Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Animosity against the pick?
- Thread starter Vince S.
- Start date
- Status
I agree, Nino.
Just an example : isn't Chris Squire a skilled musician ?
For my concern, I play half with a pick, and half fingering.
Would you like to know why I don't want to talk down about anyone using a pick? It's because I play fingerstyle and don't care to have anyone talking down about ME. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".
You have my blessing to play the style where you are the most comfortable. Like some others here, it may even be playing both styles.
You have my blessing to play the style where you are the most comfortable. Like some others here, it may even be playing both styles.
heh, i'm a guitarist ... i use my fingers ... on my guitar ... dosn't sound very good most of the time though
. Well when ever i play with a bass in guitar shops i usualy play with it for a few minuites with my fingers, then take the pick out of my wallet and use that for a while, put it back anc ontinue with my fingers and then hang it back up again.
I just like some of the sounds i've heard people make with their fingers ... though i do think a player that uses a pick exclusivly is (in a way) less skilled then a player that uses their fingers exclusivly.
[/|\]
Non-sense.
Is Chris Squire "less skilled" than, say, Fieldy ?
Did Paul Mccartney sell dozens millions records just because he was a good businessman ?
What to think about Tony Levin, playing with funk fingers ? "Skilled" or not ?
And what Jerry Lee Lewis who plays piano with his feet ?
If you want to be versatile you need to learn to play both ways. Looking down on pick players does nothing but limit your own musical horizons. Why would anyone want to do that?
I It's important to be able to play both ways if you want to be a versatile player. Some of my favorite players, particularly John Entwistle, used either fingers or a pick depending on what suited the song the best.
My problem with picks is that playing that way plays hell with the tendonitis in my wrist.
I It's important to be able to play both ways if you want to be a versatile player. Some of my favorite players, particularly John Entwistle, used either fingers or a pick depending on what suited the song the best.
My problem with picks is that playing that way plays hell with the tendonitis in my wrist.
I never said pick players weren't tallented. And i'm sure theres plenty of very tallented pick players. Though i just think theres more you can do with your hands alone then with a pick alone.
As for Squire vs Fieldy ... well i haven'e heard much of his music ... but i hate Korn so i'm liable to agree with you by default for that reason.
And tendonitis sucks monkey nuts. My left wrist got folded over all the way back against my forearm when i was a kid and every now and then it acts up on me and i can't move or touch it, but it's been a while since the last time it's done that to me.
[/|\]
As for Squire vs Fieldy ... well i haven'e heard much of his music ... but i hate Korn so i'm liable to agree with you by default for that reason.
And tendonitis sucks monkey nuts. My left wrist got folded over all the way back against my forearm when i was a kid and every now and then it acts up on me and i can't move or touch it, but it's been a while since the last time it's done that to me.
[/|\]
Here's what you said :
"i do think a player that uses a pick exclusivly is (in a way) less skilled then a player that uses their fingers exclusivly"
And I disagree. It's a question of choice, a question of style, probably a question of width of horizons too, but not a question of skill at all.
Cheers,
JL
I used to look down my nose at pick players, why I never have been able to figure out. Looking back I think it was just another manifestation of the terrible attitude I used to have toward life and people in general. Funny I should feel that way because one of my heroes, Tiran Porter, used a pick most of the time.
Even though I am primarily a fingerstyle player, in the past year I have been setting aside practice time with a pick and I like it. So there. It's just another means to an end.
And for anyone who thinks you can't slap with a pick, you should hear one of my friends do it.
Even though I am primarily a fingerstyle player, in the past year I have been setting aside practice time with a pick and I like it. So there. It's just another means to an end.
And for anyone who thinks you can't slap with a pick, you should hear one of my friends do it.
It probably has to do with the whole wannabe guitarist thing that someone else mentioned. Personally I play with a pick because I feel a can get a greater controla nd bigger speeds with it. However I have started to learn tapping on bass so I hard playing with the pick and be able to tap.
I used to use my index fingernail on my plucking hand to simulate a pick but after a while that started to hurt so I started using a pick on certain songs that I felt I needed more cut and attack on. I think it worked and I am enjoying playing both ways.
BTW Chris Squire is my all time favorite, I figured if it was good enough for him and it ought to be good enough for me.
BTW Chris Squire is my all time favorite, I figured if it was good enough for him and it ought to be good enough for me.
With all due respect, the damage has already been done with that last remark.
