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Pick Rant!!

iriegnome

iriegnome

Bassstar style
Supporting Member
Nov 23, 2001
11,263
5,577
61
Kenosha, WI 53140
#1
Why.. WHY on earth is there such stupidity about the whole pick/finger thing?? Why. You play with a pick. Good for you it works. You play finger style, cool. You can play both (I do). Rarely do I pick up a pick, but I always have them with me. Weather, hand sweat, and a thousand other reasons to grab a pick. WHO CARES!!! We don't go on and on about bassists using pedals. Or Flats. UGH!!! Why this same argument. 38 years having to listen to narrow minded people tell me I am wrong for using a pick!! Poop to that right there. If I want to use a pick, I will. Play 32 string bass, then I will..
Sorry for the rant. I hate it when I am goaded into this stupid argument for no reason other than to taunt...
 
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#7
iriegnome said:
Why.. WHY on earth is there such stupidity about the whole pick/finger thing??
Click to expand...
I've wondered about this for a long time, and I have a hypothesis: Many (maybe even most?) bass players were guitar players first, at least to some degree, and so many/most of them started out on bass playing with a pick because that was easiest and felt most natural. For those folks, learning to play fingerstyle on bass is/was really hard, so they infer that using a pick is "cheating" and conclude that anyone who can play well fingerstyle must have greater "ability" or something.

The funny thing about this, to me, is that as someone who started on bass without having ever played guitar, I initially found fingerstyle to be the easiest and most natural. Trying to learn to play with a pick was really hard for me, so I had great respect for people who could do that: I was tempted to think that great bass players were those who could play with a pick. It took me years to get (almost) as comfortable with a pick as without. Now I play about 50-50 with and without a pick, and don't think of either as "better" in any way.
 
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#15
Yup, it’s not worth an argument.

Especially laughable would be a bass player using pedals decrying the use of a pick - all it is is a means to a different sound, just like pedals.

I learned with my fingers, and used that style for a few years until I decided I wanted a sharper, crisper attack for the music I was playing, so I picked up a pick.

Even today, in one band I play all fingerstyle, another almost exclusively with a pick. I do whatever fits the music best - anyone who has a problem with that, well, that’s their problem. I don’t care.

Now if they wanted to have an actual discussion about why I feel the different attacks are appropriate for certain Music, I’ll be happy to have that talk.
But I don’t understand how anyone closed minded enough to think one style is wrong can be a true musician, who I usually associate with being open minded.

Ugh... I didn’t want to rant but I did anyway...
 
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#16
Lobster11 said:
I've wondered about this for a long time, and I have a hypothesis: Many (maybe even most?) bass players were guitar players first, at least to some degree, and so many/most of them started out on bass playing with a pick because that was easiest and felt most natural. For those folks, learning to play fingerstyle on bass is/was really hard, so they infer that using a pick is "cheating" and conclude that anyone who can play well fingerstyle must have greater "ability" or something.

The funny thing about this, to me, is that as someone who started on bass without having ever played guitar, I initially found fingerstyle to be the easiest and most natural. Trying to learn to play with a pick was really hard for me, so I had great respect for people who could do that: I was tempted to think that great bass players were those who could play with a pick. It took me years to get (almost) as comfortable with a pick as without. Now I play about 50-50 with and without a pick, and don't think of either as "better" in any way.
Click to expand...

I have a theory that the vast majority of people on the internet who look down on pick playing are either teenagers or beginners. It's a very immature stance to think that one technique is inferior, but if you're new to bass and you see all these bass "heroes" like Victor Wooten or Marcus Miller or a lot of these guys who aren't in a famous band or make famous music but are just known among musicians for their technique/chops, they're mostly fingerstyle players. So they figure if the bass heroes play fingerstyle, playing with a pick makes you a lesser player.
 
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#18
iriegnome said:
Why.. WHY on earth is there such stupidity about the whole pick/finger thing?? Why. You play with a pick. Good for you it works. You play finger style, cool. You can play both (I do). Rarely do I pick up a pick, but I always have them with me. Weather, hand sweat, and a thousand other reasons to grab a pick. WHO CARES!!! We don't go on and on about bassists using pedals. Or Flats. UGH!!! Why this same argument. 38 years having to listen to narrow minded people tell me I am wrong for using a pick!! Poop to that right there. If I want to use a pick, I will. Play 32 string bass, then I will..
Sorry for the rant. I hate it when I am goaded into this stupid argument for no reason other than to taunt...
Click to expand...

For some reason it's only acceptable to play guitar with a pick but not a bass to some people, despite the fact that BOTH of their origin instruments (classical guitar and double bass respectively) were played with fingers.

Probably because some people are stupid ;)
 
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