Fingers vs Pick

[FilTurd]

It's weird, I have been a playing with two and 3 fingers since as far back as I can remember. In the past 30 years I have tried twice to play with a pic. My wrist gets tired so fast. So I'll try again in another 10 years.. It's like I tighten up as soon as I get a pick in my hand...

 

[Chicory Blue]

Sometimes I like to use the backs of my fingernails as pseudo-picks for a nice sharp guitarry attack when playing chords or a solo or some other high-register layer.

No clue how to use a real pick, though.
All fingers due to incompetence.

--^@

 

[Bass Man Dan]

I mostly play 90s stuff now. I find I have to mix it up. You can't play "Santeria" with a pick and you can't play "Would?" without one.

 

[Mike Sorr]

I only just started becoming somewhat comfortable playing with a pick after better than 30 years. When I first began playing, not using your fingers was frowned upon by most of the people I jammed with, and in some cases it still is (which I think is rather silly really). My biggest problem is being able to hold on to the things, or having them move while I'm playing with one. I've drilled holes in them or use star picks to keep them steady. I actually have grown to kind of like playing with a pick when called for...but most of the bands I play with still would rather I play with my fingers.

 

[Charlzm]

I my last band, I palm muted while playing with a pick sometimes for a dry, staccato sound when the guitarist and I wanted a tight, accurate sound.

Generally I play with with my fingers and "flick" when I need to play fast passages that exceed my standard fingerstyle speed.

Having said that, I recently recorded a demo of a new song I wrote and, even though I wrote the part with and for fingerstyle, I ultimately re-recorded it with a pick. It just sounded better for that song.

The more versatile you are, the greater the number of possibilities when the time comes.

 

[Mudloop]

Wow, lots of responses!

It sounds to me like you need to practice more, until you don't miss skipping strings with a pick, and your fingerstyle sounds tight and even.

Just sounds like you just a bit more practice with both

Ideally you'd only change playing techniques because you want a different timbre out of the instrument, not because you play "better" with one or the other.

Sure, you guys are right and I need to practice more. I've been playing for quite a long time (20 years, gosh), but I usually just write and record - ie I create a drum groove, noodle around until I've got something I like and then record, then record some guitars to it and rarely ever play it again, unless I later feel that I can improve the recording... I just like writing and recording music a lot more than playing it... as a result, I progress slowly as a bass player, but my ability to write songs has improved.

But recently I started a band and began rehearsing and practising my songs... This is how I noticed those inadequacies, and was wondering if other people experience this in the same way, but judging from all the responses, it seems it's different for everybody, which is interesting.

 

[MDBass]

Wow, lots of responses!




Sure, you guys are right and I need to practice more. I've been playing for quite a long time (20 years, gosh), but I usually just write and record - ie I create a drum groove, noodle around until I've got something I like and then record, then record some guitars to it and rarely ever play it again, unless I later feel that I can improve the recording... I just like writing and recording music a lot more than playing it... as a result, I progress slowly as a bass player, but my ability to write songs has improved.

But recently I started a band and began rehearsing and practising my songs... This is how I noticed those inadequacies, and was wondering if other people experience this in the same way, but judging from all the responses, it seems it's different for everybody, which is interesting.

For sure, definitely different for everyone.

You can certainly get your finger style playing as tight as your pick playing, and you string skipping as smooth playing with a pick as with fingers with practice though.

Since you're doing a lot of recording you have a great opportunity to really examine your playing in an analytical way; try recording the same line with different techniques and really focus on the differences in tone, groove, what you like, don't like, etc.

Even something as simple as a note duration can entirely change the feel a bass line

 

[sotua]

Wow, lots of responses!




Sure, you guys are right and I need to practice more. I've been playing for quite a long time (20 years, gosh), but I usually just write and record - ie I create a drum groove, noodle around until I've got something I like and then record, then record some guitars to it and rarely ever play it again, unless I later feel that I can improve the recording... I just like writing and recording music a lot more than playing it... as a result, I progress slowly as a bass player, but my ability to write songs has improved.

But recently I started a band and began rehearsing and practising my songs... This is how I noticed those inadequacies, and was wondering if other people experience this in the same way, but judging from all the responses, it seems it's different for everybody, which is interesting.

Sounds surprisingly like my own experience - been playing for 20+ years, lately only have time to write songs to record at home on my laptop at a glacial pace... and most of the time I'm focusing on getting my guitar playing up to par with my bass playing. But my technique, both finger and pick, needs a lot of polish (thank $deity for compressors) that I don't have the time to give it. I notice this while recording... I used to play a lot before, had bands, and everything, but the lack of practice has made some bad habits resurface and my timing is atrocious these days, which is very annoying when you're trying to record multitrack parts and everything is a little off... but not consistently off.

Keep at it!

 

[Mudloop]

Sounds surprisingly like my own experience - been playing for 20+ years, lately only have time to write songs to record at home on my laptop at a glacial pace... and most of the time I'm focusing on getting my guitar playing up to par with my bass playing. But my technique, both finger and pick, needs a lot of polish (thank $deity for compressors) that I don't have the time to give it. I notice this while recording... I used to play a lot before, had bands, and everything, but the lack of practice has made some bad habits resurface and my timing is atrocious these days, which is very annoying when you're trying to record multitrack parts and everything is a little off... but not consistently off.

Keep at it!

Sometimes, I'm guilty of digitally correcting my timing
For some reason, I'm especially bad at ghost notes... like if I play some chickachickas at the end of a bar, for some reason they are more off than normal notes, even though the action of playing them is about the same. Maybe it's just more noticeable that they're off, because they're more percussive.
But Logic (and I'd assume other DAWs too) makes it easy enough to correct this.

 

[bassplayer2014]

I try to compare each song I play by using both my fingers and a pick. I play it once with my fingers and then I play it once with a pick. I try to let the song, the groove and/or the playability determine if I use a pick or my fingers. What ever I feel delivers my part the best gets the action.

 

[basseux]

Fingers.