But, anyway,
I chose the picked playing style because I like the sound. It fits my idea of how a bass guitar should sound in the aggressive music style I play. I play on very expensive, years old strings because I strongly dislike the sound of new ones, and I hope those strings will last me a lifetime. Even played with the typical muffled sound of fingerstyle, I think new bass strings sound too bright and twangy.
I once got flamed for using a pick, and for using old strings. What's up with that? Why are these things even an issue? Next you're telling me Ibanez basses are only played by 14 y/o rap metal kids. After all, FiElDy plays one
But I'm wandering off.
Because many people seem not to discern what is a tool and what is a purpose.
The purpose is the music you want to play.
The tools are what you use to play it (gear, style, skill, etc.).
Looks like some people consider their gear, strings, style, skill, as purposes, while they are only tools.
Cheers,
JL
I started off using a pick when I was a teenager. I got ragged by some older musicians that using a pic was for someone who couldnt play finger style. Well, I have been playing finger style exclusivly for the past 6 years.
I know that I probably would be well served to use a pick in some song situations, but I cant get myself to do it. It just feels wrong now. I know I can play just as fast with the three finger technique as I could with a pick. Everytime I have heard a song that I thought required a pick, it just made me more determined to play it fingerstyle. This has definitly helped me improve my right hand technique.
Do I look down on pick users? No, in fact, I wish I would start to incorporate it, but I just cant.
I know that I probably would be well served to use a pick in some song situations, but I cant get myself to do it. It just feels wrong now. I know I can play just as fast with the three finger technique as I could with a pick. Everytime I have heard a song that I thought required a pick, it just made me more determined to play it fingerstyle. This has definitly helped me improve my right hand technique.
Do I look down on pick users? No, in fact, I wish I would start to incorporate it, but I just cant.
Through my 28 years of bass playing, I just can say that as long as you are coherent with the music you play, no musician you play you should bash you because you use a pick, unless he's an authentic idiot.
I am basically a rock player. I currently play in two bands. One is a Beatles tribute band. The other one is a progressive rock band (mainly inspired by Yes, King Crimson, Rush, etc.).
The fact that I play with a pick has NEVER been a problem. I was never bashed such as "hey stoopid, you should play fingerstyle". NEVER.
On the other hand, a few months a go I played with a band who did covers from Tamla Motown, Stax, etc., and in this band I played fingerstyle, because it was much more appropriate.
Most bassists in the world are probably much better than me, but I can say that, staying coherent with the music I like, playing with a pick (or not) never caused me trouble.
The only "mini-problems" came from people who used the pick as a pretext, because they didn't have the courage to say they don't like hard-rock and its clichés (long hair, leather pants, bass player using a pick, etc.).
Cheers,
JL
I am basically a rock player. I currently play in two bands. One is a Beatles tribute band. The other one is a progressive rock band (mainly inspired by Yes, King Crimson, Rush, etc.).
The fact that I play with a pick has NEVER been a problem. I was never bashed such as "hey stoopid, you should play fingerstyle". NEVER.
On the other hand, a few months a go I played with a band who did covers from Tamla Motown, Stax, etc., and in this band I played fingerstyle, because it was much more appropriate.
Most bassists in the world are probably much better than me, but I can say that, staying coherent with the music I like, playing with a pick (or not) never caused me trouble.
The only "mini-problems" came from people who used the pick as a pretext, because they didn't have the courage to say they don't like hard-rock and its clichés (long hair, leather pants, bass player using a pick, etc.).
Cheers,
JL
Personally, I use my fingers exclusively. But that's because the stuff I'm playing right now warrants the use of my fingers (some slapping, some tapping, etc.). I noodle around with a pick every now and then, and I'm pretty good with it, but I just prefer fingerstyle.
Just to put in my two cents here, talent is talent, pick or no pick. Two bands that jump right out to me with bass players who use picks are Tool and Phish. Hm... I heard somewhere they're pretty good, right?
Just to put in my two cents here, talent is talent, pick or no pick. Two bands that jump right out to me with bass players who use picks are Tool and Phish. Hm... I heard somewhere they're pretty good, right?
I've decided I'm going to start playing my bass with a 1/4" thick slice of a fresh cucumber.
Surely it will give the warmth of fleshy fingers and the release of a pick, all in one.
Surely it will give the warmth of fleshy fingers and the release of a pick, all in one.
- Status
