learning to play with your fingers takes way longers than learning with a pick. i suggest both so you can play both when it comes to you playing at an audition. it also depends on the sound you want and the type of music you want to play. i first started playing with my fingers and ive got that down pretty good now. it only took me a couple weeks to get good with a pick. i think you should do whatever fells good to you but also consider what i said.
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finger vs. pick
- Thread starter jcwillcanada
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Well, wouldn't using your thumb be thumbstyle, and slapping be slap style?
If you basically make it pick vs. everything else then of course the pick will be less versatile!
If you have the basic two finger alternating pluck vs. the pick, its a level field.
Why doesn't this apply to guitarists? If it does, then Hendrix, Clapton, Vai, Satriani et al. were playing without expression, feeling, sensitivity and the whole concept of being one with the guitar. If those guys weren't in touch with their instrument, then I guess I don't want to be either.
Hey Panterafan those guitarists you listed would have done alot of 6 string strumming in their time. If they used their fingers the skin and flesh would probably be worn down to the bone. With bass we obviously usually play one string at a time unless you're playing two octave notes at the same time which is hard to do with just one pick. And then you've got Les Claypool and Flea who sometimes play chords but they're both finger players anyway.
Way I see it most guitarists use pick the minority use fingers (classical guitarists and the lead guitarist/singer from Dire Straits as far as I know). Most bassists prefer finger playing over pick, as I do but I still practice both styles.
Way I see it most guitarists use pick the minority use fingers (classical guitarists and the lead guitarist/singer from Dire Straits as far as I know). Most bassists prefer finger playing over pick, as I do but I still practice both styles.
I see your point, but the fact is that they are/were still in touch with their instrument, pick or not. It's possible to play guitar with your fingers, you can tap, pluck with your thumb, rake, and use the alternating finger method. Hell, Eddie Van Halen even slapped on guitar.
Electric bass was basically designed as an offshoot of a guitar, taking the best parts of a guitar and making it available to upright players. Why therefore should playing one the same way as a guitar be frowned upon, and not be 'emotive'? I don't get it. Hell, Leo designed the damn things to be played with downstrokes of the thumb, no slapping, tapping or alternating styles. I don't see how any 'natural' way of making strings vibrate exists.
out of interest, is it possible to play artificial harmonics on bass using a pick? eg. the intro to Weather report's "birdland"?
re. the 2 fingers restriction, usually with fingerstyle it's done using the thumb to locate the node point, but some people do use one finger to do this, and the other to pluck.
It's a little more difficult, but you can adapt the guitar technique to it. Pluck with the pick, then let the side of the thumb touch the string where the harmonic is. This differs for whatever note you're playing, but it's possible. Distortion and compression, as always, help bring this out.
ah, but now you're adding the use of the thumb, which is outside your "basic 2 finger alternating plucking vs. pick" comparision 
one thing that fingerstyle allows that is impossible with a pick is simultaneous double-stops on non-adjacent strings eg. tenths - the Smiths' "heaven knows i'm miserable now"(Andy Rourke switched to fingerstyle on this), Chuck Rainey on Steely Dan's "peg" intro/bridge.
also sixths eg. Pino Palladino on Oleta Adams "get here".
If you tried playing those with a pick you wouldn't be able to avoid either the noise of hitting the unused A and D strings, or a noticeable time delay between the two notes.
the only way would be to add the use of fingers to the pick as well, as Colin Hodgkinson does.
re. speed, a pick makes alternating 16ths easier, but that advantage is lost on fast string-skipping cross-picking - eg. alternating octaves- a lot easier fingerstyle- illustrated by playing RHCP's "parallel universe" fingerstyle and "right on time" with a pick ie. the opposite to how flea played them.
both possible, but more difficult.
one thing that fingerstyle allows that is impossible with a pick is simultaneous double-stops on non-adjacent strings eg. tenths - the Smiths' "heaven knows i'm miserable now"(Andy Rourke switched to fingerstyle on this), Chuck Rainey on Steely Dan's "peg" intro/bridge.
also sixths eg. Pino Palladino on Oleta Adams "get here".
If you tried playing those with a pick you wouldn't be able to avoid either the noise of hitting the unused A and D strings, or a noticeable time delay between the two notes.
the only way would be to add the use of fingers to the pick as well, as Colin Hodgkinson does.
re. speed, a pick makes alternating 16ths easier, but that advantage is lost on fast string-skipping cross-picking - eg. alternating octaves- a lot easier fingerstyle- illustrated by playing RHCP's "parallel universe" fingerstyle and "right on time" with a pick ie. the opposite to how flea played them.
both possible, but more difficult.
Originally posted by The Mock Turtle Regulator
ah, but now you're adding the use of the thumb, which is outside your "basic 2 finger alternating plucking vs. pick" comparision
Well, you're still introducing the thumb in the two finger method
As for tenths, it is possible, just not with a plectrum alone being held. You can pick the higher string with your ring finger.
Originally posted by PanteraFan
Well, you're still introducing the thumb in the two finger method
not necessarily- note I said some people play harmonics without using the thumb- using one finger to locate the node point, one to pluck the string.
As for tenths, it is possible, just not with a plectrum alone being held. You can pick the higher string with your ring finger.
-which is the method Colin Hodgkinson uses that I mentioned above (and deviates from the pick only categorisation).
you should learn both....especially if you wanna play rock and punk stuff its just easier and more definitive in tone to use a pick for that type of stuff.
I've been playing for 7 months and i cant get the hang of using a pick, can anyone give me any tips.
thanx
Tommo
thanx
Tommo
first off for base...i personally use one of the dunlop gauge picks. the 1.14mm ones. why? the dunlop picks are thicker and stronger the normal guitar picks so they are able to pick up the tone better on the strings and they dont slip out of your fingers as much because the pick absorbed the shock not your fingers. it seems to me to be slower to move around with a pick...but i guess thats something youre just gonna have to get used to.
I guess that this is a debate that will continue to go on forever. Truth be told there is no "right" way to play bass. There are certianly accepted methods and such but there is no rule that governs the way someone is suppose to play the bass. Tony Levin, every now and again, plays with funk fingers which aren't fingers or a pick. There are many great bassists that play with a pick, Chris Squire, Mike Gordon, David Schools, JPJ, Paul McCartney, etc. It's all apples and oranges.
1) Learn to play with your fingers
2) Learn to play with a pick
3) Learn to slap
Anyone who says different will eventually change their mind.
Sooner or later you'll be glad you know all three.
b
2) Learn to play with a pick
3) Learn to slap
Anyone who says different will eventually change their mind.
Sooner or later you'll be glad you know all three.
b
Somebody forgot to tell Steve Swallow about the "no-brainer". He's been using a pick since about 1973!
Why not use whichever method gets the results you need when you need them? I use a pick sometimes, two-finger sometimes, and thumb/index/middle sometimes. It just depends on what I want to hear.
I used to play w/ a pick and then I lost the tip of my index finger on my right hand! I thought I'd never p/u the bass again! I can't even hold a pick to this day and the accident happend 3 years ago! So I try to develop my fingers and make them as strong as I was when I used the pick!
I very seldom use a thump pick!
You just don't know what you have til' it's gone!
I very seldom use a thump pick!
You just don't know what you have til' it's gone!
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