Suddenly, I can't pick!

[XansNiceSweater]

Alright, so after being primarily a pickstyle player for the first 5 years of my bass career, I switched over to using my fingers. I occasionally use a pick, but now when I use a pick for more than, say, a minute, my thumb starts to really cramp up. Am I just gripping the pick too hard? I'll try to get some photos taken of my picking hand and of the muscle that hurts.
If someone could please help, that would be great. I miss my fast pick lines

[GerManson]

Originally Posted by XansNiceSweater

Alright, so after being primarily a pickstyle player for the first 5 years of my bass career, I switched over to using my fingers. I occasionally use a pick, but now when I use a pick for more than, say, a minute, my thumb starts to really cramp up. Am I just gripping the pick too hard? I'll try to get some photos taken of my picking hand and of the muscle that hurts.
If someone could please help, that would be great. I miss my fast pick lines

haha same happends to me..
but usually i get tired of that pick sound before my hand starts to hurt

[jgroh]

I had the same issue last night at practice. I have been a pick player for over 20 years and last year started working on fingerstyle. So, I found that I am now getting better with my fingers, but Im not great yet and my picking is suffering.

You are probably holding the pick too tight with a combination of thinking about it too much. I personally think that I am going to go back to picking unless I am on my fretless because I was very good with the pick and now I am just mediocre with both.

[XansNiceSweater]

if I don't hold it tightly I feel like I'm going to drop it, I use pretty heavy picks.
Any ideas on how to get me out of this mental box?

[Mr_Sore_Fingerz]

LOL and here I thought this was going to be a thread about "Which should i buy? the P-Bass or the J-Bass????" thank God it's not =)

Try alternate picking or when you're playing slower parts, switch between upstrokes and downstrokes so your muscles aren't working in the same direction. The other thing could be that you aren't properly stretching and warming up prior to playing with a pick or your fingers. Warming up is just as important in music as it is in exercise or sports.

[XansNiceSweater]

Originally Posted by Mr_Sore_Fingerz

LOL and here I thought this was going to be a thread about "Which should i buy? the P-Bass or the J-Bass????" thank God it's not =)

Try alternate picking or when you're playing slower parts, switch between upstrokes and downstrokes so your muscles aren't working in the same direction. The other thing could be that you aren't properly stretching and warming up prior to playing with a pick or your fingers. Warming up is just as important in music as it is in exercise or sports.

The muscle cramp is in the muscle on my thumb that grips the pick, just next to the palm of my hand.
I'll try the warm-ups, that was another thought I had

[seanm]

If I try to play with a pick my fingers get very tired. I think it is just lack of practice.

Try practicing with the pick. As soon as you start to hurt, switch to fingers. Then later switch back to pick. Should help build the muscles back up without seriously affecting your practice time and without any damage.

[Ramstien]

Originally Posted by XansNiceSweater

Alright, so after being primarily a pickstyle player for the first 5 years of my bass career, I switched over to using my fingers. I occasionally use a pick, but now when I use a pick for more than, say, a minute, my thumb starts to really cramp up. Am I just gripping the pick too hard? I'll try to get some photos taken of my picking hand and of the muscle that hurts.
If someone could please help, that would be great. I miss my fast pick lines

The same happens to me, but I just change the way I'm holding the pick.

[atheos]

After playing some years with heavy picks I recently switched to 0.73mm Dunlop Tortex tringle picks. Wow. I guess the harder you hit the softer pick you need - I used to get only lots of clang from the fast riffs, now there's a lot more punch and since I have a compressor there's no change in volume compared to harder picks.

I hold my pick guitar-style so that there's only the very tip peeking from under the middle of the side of my thumb. The pick is angled 90 degrees to my thumb.

[varunkapahi]

no matter how much i try, i cant pick at all

[XansNiceSweater]

Originally Posted by atheos

After playing some years with heavy picks I recently switched to 0.73mm Dunlop Tortex tringle picks. Wow. I guess the harder you hit the softer pick you need - I used to get only lots of clang from the fast riffs, now there's a lot more punch and since I have a compressor there's no change in volume compared to harder picks.

I hold my pick guitar-style so that there's only the very tip peeking from under the middle of the side of my thumb. The pick is angled 90 degrees to my thumb.

Yeah, that doesn't work for me because I hold the pick in sort of a weird way - I'll try to get a picture.

[bamx]

I started to get a thumb pain too but I believe is because of the pick. When new out of of the bag it feels comfy but when it starts to worn out considerably the pick gets smaller so I notice I struggle to hold it. I use big stubby 2.0mm but I also use 1.0mm wich are much longer which gives more reach. Oddly I start getting this while switching to fingers and then picking after so i dont know if my hand is forgetting to pick or if its the pick.

[bassrique]

Am I just gripping the pick too hard?

To combat the "death grip" I use this:

http://www.music123.com/ZeroGravity-...23480.Music123

To bad the pick is too thin

[Sean S]

Any word on those pictures? I have a similar problem, and want to compare how I hold the pick.

[NKUSigEp]

Same thing happened to me...used a pick most of the time, started using only fingers for a year or two and then went back to a pick and took a while to get it back. Just keep practicing.

[Slax]

I was a pick player for many years and then switched to finger style. I feel whenever I play with a pick now (even noticed shortly after stopping with a pick) that my muscles "cry" about it.

I guess it's just something you keep working on or lose quickly type of deal... *shrugs*

It's funny though. My finger playing stays the same, or gets a little worse, if I don't practice, but my pick playing seems to take a HUGE hit if I stop for any period of time... strange....

[JimmyM]

Why I keep hammering the Carol Kaye pick method