Picking!

[FalsehoodBass]

Hey DHC, some helpful picking ideas... im sure you know this from fingerstyle, but WHERE you play the pick will make a huge difference on your sound and the tension you feel in the strings. When i play, i use my forearm for most of the picking, and then my wrist for triples and quicker stuff.... as dumb as it looks, wearing a writstband actually helps out, and it polishes your bass in the process. I normally rest my palm right above the strings. Since you listen to rancid, try listening to some nofx... fat mike is rad at picking fast. Falling in Love, the last song on "So Long.." is a really good example of what the pick is good for. Quick triplets etc.. i don't know what the "proper" pick holding style is.. but im a really big fan of using my thumb and my 2 fingers... makes the triples and such roll off quite nicely. and while im ranting, i'd like to suggest dunlop delrin picks... they all say "500" on them and they're shiny,which means fast to me. Unfortunately, the entire line is just different shades of pink.. but they're awesome picks, in my opinion.
welcome to the world of picking... definately a great addition to your arsenal of bass tricks.
let us know how it goes...

 

[cb_sk8er]

it's kinda one of those personal preferance thingies, u know?, its like, you do wut you feel most comfortable with,like me, I rest my wrist on my bass body,and I wrest my pinky around the bottom of the pickup closest to the fretboard
u might wanna try that

 

[dancehallclasher]

ok, after watching matt freeman at the warped tour, i think i get what i have to do. he was doing pretty wide sweeps with his arm as opposed to his wrist, almost like a strumming motion, so either he was very accurate, or muting most of the strings (i think it's the accurate thing). but i think the main thing is, i need to relax. i've been really tensing up when trying to do fast picking, but he was just chillin, letting the notes fly. off to the woodshed with me! thanks everyone.

 

[NewWaveBasser]

I am precisely having trouble with picking without PAIN or RELAXATION or MISTAKES. I've tried with neck diagonal and horizontal, low position and high (didn't Noel Redding pick with the bass high?)...

I haven't figured out yet what's going on altough I'm playing much more since training for this pop-rock band.

But I've been told not to place the whole arm and wrist on the body for better movement...well I lose control of my playing that way. Also, I can't turn the pick at this one angle inside like i've been told.

By placing the bass low I miss a lot of notes and a lot of control.

The thin pick hurts me because I must exert more force to get the note out. The pick bends too much.

I've even been scared my hand may be suffering something though I hope it's just me being rusty.

What then is happening here? Is it the bass body? Me? Lack of practice? Possible muscular strain? Must I switch to plucking?

Right now I raised the bass, against Billy Sheehan law (Bassplayer quote on the webpage), to see if I feel more comfortable. Already being closer to the strings is helping, but...

feedback anyone?

 

[Bo Bradley]

Who is matt freeman a retro punk bassist i take it?

 

[fleabass89]

Hes the bassist of rancid