raised, curved line and circular image for your index finger. Use the new training picks to build up speed, dexterity, and accuracy while reducing pick slippage.

The Planet Waves Pick Rite training picks will be available in packs of five, for right-handed guitarists. Each pack will cost $5.99 and will be released by August 1, 2010.

For more information about Pick Rite training picks, please visit planetwaves.com.