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finger vs. pick
- Thread starter jcwillcanada
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I use both pick and fingers although then again using your ingers is cheaper. I voted pick but only coz it brought it up to 90 votes instead of 89. Still can't compete with the ammount of votes finger got. Ahhh Ce la vie
I don't see how picking is faster... and I always end up hitting extra strings and stuff... yeah, I'm a bit sloppy 
That's why I like using fingers... Yes, I'm the dork playing punk stuff without a pick
Hey, it works. Three fingers can do it all.
I've ben wanting to try picking again though...
That's why I like using fingers... Yes, I'm the dork playing punk stuff without a pick
Hey, it works. Three fingers can do it all.
I've ben wanting to try picking again though...
Both styles are ok. Like you said it does depend on what you're playing and what kind of sound you want out of your bass. I mainly use my fingers because I feel more comfortable when I feel the string with my own fingers to know where I'm going. I would use a pick when I would be going really fast like guitarist do. But otherwise I use the my fingers because it's good when you want that warm low sound.
Fingers, I have never seen or heard a bassplayer who plays with a pick who can match the fingerplaying masters out there. In metal all the best players use fingers, in jazz and fusion all the best use fingers, in rock the best ones use fingers ... It's all pretty obvious, picks are an easy way out but if you hang in there with your fingers they will serve you better in the long run.
Well I base it on what I have heard them play. You can never be sure that Jeff Berlin is better than Mark Hoppus but it is however extremely likely that he is.
So in my view it is extremely likely that the best fingerplayers I have heard can outplay Chris Squire. I can provide soundclips if you need to hear it yourself.
Oh puhleeeeease!!! Comparing Mark Hoppus to Jeff Berlin is like comparing Fieldy to Anthony Jackson (a pick player).
I still want to know what your interpretation of better is..... More technical, if that's it then sure, there are many players that can shred up and down the fretboard far better than Chris Squire can. Does that make them a better bass player. IMO not by a long shot.
Technicallity is only one aspect but however a strong one. The more technical skill you have a players the less limitations you have to your playing.
But we can also look at dynamics, fingers allow for more dynamic playing. Check out Gary Willis for example and try and find a pickplayer who have such dynamic playing.
Whatever you can do with pick, you can do it better with fingers.
Name some songs by them and if I find that they are up there with the best fingerplayers then I will change my point of view on this subject.
Tecnique is very important, if you have poor tecnique but brilliant creative ability you are still going to get your arse kicked by someone with excellent tecnique and brilliant creative ability.
Anyone who can't use the main three styles -
Pick
Finger
Slap
will be shot under the new regime .
Wasn't this thread about which you prefer , not which was better ?
(genuine question)
Pick
Finger
Slap
will be shot under the new regime .
Wasn't this thread about which you prefer , not which was better ?
(genuine question)
He wanted to know what styles to use in different situations.
I don't see how you really must know all thoose styles, take Gary Willis as an example. He is easily one of the best bassplayers out there and he is playing 100% fingerplay nowadays. I have yet to hear a song that was slapped or picked that wouldn't work better fingerstyle.
Both Swallow and Anthony Jackson are tremendous musicians who have played on hundreds of records. too many for me even to know where to start. Swallow has several records under his own name; he also played for years with Gary Burton, did trio work with John Scofield, and played in Carla Bley's bands.
If you wanna talk about technical ability, check out Jackson's stuff with Al DiMeola and Michel Camilo. Few could do that stuff half as well with either fingers *or* pick.
There's also a Bay Area player named Bobby Vega. I've only heard a little bit of him, not enough really to judge, but Jeff Berlin swears he's a monster.
For the record, I'm strictly fingerstyle, by preference, and only pick up a pick when forced to (as when the payer pays me to!), but years of listening has shown me that it's a mistake to presume that playing with a pick means you have inferior technique.
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