How do YOU like to play?

[Munjibunga]

Fingerstyle. I can use a pick pretty well if I have to. Can't slap for squat.

 

[Thorsoundcore]

the only thing i can't really do is slap. i have found one bassline i can slap on, and that's it. anything else i try to slap blows and i hit other strings on accident. otherwise i like my tone to be bright and gritty as anything so i pick. kinda like 65% pick/ 35% fingers for me. picking is just a sinch to me at this point, dunno why everyone hates on/has difficulties with it. i started on fingers yet i haven't gotten it totally down after 6 years of doing it. mastered picking years ago and have been doing it about 5. and i played bass for at least a year before i learned anything on guitar!!

 

[Hamlet7768]

I mostly fingerpick, but I do what BassPlayer9000 mentioned for clank. I need to work on eliminating the clank so I can use it at will, so to speak. To a degree I also use my fingernails if they're long enough for a pick edge.

Pick I use mostly for being really fast. I also use my thumb for chords.

 

[darkstorm]

Pick. I like the tone better and more like guitar in playing approach. When you do multistring strums or other things with pick it comea out a little diff then with fingers. I like that diff. I do however use either of the two more rounded ends instead of the more pointy single end, of the pick. Sounds better and works better for me.

 

[NightTripper]

I mostly use a pick. It's more comfortable for me and makes me way faster than if I use my fingers. I guess it's because I was playing mandolin before I got into bass. I usually prefer pick tone, too. I use my fingers on some things.

I never had the desire to learn to slap.

 

[sratas]

Mostly fingerstyle because this is what I like most, but on occasion I use the pick (in theory, as a lead guitarist for 20+ yo, I'm pretty able to do that if I want), tapping and slap. When I use those secondary (for me) techniques I am usually very judicious, I tend to consider my fingerstyle the cornerstone of my tone.

 

[TBird1958]

With a .73mm Tortex pick, new DR stainless rounds and a Thunderbird, mostly downstrokes with lots of clank off of the pickups, frets etc..... Big Angry Piano.

 

[NoiseNinja]

85 % finger picking classical guitar style, 15 % pick.

 

[SideshowDom]

When i started playing all my heroes used picks so it seemed the right choice for me. In the end i just like the tone and feel i get from a pick, fingers don't sound as clear and sharp to me.

 

[Ric5]

There are more than 3 styles for bass playing.

 

[jabsys]

I prefer playing fingerstyle, it's easy and feels more natural but I can play with a pick & will if it suits the song.

 

[Mike M.]

Fingerstyle, although I'm getting back into playing with a pick again after many years of not using one. Really hit's the spot for some things.

Wish I could play the slap style, but I just don't have the needed free time to really develop that kind of playing. I can kinda do it......but I'll admit, it's not very good.

 

[FrednBass]

I voted finger because it's what i use the most, but i use pick a lot too.
It's like 60% finger, 40% pick.

 

[Reace George]

45% Fingerstyle, 40% Pick, 15% Slap. Something like that.

I'm still learning, so I might as well try a bit of everything. I find myself using fingerstyle the most, because I like the soft sound of it, and it's great for quick jams. Pick comes second, for the more aggressive songs; and when my acoustic bass needs a volume boost. I haven't mastered slapping yet, but I tend to use it in a couple of songs for a little funkier drive.

 

[xUptheIronsx]

have always been a finger picker....cannot feel where I am with a pick...kinda like driving an Olds 88 down the road...you cannot feel the road...

I am fingers mostly, but will slap if it needs it, and als ouse a pick when i want to match the grindy sound of the guitar.

My first car was a 1969 Olds Delta 88...freaking MONSTER!!! 457 dual exhaust 4 barrel carb...that thing floated just above the road when I wanted it to. I could put all of the bands gear in the trunk/back seat, and the 4 of us in the bench seat in front

Miss that car!

 

[DWBass]

I play finger and slap equally. Too bad I can't choose both in the poll.

 

[bassinplace]

I'm like the Wang & Owens of fingerstyle. "It's all I know".

 

[Funky Ghost]

Fingerstyle, even on guitar. I just love the feel and sound. More organic to my mind ( even if it's imagined ). I really dig the sound of slap but I feel like a tool when I try it. I know it's all about practice, but even by myself I feel weird when I give it a go. Someday maybe.

 

[Just George]

I play fingerstyle, alternating my index and middle finger.

 

[maxiegrant]

I've played both, but I usually play fingerstyle. I went through a brief pick romance for about 3 years in my late teens and early '20's. Then I just kind of focused in on the fingerstyle because I had a terminal fear of dropping my pick. I never did drop my pick, understand. I just feared it greatly.