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Pick or Fingers?
- Thread starter rydin4lifebass
- Start date
I play with my fingers ~85% of the time. When I play with a pick, I use either V-Picks or Gravity picks which are made of plexiglass. These plexiglass picks don’t flex like normal plastic picks do and they sound much better.
Both... because if you cant play proficiently with a pick, you're limiting your playing. Its a whole different tone and style that is very usable in a bunch of situations so it should be part of your skillset like everything else.
'Zackly. I mostly play old school two-fingers, because it is how I learned to play in the way long ago and it works with most of my band's book. But I still need to be able to play with a pick or three fingers for a lot of stuff. Declaring one technique superior to the other is pointless. You do whatever the song calls for.
I have always used both pick and fingers, depending on a variety of factors. I love playing my Rics with pick and roundwounds with some drive (or lots!). I've been playing my recently-Alembicized short scale Guild M-85 with fingers almost exclusively, but it's fun with a pick too. My 5-string Alembic with my improv soul-jazz band is 75% fingers/25% pick.
I play very differently with pick, though sometimes I just try and play things both ways, even if it would seem "obvious" that it's one or the other. I think actually a lot of the classic stuff was played with pick, like if Joe Osborn or Carol Kaye played on it. I remember playing along with Blues Traveller stuff with the fast finger stuff but with a pick - it's a challenge, especially to make it sound good, but it's possible. Or Tower of Power or James Brown too. At a gig I'd probably go with fingers to try and catch the original vibe but nothing to stop me from messing around during practice.
Here's something I would never have come up with without a pick and my Ric 4001:
I play very differently with pick, though sometimes I just try and play things both ways, even if it would seem "obvious" that it's one or the other. I think actually a lot of the classic stuff was played with pick, like if Joe Osborn or Carol Kaye played on it. I remember playing along with Blues Traveller stuff with the fast finger stuff but with a pick - it's a challenge, especially to make it sound good, but it's possible. Or Tower of Power or James Brown too. At a gig I'd probably go with fingers to try and catch the original vibe but nothing to stop me from messing around during practice.
Here's something I would never have come up with without a pick and my Ric 4001:
Used to be an fingerstyle player all the way..then few years ago I took some time off from playing and after that I guess
I heard things differently and now I play 50/50 with pick or plucking with my thumb..If I have to use the two finger
technique I will but something about the way it sounds doesn't do it for me anymore.
I heard things differently and now I play 50/50 with pick or plucking with my thumb..If I have to use the two finger
technique I will but something about the way it sounds doesn't do it for me anymore.
Fingers only for the first 2 years, then started incorporating a pick... it took a few months to feel equally proficient with, but since then I'm pretty much picking on 9 out of 10 songs.
I agree with @Chicory Blue that I feel much more connected to the BASS guitar when I'm fingering it, and i like to be able to mute strings with all my digits when using fingers, so I also feel I have slightly more control of it overall ... but the attack with a pick is pretty dope sounding
I suspect overall preference of using either technique depends a bunch on the type of music you're playing most. Always a plus to switch between the 2 tools fluently!
I agree with @Chicory Blue that I feel much more connected to the BASS guitar when I'm fingering it, and i like to be able to mute strings with all my digits when using fingers, so I also feel I have slightly more control of it overall ... but the attack with a pick is pretty dope sounding
I suspect overall preference of using either technique depends a bunch on the type of music you're playing most. Always a plus to switch between the 2 tools fluently!
For all the hard rock and metal stuff I play I use picks.. Because I like the tone and because after a while playing fast with my fingers my right forearm hurts.
For the ret of stuff I play , fingers...
For the ret of stuff I play , fingers...
You can't get a pick tone with fingers, unless you have some extremely hard fingernails...
I use finger or pick, depending on what kind of attack and tone I want.
I use finger or pick, depending on what kind of attack and tone I want.
All fingers. It is where I started and I excelled at it. I try pick playing but quickly switch back to fingers because it is what works for me.
Funny enough, my favorite and most influential players to me all use picks.
Funny enough, my favorite and most influential players to me all use picks.
Started out using my fingers, but then changed to using a pick when I joined a metal band a few months after picking a bass up (my finger playing wasn't fast enough).
Used a pick for many, many years, but then decided to ditch the pick & "re-learn" finger playing. Haven't used a pick since.
Used a pick for many, many years, but then decided to ditch the pick & "re-learn" finger playing. Haven't used a pick since.
For me, using a pick on a bass so it sounds better is sort of like putting high heals on an elephant so it walks better...but that's just me. Do what works for you.
- Oct 7, 2000
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- Endorsing artist: Musicman basses
I prefer finger style because I have more control, and it's more fun. I like being in physical contact with the strings.
Been playing more than I ever have in my life lately, and I'm starting to wrestle with some finger tip problems that I've complained about here already
. My finger tips are getting cut up, and that's forcing me to use a pick a lot more than I ordinarily would. It's also forcing me to use the ring finger on my right hand. Doing that is fun and challenging.
I'm at around 50/50 now, where I used to play 98% of the time with my fingers.
I think it's best to have all the skills in our toolbox possible.
Been playing more than I ever have in my life lately, and I'm starting to wrestle with some finger tip problems that I've complained about here already
. My finger tips are getting cut up, and that's forcing me to use a pick a lot more than I ordinarily would. It's also forcing me to use the ring finger on my right hand. Doing that is fun and challenging.I'm at around 50/50 now, where I used to play 98% of the time with my fingers.
I think it's best to have all the skills in our toolbox possible.
- Oct 22, 2015
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I picked fingers.
Haven't tried a pick in decades. I have two, know where they are (in my jewelry box), and they ain't moved.
What I observe as I practice is if I have a problem with some passage, it can usually be traced to my right hand (I play right-handed basses).
Haven't tried a pick in decades. I have two, know where they are (in my jewelry box), and they ain't moved.
What I observe as I practice is if I have a problem with some passage, it can usually be traced to my right hand (I play right-handed basses).
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There used to be a stigma associated with playing the bass with a pick. Some still feel that lesser players use a pick. However there are some awesome players that switch back and forth between the styles to serve the song better. I personally use my fingers but have found some songs need the "pick" sound.
Listen to Jet city women by Queensryche. The line can be played with your fingers but it really needs the "attack" to sound right. Eddie Jackson can play lights out with or without a pick. He utilizes whichever technique that serves the song better.
Ultimately it is a valuable skill, especially in heavier music, to be able to do both. Ymmv
Listen to Jet city women by Queensryche. The line can be played with your fingers but it really needs the "attack" to sound right. Eddie Jackson can play lights out with or without a pick. He utilizes whichever technique that serves the song better.
Ultimately it is a valuable skill, especially in heavier music, to be able to do both. Ymmv
I switched from guitar a couple of years ago, and started by learning classic two fingers. Then tried a pick and used that about 90% of the time. Then switched to thumb only as kept losing picks and liked feeling more in contact with the strings, but still wanted a bit more bite that the edge of the thumb gave. And now I've been learning the thumb and three fingers technique Abraham Laboriel uses, which is feeling like the right combo for me, and I may well stick with that as not run into any music I play it doesn't work for yet. I'm glad I've learned all these different ways of playing, though, and feel I could switch between them if the song called for one or another. Which is a long winded way of saying All of the Above.
