Playing with a pick: why so unpopular?

[tshapiro]

Played bass exclusively with a pick for first 20 years, exclusively with fingers next 20 years:

A pick is easier to get a serviceable tone with as it has a strong attack. It's easier to go fast or get a driving sound. But, it can also be very limiting.

Limiting in the sense that there's cool techniques and corresponding amp setups that can only be discovered using your hands. I correlate it to playing guitar through a solid state amp vs a tube amp. With a solid state amp you can dial in distortion simply by turning up the distortion knob. With a tube amp, you eventually learn the difference between preamp tube overdrive and power tube distortion. You can dial in infinitely more flavors and have a more responsive setup.

When I first started playing finger style, things such as triplet rhythms, driving 8th or 16th notes, having a consistent volume between slap and fingers, getting a sound that cuts, and finger stamina were all a challenge. 20 years later all those things are better with my fingers/hands and a pick is just a barrier between me, my tone and a whole host of really cool syncopated things I can do with various parts of my hands. Even after 20 years I continue to regularly find new things I can do with my hands.

 

[Bass Ameg]

I play flats with a pick in a rock band and I'm fine.

 

[the general]

Play the way that works for you. I play with my fingers because that's what I'm used too.

I've been trying to play with a pick lately though because there's a few songs I want to play and, suffice it to say, my fingers just won't move fast enough or in rhythm to hit the strings necessary. Example would be The Vapors - Turning Japanese. I'm sure there are people out there who can play it using finger plucking but I'm not one of them.

With regards to a pick, I've grown fond of the sounds produced by felt picks. I've got a few hard plastic ones and a rubber one, but the felt one just sounds better to me. The brand name eludes me at the moment.

 

[BlueTalon]

Play the way that works for you. I play with my fingers because that's what I'm used too.

I've been trying to play with a pick lately though because there's a few songs I want to play and, suffice it to say, my fingers just won't move fast enough or in rhythm to hit the strings necessary. Example would be The Vapors - Turning Japanese. I'm sure there are people out there who can play it using finger plucking but I'm not one of them.

When I need to play fast like that, I still use my fingers, but I use them more like a pick, with upstrokes and downstrokes rather than plucking.

 

[the general]

When I need to play fast like that, I still use my fingers, but I use them more like a pick, with upstrokes and downstrokes rather than plucking.

I've dabbled with doing that here and there. Mostly out of curiosity. Guess when my picks wear out(which will probably take awhile), I'll give that technique a go.

 

[themickster]

Fingering is cheaper. I tried playing with a long fingernail as a pick, but it wore out quicker than it could grow back.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

The reason I started playing with a pick. This tone is simply not possible with fingers, believe me, I tried!

 

[TOOL460002]

I'm just not good at it and really like playing with right hand technique stuff. That's my excuse. I don't dislike it. I just like using my fingers more. The tactile part is the best part.

 

[Kaa]

I'm sure it's been mentioned but: Squire, Lake, and Wetton all used picks. That's 3/4 of the Prog Mt. Rushmore right there.

 

[dougjwray]

Why, you ask?
I think it goes back to the early days, when session guitarists could grab a Fender Bass and immediately record bass parts with it, putting upright players out of work. The upright players spent years mastering their instrument, and the guitarists didn't even bother to set their picks aside. So, there was some resentment there.

 

[Kaa]

Why, you ask?
I think it goes back to the early days, when session guitarists could grab a Fender Bass and immediately record bass parts with it, putting upright players out of work. The upright players spent years mastering their instrument, and the guitarists didn't even bother to set their picks aside. So, there was some resentment there.

That's an interesting take. I can see that happening, easily.

 

[OldSchoolFlats]

Having gotten more comfortable with finger-style (and muting), slap/pop (and muting), and even a bit of double-thumb (and muting), I am finding my picking the worst sounding: due to a lack of muting.

My picking pretty-much depends on palm-muting, but that has its limits since I don't always want a muffled sound. I can mute a bit when picking, if I barre my fingers over the strings with my fretting hand, but that seems more clumsy than using my finger-tips on my fretting hand, and has limits.

My quest continues...

 

[NoiseNinja]

As far as I am concerned, and many would agree, Bobby Vega got to be the absolute master of pick playing on bass.

If you are not aware of him, though chances are you have heard his work anyway, you should check out some YouTube videos featuring him playing.

