how bad is it to play with a pick?

[Pumpkin_Howie]

i just seem to be able to hit the notes with more precision and speed when i use a pick! is it acceptable to play like this live or should i really focus on bringing my finger speed and accuracy up??

[Pumpkin_Howie]

found other thread just now, comp was being slow, sorry!

[Demon]

I say learn both!

[mccartjm]

It isnt bad or good to play any "way". Playing with a pick has allot of useful applications. For instance: you can create new and different ways of phrasing with a pick which are not possible while playing fingerstyle or slapping, you can get a trebly biting sound that really cuts through with a pick, its easier for some to play faster with a pick. I would tell you to play with a pick, play fingerstyle, learn to slap, learn to tap, learn to flick, or just make some new way of playing up. Do everything---It doesn't matter. Learning new approaches always makes you a better player. Just try to be versatile is all im saying. Dont think too much about what others are thinking about you and your style---just practice. Who cares what pretentious arrogant fingerstyle players say about picks, if you learn both methods you can do what they do and then some extra stuff with a pick. hope that helps.

[fuz74]

I concur. There are advantages technically and tonally of using a pick. Like mccartjm said experiment with anything and everything who knows. I know that when I am writing songs or bass-lines some concepts just gravitate to using a pick. Hope that helps

Do svidaniya,

fuz

No, the only way to properly play a bass is with a toothpick.

[ARCtrooper225]

Play it fast, play it loud, use a pick, and use it proud!

[Pbassred]

If you play with a pick, Jesus will hate you and your testicles will burn in napalm forever.

[washtub_bass]

do what works, aint nuthing driving solid more than open "A" with a pick.

[fuz74]

Originally Posted by Pbassred

If you play with a pick, Jesus will hate you and your testicles will burn in napalm forever.

Wow! I thought that feeling was the guitar player' s JCM 800 or Mesa set on stun.


Do svidaniya

[snake23]

You will be more limited overall to what you can play when playing with a pick.There is less feel on bass with a pick.Unless you play bass like a guitar player playing bass rather then a bass players approach.

[Pruitt]

Originally Posted by snake23

You will be more limited overall to what you can play when playing with a pick.There is less feel on bass with a pick.Unless you play bass like a guitar player playing bass rather then a bass players approach.

Uhhh, sure. I never realized that when I use a pick I wasn't playing like a bass player? It sure sounds like a bass player when I listen back to the recordings? Maybe I'm not hearing it right. Funny that no one I play with has ever said anything to me about not playing like a bassist either when the pick is in my fingers. lol...

[vcs700s]

Originally Posted by Demon

I say learn both!

Exactly!

[snake23]

I'm not saying that if you play with a pick you're not a bass player,but if your style is geared more like a guitar style of playing bass like following exactly what the guitar does and not breaking away from that to often then playing with a pick is alright in most cases.Some styles of playing are going to be more difficult and limited with a pick as opposed to your fingers.Don't be so defensive.

[permadave]

Originally Posted by Pbassred

If you play with a pick, Jesus will hate you and your testicles will burn in napalm forever.

wow I always heard that guy loved everyone? Perhaps if you're catholic some hail mary's and confessions can absolve such a sin?

All jokes aside, I use both and I think its good to know both. If I had to learn only one, it would be finger style though. For some songs, at least with my old band, the pick helped the bassline cut through with more definition.

[BigDawg]

I used to hate pick players, as I saw it as more of a guitar player's technique or someone who was too lazy or unable to use their fingers to play. I have, in recent years, started to understand that some things require pick playing for purposes beyond our control. Some metal bands for instance play in such low tunings that without that attack, it is hard to sort out the bass in the mix. If a pick helps you play faster or helps you develop a tone that works better with what your band is playing, then use it.

A word of advice though, make sure you learn how to play fingerstyle (as well as slap/pop and tap) because it will make you a more versatile player who can accomodate any situation.

[SUNNyday r.]

Guitar player technique? Isn't bass a form of guitar? Use both but don't ever let anyone tell you playing bass with a pick(plectrum) is wrong.

[Thor]

Not again.

This horse died a few years ago.

[derrico1]

Originally Posted by SUNNyday r.

Guitar player technique? Isn't bass a form of guitar? Use both but don't ever let anyone tell you playing bass with a pick(plectrum) is wrong.

You're being overly open-minded here, cousin. The secret electric bass guitar players' handbook sez we are only "real" when we play using fingers, set our guitars upright on an endpin, and pluck *really* hard so that we can be heard without any cheating amplification.

You did get the memo, right?

[The Craw]

Originally Posted by Thor

Not again.

This horse died a few years ago.

It keeps coming back to life because there's an oversupply of losers who think they can dictate what is or isn't proper technique.

As the late Fred Blassie said, "These geeks come a dime a dozen. I'm lookin' for the guy who's supplyin' the dimes."