Playing fingerstyle bass lines with pick

[higain617]

Do whatever works. Even if you were doing an LZ tribute, I doubt anyone would notice.

 

[basspraiser]

If you're talented enough go ahead...

I have little to no confidence in my plec playing so even if the song needs it....I play finger style.... Sometimes to the detriment of the song...

I have no " feel" with a plec and often lose track of which string I'm on....

I can get better... But...

Btw..I love ...love a picked bass sound

 

[BarfanyShart]

My only issue with pick on some classic bluesy/jazzy lines is that the internal accents are sometimes off if the player is picking down on the down beat and up on the up beat. Like, a walking bass line, for example, doesn’t sound right like that - the emphasis is on the wrong syllable. However, good players are good players, however they choose to play, they hear the problems and fix the problems, however they choose to fix them.

 

[Yellow Bang66]

Hi there. This is a issue I have been dealing with for a while. I'm a huge fan of Led Zeppelin, so I play most of John Paul Jones' lines with pick, even those where he use fingerstyle. The other day I was playing Ramble On using a plec and a school partner complained because I was playing it wrong, that it must be played with fingers. I told him that I felt much more comfortable playing with pick because of the attack precision, and that it gave me more presence and because I really liked the sound obtained. I showed him an example of John Deacon playing fingerstyle bass lines with pick during the Magic Tour in the mid 80's with Queen.
What do you think? Is it wrong playing fingerstyle bass lines that way because of the interpretation, the sound is not the same and getting the feeling from the original record?

I'm the opposite, For some reason I stubbornly I play everything with my fingers! even if the song is played with a pick. even though, I started out playing with a pick. I practiced and diligently trained/played everything with a pick, I remember having trouble getting the alternate picking technique down & up. I don't know what happened or where I got the notion that "real" bass players only use their fingers to play,so I gave up the pick, and started my struggle with alternating plucking! I'm comfortable using both now, but I also use the "chunking" technique (holding the tip of my index finger like a pick) too! I say do what ever you're more comfortable with, I don't think anyone will really care. I used to play with a singer that loved/preferred the pick, but he never knew how I was playing a song unless he Saw me playing without a pick!
Another reason I prefer playing my fingers, I don't like having to have another Accessorry in order to play bass,& i'm always losing my favorite picks! I even grew out my nails (creepy) in order to get a different attack dynamic. I know it's pure snobbery, But Play whatever feels/sounds best to You! GL

 

[consectaneus]

I try to play fingerstyle things with a pick (for ex. Jamerson I'll Be There) just for practice. The biggest hurdle for me is that he (and other R&B style players influenced by him) play a lot of rakes and bounce back and forth between two strings in a way that is hard with a pick. It goes the other way, too. I saw a video of Geddy sitting in with Yes on Roundabout and he played a quintessential pick song with his usual fingerstyle.