Anthony Jackson is another pick player that I bet you've heard, even if you might not know who he is.

Personally I am primarily a pick player, which stems from me originally starting out on guitar, having been playing guitar for a couple of years, before I eventually one day picked up a bass and fell in love right there on the spot with the feel and sound of it, and bass quickly after that experience became my main instrument of choice.

Since I have learned different finger plucking/picking techniques as well, but I still prefer that specific unique snappy emphasis on the attack you get from using a pick when playing bass.

I would recommend you to learn how to use a pick as well, the more tools you have in your tool box the more options for musically expressing yourself through your instrument.

One thing you should be aware of though is that pick choice is a very subjective/individual and personal thing, different materials, degrees of flexibility/stiffness, thickness, as well as how pointy/round the tip of a pick is will influence on the feel and tone you get from it, so if you decide to learn how to use one do yourself a favor and buy a big handful of different picks in all kind of shapes, materials, thickness and flexibility/stiffness in order to find out which exactly you personally get along with the best.

I personally prefer a relatively flexible Dunlop USA Nylon .73mm pick, but then some prefer a totally inflexible 3mm pick made out of stone.

The preferred pick of Bobby Vega, as I mentioned, is a Dunlop Tortex .73mm pick, but even if that pick has the exact same thickness as the nylon one I prefer his preferred pick is stiffer, since nylon happens to be a more flexible material than Tortex, the .73mm Tortex pick probably being more similar in terms of flexibility to that of a .80mm or so nylon pick.

However the Tortex pick would still probably sound brighter, or at least different, both from the .80mm nylon pick of similar flexibility and the .73mm nylon pick of similar thickness, due to the different nature of the material.

 

[OldSchoolFlats]

As far as I am concerned, and many would agree, Bobby Vega got to be the absolute master of pick playing on bass.

If you are not aware of him, though chances are you have heard his work anyway, you should check out some YouTube videos featuring him playing.

Anthony Jackson is another pick player that I bet you've heard, even if you might not know who he is.

Personally I am primarily a pick player, which stems from me originally starting out on guitar, having been playing guitar for a couple of years, before I eventually one day picked up a bass and fell in love right there on the spot with the feel and sound of it, and bass quickly after that experience became my main instrument of choice.

Since I have learned different finger plucking/picking techniques as well, but I still prefer that specific unique snappy emphasis on the attack you get from using a pick when playing bass.

I would recommend you to learn how to use a pick as well, the more tools you have in your tool box the more options for musically expressing yourself through your instrument.

One thing you should be aware of though is that pick choice is a very subjective/individual and personal thing, different materials, degrees of flexibility/stiffness, thickness, as well as how pointy/round the tip of a pick is will influence on the feel and tone you get from it, so if you decide to learn how to use one do yourself a favor and buy a big handful of different picks in all kind of shapes, materials, thickness and flexibility/stiffness in order to find out which exactly you personally get along with the best.

I personally prefer a relatively flexible Dunlop USA Nylon .73mm pick, but then some prefer a totally inflexible 3mm pick made out of stone.

The preferred pick of Bobby Vega, as I mentioned, is a Dunlop Tortex .73mm pick, but even if that pick has the exact same thickness as the nylon one I prefer his preferred pick is stiffer, since nylon happens to be a more flexible material than Tortex, the .73mm Tortex pick probably being more similar in terms of flexibility to that of a .80mm or so nylon pick.

However the Tortex pick would still probably sound brighter, or at least different, both from the .80mm nylon pick of similar flexibility and the .73mm nylon pick of similar thickness, due to the different nature of the material.

...any thoughts on muting, when playing with a pick? In the past, when playing with a pick was my "go-to", I would palm-mute, but that is rather limiting.

I stopped playing for years, and have only been playing again for a few months. I have been playing exclusively finger and slap style, and worked-out muting pretty well for those styles. Now, I notice when I play with a pick (which I am pretty fast at), unless I palm-mute the whole time, I sound like a piano with the sustain pedal pressed.

I can mute a little pick-style if my fretting hand barres the frets instead of playing with my finger-tips, but that does not feel natural.

Thoughts?

 

[NoiseNinja]

...any thoughts on muting, when playing with a pick? In the past, when playing with a pick was my "go-to", I would palm-mute, but that is rather limiting.

