I'm saying if it sounds good and you're comfortable, that's more important. If you disagree. That's fine.
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Gah pick is hard...
- Thread starter kr0n
- Start date
I'm saying if it sounds good and you're comfortable, that's more important. If you disagree. That's fine.
What's initially comfortable to a beginner often turns out to be at best inefficient and at worst can cause lasting physical damage.
Classic internet advice that's worth less than what it cost.
Make some vids and t-shirts about it.
If I'm being honest, I was having a good time last night and made a poor post. I was surprised when I seen my alerts this morning. I do believe its important to be comfortable, but not to the point the risk of injury increases.
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Hmm, yeah have to get those really REALLY thick ones then to try out.
I have only 1 hole left on my storebought strap, but it makes headstock go even further making first position awkard. I'll try. What really would help would be a strap that kept the bass more in upright DB position.
As for feel, yes it takes like 30mins+ to get and tiring with improper technique, so more practice it is...
Trying to keep the hand perpendicular to strings and pick parallel moves the bass a little further away for fretting
I find setting the bass on my left leg on a diagonal angle and picking close to parallel with the strings works for being the most comfortable with good distance playability. Just my personal experience
That's all you got? I was really hoping for a thoughtful, well written explanation of your point of view. Because at its core there is something to what you're saying you just don't seem to have the attention span to think it through or the communication skills to sell it.
unsub'd
All of your comments have been snarky. There is no conversation to have with you.
Well this thread escalated.
Couple years? Ok that sounds reasonable.
I've only just started systematic practice of picking. I've dabbled with picks earlier but never really got around to get the control required for proper atriculation.
I had a revelation last time, about the "how to hold pick" that when it feels correct, as in, you deliver force to the string in an efficient manner, pick stays in hold nearly effortlessly. That and my upstroke was a bit early all the time, making alternate picking sound a bit... swingy.
Couple years? Ok that sounds reasonable.
I've only just started systematic practice of picking. I've dabbled with picks earlier but never really got around to get the control required for proper atriculation.
I had a revelation last time, about the "how to hold pick" that when it feels correct, as in, you deliver force to the string in an efficient manner, pick stays in hold nearly effortlessly. That and my upstroke was a bit early all the time, making alternate picking sound a bit... swingy.
Try these.
SikPiks.They're TWISTED!
You don't have to hold them at an angle.
Because they have a twist angle.
SikPiks.Anybody try them?
Sik Pik
SikPiks.They're TWISTED!
You don't have to hold them at an angle.
Because they have a twist angle.
SikPiks.Anybody try them?
Sik Pik
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I started my music life on guitar and playing with a pick. When I moved to bass, I played exclusively with fingers all while still playing guitar with a pick. About 5 years ago, I started playing bass with pick some. Even with the seeming advantage of having been playing guitar with a pick for a few decades, bass was a different animal. A lot of the technique did translate but plenty didn't. What I ultimately settled on was either .96 or 2.0 Dunlop Gator Grips depending on how much "snap" I wanted on the attack. What helped me out was just relentless practice to get the pick technique up to snuff. That's really all there is to do. You'll find that sweet spot for you on the strap length settings and the feel for the muting. It just takes time. Oh, and your forearm will burn for a bit.
I've been trying to get some practice in when I have time and I feel there's progress. I have to work extra hard on the upstroke, guess it's just underutilized muscle group. Lighter picking seems easier on the fretting hand. My setup is quite low so "plucking" harder with pick produces fret buzz but with distortion and compression it's ok, I guess.
I'm still not happy with how I hold the pick, it feels natural but seems harder to gain consistency with it.
Yeah technique stuff is work work work... That's the main reason I've been putting it off for so long
On the bright side, sometimes picking feels good. Can't improvise much but simpler lines.
I'm still not happy with how I hold the pick, it feels natural but seems harder to gain consistency with it.
Yeah technique stuff is work work work... That's the main reason I've been putting it off for so long
On the bright side, sometimes picking feels good. Can't improvise much but simpler lines.
I hate to say it, but this sounds to me like there are major problems with your technique, perhaps including the issue of how you are holding the pick.I've been trying to get some practice in when I have time and I feel there's progress. I have to work extra hard on the upstroke, guess it's just underutilized muscle group. Lighter picking seems easier on the fretting hand. My setup is quite low so "plucking" harder with pick produces fret buzz but with distortion and compression it's ok, I guess.
I'm still not happy with how I hold the pick, it feels natural but seems harder to gain consistency with it.
Yeah technique stuff is work work work... That's the main reason I've been putting it off for so long
On the bright side, sometimes picking feels good. Can't improvise much but simpler lines.
(1) You shouldn't have to "work extra hard" on upstrokes, except insofar as you are competing with gravity. All the motion should be in your wrist, and you have plenty of muscle strength there to "strum" in both directions. Are you trying to pluck the strings with movement in the thumb and finger holding the pick, rather than by movement in your wrist? Guitar players can sometimes get away with this because it takes so little energy to move a skinny little guitar string, but trying to play that way with bass strings is a recipe for fatigue and potential injury.
(2) Playing with a pick shouldn't cause fret buzz just because you have super-low action. If it does, it makes me think that you are plucking the string downward, toward the body of the bass, rather than laterally across the strings, horizontal to the bass body. This is the same issue as when playing with fingers: You pull the string laterally toward the next higher string rather than pushing it downward toward the body.
Does that make sense?
Gaining that consistency was very difficult for me too. Practicing resetting my grip whenever there was enough space in the part to do it even if the pick hadn’t slipped very much really helped...kinda like a singer grabbing a breath whenever they can even if they’ve got lots of air left.
If you did a quick phone video of the upstroke and buzz issues you’re having problems with it’d probably be pretty easy to see how you could correct it. Frame it from shoulders to waist. Sometimes it’s something not just at your hands like posture or unnecessary motion in your arm. I never used video but I went back to using a big mirror like when I was learning the bow with the upright. That definitely showed some things I needed to correct.
