Playing with a pick: why so unpopular?

[socialleper]

Because Jammerson and Jaco didn't? Who knows. People here don't like slap, tapping, or anything modern.
Whatever.
A pick is a tool. Use it when you think you need to.

 

[TimB1226]

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.

A variation on this theme. I’m one of those guitar players who took up bass. When I play bass with a pick, I sound like a guitar player playing an octave lower, lapsing into guitarist patterns. Playing with my fingers helps me sound more like a bass player.

I wish this weren’t so for me, as playing bass with my fingers can come close to giving me blisters on my picking hand.

 

[fishdreams]

yeah about that....a reformed double bass guy (solo starts 5:10 in, if you don't want to hear his amazing comping )

 

[Auspuff]

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.

Fingers are just so handy!

 

[WillyW]

Fingers are just so handy!

Sometimes, I don't know where they have been...

 

[REV]

I just did a recording session where I was able to achieve the sound the producer wanted by using a felt pick. The nylon pick I sometimes use was too "clicky" (his term) and using my fingers did not provide enough definition ( again his term). The felt pick was just right. I always bring a selection of picks to a recording session.

 

[Auspuff]

Sometimes, I don't know where they have been...

Some things are best left unsolved.

 

[Deleted member 365158]

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.

99.8% pick player here.
Its good to know how to play otherwise in case the pick breaks or is dropped.

 

[jimmyjames77]

I’d say simply play to your skill level right now, while keeping practicing on whatever you’re trying to get better at. Then you’ll be able to play whatever the song needs.

 

[tbz]

It’s really just another technique.

Pretty sure the criticism only comes from people that can’t do it. Much like slapping or tapping.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I started playing pick and fingers a few months after starting bass at 17, so it came pretty natural. It's always weird at first, that disconnect between fingers and strings, but after a while the pick just feels like an extension of my hand. Chris Squire was my first (probably be my last too) Bass Hero, and using a pick was mandatory to get his tone. Whenever people diss pick, I say "play Roundabout with your fingers". Nope, ain't happening. Due to gradually worsening arthritis, I find myself playing almost exclusively pick now, it's just less painful. Consequently I've lost some chops with fingers, but so be it.....

 

[BarfanyShart]

I was hearing a lot of pick playing on the music I was listening to a few years ago, maybe over half. I didn't really get on with the pick, though I keep trying, but I did change my right hand technique drastically so that I can cop a little bit more of a pick feel on stuff. Everyone should try to do at least the basics of every technique, it can only make you a better overall player.

 

[Lobster11]

Whenever people diss pick, I say "play Roundabout with your fingers".

I just have to say that "Diss Pick" would be a great band name....

 

[Outshined91]

I would say that a pick is definitely a LOT more common than you think – especially in rock where at least 50% of players (for whom bass is their primary instrument, might I add) use a pick, although I have seen picks elsewhere, such as in funk and jazz with players such as Bobby Vega, Carol Kaye as you know, etc.

Personally, when I was first starting out I quickly switched from fingers to pick after some months because I thought it was "cool" and "different"... haha. I also fell in love with the sound and its capabilities after getting into new wave music and becoming a huge Peter Hook fan. So I went from all fingers to all pick, now I switch back and forth pretty evenly, but I'm leaning toward pick more and more because it just feels more versatile to me. I do still feel cooler using a pick than fingers for some reason...

If you are going to work on your pick playing, the number one bit of advice I can give you is to listen to a bunch of pick players and really dig into their music, baselines and how they use the pick itself. My favorites to listen to are Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order), Carlos Dengler (Interpol) and Simon Gallup (The Cure) but there are tons more. To me, this is KEY – once I understood the music, I found it very easy to get comfortable with the pick.

At the end of the day however, just play bass in the way that feels right for you. It's so hard to really settle into a groove when you aren't comfortable with your technique. So it's cool to try new things out, but at the end of the day, don't sweat it if it doesn't come naturally and don't feel like you have to use a pick sometimes.

 

[BlueTalon]

I started off playing with a pick for many years. But it was never without issues for me. There was always the possibility of dropping the pick, but even when I held onto it, it would tend to rotate a little bit in my fingers, so that the pointy part started pointing toward my palm rather than the strings. Then I'd have to adjust it, and adjust it, and adjust it... I actually contemplated using super glue at one point, because keeping the pick correctly positioned and oriented was such a PITA for me. Eventually I stopped using them altogether, although I don't remember exactly when that was. Probably about 30 years ago.

So now I play exclusively with my fingers. I tried using a pick recently, and I'm really bad at it now, so I'll just continue to use my fingers. I don't feel like I'm missing anything, though. And by anything, I specifically mean speed and attack. My style works well for me. That said, I'm mildly envious of people who can use a pick well, just like I'm mildly envious of people who can slap well. Just not enough to do anything about it.

 

[dangevans]

It doesn't matter to me (and usually no one else cares) as long as it sounds good. Really is as simple as that.

 

[BlueTalon]

Whenever people diss pick, I say "play Roundabout with your fingers". Nope, ain't happening.

It's actually not that hard. And I mean the song itself, the speed, and the grit in the tone.

You might enjoy this.

(Oh, and just for the record, I'm not dissing picks.)

 

[Wasnex]

I recommend: Use a pick when it's appropriate, and don't use a pick when it is not appropriate. Use your own definition of appropriate. Some songs can sound great with either. If this is the case, use whichever you prefer and don't stress about it.

 

[OldSchoolFlats]

Glad to see using a pick (ahem, "plectrum") is more accepted than I thought. I just felt like I was breaking the "Bass Player Code of Ethics(tm)".

As I get more into my palm-muted pick-playing on flats again (just ordered some La Bella DTF), it will be interesting to see how the various muting techniques I have learned with finger-style and slap - with a B-string finger-rest - will carry over to my picking. In the past, I muted almost exclusively with my palm, except for lifting my finger off a fretted note, but still touching the string.

I will though, still have my slap-happy 4-stringer with D'Addario EXL165s.

Now, if I just didn't take occasional decade-long breaks from playing over the last 45 years...

 

[MrLenny1]

I'm with Anthony Jackson, it's a guitar and it can be played with a
pick. Just different tools to use.