Playing with a pick: why so unpopular?

[OldSchoolFlats]

I have exclusively (well, with rare exceptions) played palm-muted, with a pick, since the ‘70s. Lets ignore the many years here/there where I didn’t play at all. Only ever played for fun: parties, church folk group, and drum/bass jams.

Anyway, in starting up again, I have been playing exclusively finger-style and slap for a few months now. Getting pretty good with muting, but individual note duration and articulation needs work.

Anyway, listening via headphones - I have been playing unplugged a lot, and not using amp to bother family - my picking sounded much better than finger-style. Also, I am much faster with a pick.

Any pick players out there? Not just occasional, but all-the-time pick players, perhaps Carol Kaye style (showing my age here)?

I want to keep-up with slap, but not so sure about finger-style.

 

[JimmyM]

It’s never a bad idea to increase your skill sets. But plenty of folks use picks on bass. I do sometimes, especially if it’s something hard that I can’t play with fingers.

 

[G-Dog]

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Like Jimmy says, plenty of bassists use picks! If it fits the song/tone/whatever you're going for, go for it and don't worry about it. It's not really unpopular, it just seems that some people "look down" on it. That's their preference. That don't make it The Only Way for everybody. But, so what?!?

It's like some bassists' preferences for tubes versus solid state amps. Some tube aficionados seem to "look down" on solid state amps. That's their preference, not The Only Way. But, again, so what?!?

You do you. And don't worry that someone else does it differently. You can't please all the people all the time. Different strokes for different folks!
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[Papageno]

I am left-handed, but play right-handed.
The kind of precise and rapid wrist motion needed to play with a pick is something my right hand simply cannot do (I can't really explain why; try this with your weak hand, maybe you will feel the same).

So I simply don't play with a pick. But I definitely don't "look down" at people using a pick. We are all different and need to find out what works for us and serves the music. If the pick is what works for you and the music you want to play, go for it! Other people's preferences are irrelevant to you.

 

[smeet]

These days I play with fingers for jazz and funk, pick for harder rock, and either for “in between” styles.

I recently switched to warmer pickups with less bite in the highs, and playing with a pick is really nice with those. It gets a little of that flats-with-a-pick magic, but in a more modern way.

 

[AGCurry]

If your chops are rusty, the rustiest aspect will be your right-hand fingers. At that point, getting a good sound is easier with a pick.

 

[dalkowski]

Playing with a pick isn't unpopular, it's just not everyone's MO. Whatever works for you, brotherman.

Also FWIW I would advise against too much playing unplugged. I'm still unlearning the heavy touch I developed over many many years of doing that.

 

[DirtDog]

I started playing bass with a pick out of necessity when I starting singing lead vox. I’ve played guitar for 40 years so a pick in hand is not unfamiliar to me. I play guitar both with a pick and finger style depending on what’s called for.

I suppose I play bass these days 90% with a pick and move to fingers when a particular passage calls for it…whether I’m singing or not.

If I was back in a proper blues band, I’d probably be playing almost all fingerstyle again. Last time I sat in with a blues band, I didn’t use a pick (wasn’t my bass).

 

[Lobster11]

My theory is that a lot of bassists are converted guitarists who find it easy to play bass with a pick but often struggle to learn to play fingerstyle. In contrast, those of us who started on bass -- "real" bassists -- almost always start out learning fingerstyle (and later struggle to learn to use a pick). So, I think converted guitarists sometimes feel like using a pick on bass is "cheating," since "real" bassists use fingers.

Personally, I played fingerstyle exclusively for 15 years, occasionally trying to learn to use a pick but always giving up in frustration. Eventually I decided to really commit to it. It took a long time for me to get to the point of being equally comfortable either way, and now I go about half-and-half depending on the song or, more often, my mood at the moment.

 

[getBAK]

I would say that playing with a pick was looked down upon for many years because of the perception that guitarists could simply pick up the electric bass and be a bassist.

I personally find it more difficult to groove with a pick. That's not to say it can't be done, but for me and I think most, it's more difficult to settle in. Straight-up rock songs, this isn't a problem.

 

[MCS4]

Playing bass with a pick is plenty popular. A relatively small percentage of bassist or non-bassists look down on it, and they are often quite vocal, but pickstyle bass playing is still extremely common among amateurs and pros alike.

I'm probably around 60% fingerstyle vs. 40% pickstyle myself, although it varies over time.

 

[nickpc]

I think there is much more of a perception that people look down on bass players who use a pick than there are actually people who look down on bass players who use a pick.

 

[lfmn16]

I never knew it was a bad thing until I joined TB. Been using a pick on and off since 1974 and never heard a single comment about it.

 

[TBird1958]

With my band I use a pick about 95% of the time, rock, power pop, etc. it works really well, but you have to work at it to really "get it" like slap or fingerstyle.

 

[Leonid Nidis]

I used to, it came to a point I was master with a pick but useless finger style.
Since then I play mostly finger style to balance.
Now I'm enjoying finger style more.
BTW I have seen some amazing players who couldn't play with a pick cos they avoided it all their life.

 

[OptimalOptimus]

It took me almost 20 years of playing bass before I took any interest in playing with a pick…

im not bad but it isn’t my preferred method. But I find easier to cut through so it is a dilemma

 

[hieronymous]

I have no idea where the prejudice against playing bass with a pick came from, but it's real. Probably not that many people feel like that, but those who do can be real jerks about it. To me, it betrays their ignorance of the history of the instrument.

At this point, I am probably 40% pick/60% fingers - one thing I did when I was younger was try and play stuff I played with pick with fingers and vice versa (actually slapping too at that time). But I also find that I often play differently with a pick - it helps me express different aspects of my musicality. There are times when I want to sound like me, other times (usually with a band) where it's more about the song - using the pick (or not) can be part of that - or not!

 

[PaulCISSA]

For a long, long time I didn't have gigs or engagements that needed pick. I got a call to do a brit-pop album in 2016 that needed a Ric w/flats played pickstyle. It surprised me how much muscle memory I had lost while devoting my time to regular gigs of finger style work. It took a good while to get that back. I admire those that have it nailed down.

 

[SoCal80s]

It just depends what tone you're going for. I find my pick tone to be too thin, so I play with fingers mostly to get a thicker tone. It's good to be good at both so you can use whatever the song calls for. YMMV

 

[Jek Porkins]

I play with a pick 90 percent of the time. I'm trying to use fingers more especially since I started to attempt to play some Iron Maiden tunes. If I was to be stuck with one style I would choose pick. I did not start playing guitar until years after I started playing bass so the former guitarist thing does not apply to me..