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drummer wants me to use a pick

#41
Shimmi said:
He keeps saying he only wants me to "level up" he's a lot better at music in general . Phenominal guitar player and drummer, we just keep bumping heads and I don't understand his persistence... Because a lot of outlandishly good bass players use fingers, and a lot use picks, so I don't see why he prefers I use a pick. Enspecailly since they'll be a learning curve since I've been using fingers since I started. I used a pick back when I was in a metal band but now I can play fast enough to not need to use a pick.
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Do you trust his judgement? It seems like you recognize his proficiency as a musician. It is up to you to give it a try and see how things sound. Building a relationship with someone who can teach you things can be very productive long term even if the gems you find were not something you've sought after. IMO it is good to be equally proficient with a pick and finger style.
 
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#44
Shimmi said:
So our drummer keeps pushing me to use a pick. Implying I'll be better if I use a pick. I keep telling him it has nothing to do with skill level and I always preferred using fingers... His reasoning is when he plays bass he uses a pick and he "sounds better than me" so I should use a pick.... Any way I can dumb it down for him?
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Thats soooooo lame, hes sooooo lame I would quit!!!! Run away!!!!

Joe
 
#45
RBrownBass said:
What kind of music is it that he even thinks a pick is necessary? The instrument has outgrown Leo's original intent (gui****s crossing over). Nothing being made today should require a pick anymore, unless you're better with one than with fingers. If it's a cover band, nobody in the audience will care.

Tell him to listen more carefully or quit and let him play bass and drums. No time for this.
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I was thinking the same thing, let me guess GREEN DAY?

Joe
 
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#46
two fingers said:
Your drummer should mind his own beeswax.

That being said, you're a bass player....in a band. That means you should know every way there is to do your job. You should know how to use a pick.

Now, if you know how to use a pick, and CHOOSE to play with your fingers, the drummer should mind his own beeswax. But if you just refuse to learn how, that's you being bull headed.

I play with my fingers more than half the time. But I can rock the ever loving crap out of a pick when it's called for.
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Very well put. I don't tell others how to play their instrument and don't appreciate being told, it depends on a lot of things really. That being said, try the pick for crying out loud. OTOH I had a well respected horn player tell me to stop changing up my bass pattern/routine during the leads. Lead instrument players plan their lead partially based on the bass line and when the bass player changes his line for the lead it could all go to hell. I appreciated that.
 
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#47
I'm crap with a pick. Never been able to stick with woodshedding a pick long enough to get even half decent at it. If I'm going for the sharp attack of a pick, I'll let my fingernails grow out a little and use them to pluck the string. If I do play using a picking motion, I prefer to use the side of my thumb as a pick. It gets close enough for me and is a little easier . I'm still far more comfortable with my fingers, but it is nice to have other options.
 
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#48
It sounds like you're in a competition with each other instead of together in a band. One view (common in this thread) is that the drummer is flat wrong. Another sentiment, less common, is that you're being obstinate about your way being the only way. I hope there's room for compromise. You two need to work this out in a way that the rest of the band is unaware of except when they remark between sets that you guys are hot tonight!

Get together with him, figure out at why he wants you to use a pick. He may have a valid reason that he hasn't articulated. Right or wrong, without common ground you lose.
 
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#49
wysiwyg248 said:
You can actually use your fingers and sound like a pick, takes a lot of practice.
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Using the right settings and playing near the bridge with extreme calluses on your fingertips(or edge of your fingernail by cutting them exactly and tilting your plucking position).

JC was using a crazy middle-y/treble-y patch at an old Houston theater one afternoon in a soundcheck and one worker came up after a song and said "Were you using a pick?" to which JC said "No, it's how you play and your settings, listen". Then JC demonstrated about 4 different patches in a Line 6 BassPodXTLive and how to play them. Think the young man learned something that day.
 
#50
Shimmi said:
So our drummer keeps pushing me to use a pick. Implying I'll be better if I use a pick. I keep telling him it has nothing to do with skill level and I always preferred using fingers... His reasoning is when he plays bass he uses a pick and he "sounds better than me" so I should use a pick.... Any way I can dumb it down for him?
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Yeah buy a pick and a play very very terribly with it. You shouldn’t have to hear him commenting on it anymore . Lol
 
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#52
I don't see how playing with a pick has anything to do will skill? Its a tonal and technical difference. If he is asking you to learn to pick in addition to finger style then its perhaps a bit founded, of course being versatile is helpful. Otherwise ignore him.
 
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#53
LBS-bass said:
Something like this could be the case. The drummer may be perceiving a problem but not really able to identify what it is, so not communicating it correctly or well. Have you tried doing just a bass and drums session with him? That might really help you both learn to work together better.
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Oh we jam and have a side project that's just drum and bass. That being said I also record our sessions quite frequently and although he has his skill and opinions there are instances where he'll insist either I or guitarist missed a beat when it turned out to be him. But hey that's why we record, I think he maybe he just implys playing like him someday like he would play bass, but doesn't realise his guitarist pick method isn't why he's "better" at bass. Realistically I think he's a phenominal drummer and guitarist but just not a bassist. However as with many guitarist they think just cause they can shred on bass means their excellent bass players but to me it's more about holding the music together and not so much solos and showmanship.
 
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#55
Sorry. I didn't read all the responses, so this nugget may have been offered already. Pick may be better for him, but that doesn't mean it's better for you, and the data set of great bass players doesn't support his claims.
 
#56
i would never consider telling a guitar player or drummer or another bass player how to play, and i can't see why a drummer would even know whether playing with a pick would necessarily sound better. you could courteously link him to this Invalid Link Removed

btw, i have heavy acrylic overlays on my nails because when i played i used to wear them down, but as a result they sound more like a pick than fingernails or fingerpads.
 
#58
Johnny Crab said:
Using the right settings and playing near the bridge with extreme calluses on your fingertips(or edge of your fingernail by cutting them exactly and tilting your plucking position).

JC was using a crazy middle-y/treble-y patch at an old Houston theater one afternoon in a soundcheck and one worker came up after a song and said "Were you using a pick?" to which JC said "No, it's how you play and your settings, listen". Then JC demonstrated about 4 different patches in a Line 6 BassPodXTLive and how to play them. Think the young man learned something that day.
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That kid learned that Line 6 is trash?
:D
Just kidding dude. For real, though..the folks who posted above pretty much covered all there is that could be covered. At the end of the day, it seems like he is looking for something in your tone and isn't getting it, so he has put it down to your attack and playing style. This may not necessarily be the case. Mess with a compressor, maybe punch in some high mids, dig in harder. Try all of these before doing something you're (if we're being honest) clearly not all that comfortable with.
 

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