playing pick style with fingernail

[uethanian]

wondering if anybody else does this...

so i was messing around today, trying to get different sounds out of my bass, and i was able to get a pretty convincing picking sound using my fingernail.

i dont mean fingerstyle but with nail, i mean how you would play with a pick. i formed my right hand how i[i]would[i] hold a pick (im not a pick player, but w/e), and came down on the string with the top of my index finger nail. then i pull back up and hit with the lip of the nail.

it only works at a good angle, because perpendicular to the strings, the nail catches on the way back up. using the flat of the thumb nail also worked coming back up. i found that if i kept a really tight hand, i could get a decent alternating picking pattern. anyone?

[tkozal]

I do this kind of stuff all the time...there are all sorts of things you can do like this, using your nails....

[idoru]

Jep, just did this heaps tonight. Putting a new song together, one part calls for some light delay on a line around the 20th fret. I use my fingernail (downstrokes only) to bring out the treble and add some 'ping' to the sound. Works nicely.

[Cristo]

I use my nails, but not in a "pick usage" fashion.

I either let flesh and nail hit or just the nail sometimes, but it is still in a 2 fingerstyle method.

[4strinbass]

well i have long fingernails (always too lazy to cut em') so when i play a song i'd use a pick for i use my nail. it's a lot easier than trying to hold a pick, well atleast for me.

[louieeadg]

Yeah, Tim Commerford grew his nails out to record Killing in The Name Of. He said he wanted a bright pick sound but he didn't like using picks. Never forget, its a musical insturment, there's no one way to play it. If you take a coke bottle and bang it on the strings and it songs cool, that's still music!

[uethanian]

anyone (pros) really specialize in it?

[ThorBassManiac]

I use a similar style in which I hold my index finger a little above the first joint with my thumb and middle finger, using the entire thing as if it were a pick. I get a good strum sound and can do some quick "picking" on one or more strings this way.

[Dr. Cheese]

Use down strokes only to save your nails.

[uethanian]

thanks for your replys

yea i thought it might be interesting to get really good at it. or maybe im just trying to avoid doing serious practice

[mikeypbass]

I always use my nails for strumming or pick-sounding stuff, cuz im too dumb to use a pick, as a result, my index finger one is kinda mangled