I stopped playing for years, and have only been playing again for a few months. I have been playing exclusively finger and slap style, and worked-out muting pretty well for those styles. Now, I notice when I play with a pick (which I am pretty fast at), unless I palm-mute the whole time, I sound like a piano with the sustain pedal pressed.

I can mute a little pick-style if my fretting hand barres the frets instead of playing with my finger-tips, but that does not feel natural.

Thoughts?

Well, muting is something that happens quite intuitively and instinctively to me, so I can't really give you any finer details of what exactly it is that I do.

But I can say as much as I don't face any issues regarding muting when playing with a pick.

When that is said I can give some a bit more general guide lines as to what muting options you got when playing with a pick, as you said yourself you can mute with your fretting hand, but beside palm muting, you can also utilize your palm to mute strings more area specific in between picks, or in some cases either above or bellow the string you pick, and you can use the remaining fingers of your fretting hand that are not used to fret the currently picked note to mute too, also as you really only use your thumb and index finger to actually hold the pick you still got your remaining 3 fingers to mute with as well, that only requires of you to not close them into your palm, beside of course sufficiently motor control over them, add to that that you can mute the string above the picked one, or the one you are picking (if you need to mute the note right after it has been picked), with the thumb of your picking hand, and mute the string under the picked one with the index finger of your picking hand, as well.

I tend to use a combination of the above, but as said when it comes to more detailed and specific instructions I can't really be helpful, as muting is something that sort of happens rather automatically for me, and it has never been something that I ever really had to think all that much about on a conscious level, though still my muting skills has without doubt improved as I got better at playing bass in general, just not something I ever really practiced as such, unless I have run into a specific muting issue in a specific part I was working on.

 

[NoiseNinja]

Well, muting is something that happens quite intuitively and instinctively to me, so I can't really give you any finer details of what exactly it is that I do.

But I can say as much as I don't face any issues regarding muting when playing with a pick.

When that is said I can give some a bit more general guide lines as to what muting options you got when playing with a pick, as you said yourself you can mute with your fretting hand, but beside palm muting, you can also utilize your palm to mute strings more area specific in between picks, or in some cases either above or bellow the string you pick, and you can use the remaining fingers of your fretting hand that are not used to fret the currently picked note to mute too, also as you really only use your thumb and index finger to actually hold the pick you still got your remaining 3 fingers to mute with as well, that only requires of you to not close them into your palm, beside of course sufficiently motor control over them, add to that that you can mute the string above the picked one, or the one you are picking (if you need to mute the note right after it has been picked), with the thumb of your picking hand, and mute the string under the picked one with the index finger of your picking hand, as well.

I tend to use a combination of the above, but as said when it comes to more detailed and specific instructions I can't really be helpful, as muting is something that sort of happens rather automatically for me, and it has never been something that I ever really had to think all that much about on a conscious level, though still my muting skills has without doubt improved as I got better at playing bass in general, just not something I ever really practiced as such, unless I have run into a specific muting issue in a specific part I was working on.

@OldSchoolFlats

I just tried actually to pay attention to how I mute the strings when I play bass with a pick, and 80% of the time (or something along those lines) I will mute the strings above the one picked with the palm of my picking hand, and the strings bellow with the lower part of the fingers/hand of my fretting hand.

The remaining 20% (or something along those lines) will be a combination of the above other options explained.

 

[comatosedragon]

Try as I might, there are some songs I just can't get the tone I am looking for with pedals and EQ, so I have actually recently started practicing with a pick/plectrum (it's almost like learning a new instrument so far ).

I used an insane amount of my Musician's Friends points to order an insane amount of picks to try out.
For me, what I find most comfortable right now are the Orange Dunlop .60 gauge picks, but I do like the 'feel' of the 1mm Big Stubby. The 3mm seems waaay to thick, IDK.

Am I doing myself a disservice using thinner plectrums? Like is there any repetitive motion injury I may not be thinking about when playing with a thin pick? I play sunbeam .100 -.40 on all my basses, which are light gauged strings obviously.

But plenty of folks use picks on bass. I do sometimes, especially if it’s something hard that I can’t play with fingers.

This statement blows my mind, because when it is time to play something difficult (for me), I drop that pick on the ground! Like an example: Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil (not overly difficult for most people I guess, but it's the tempo that gets me). I can play it fairly well fingerstyle (if I do so so myself); but stumbling all over the place trying to play that with a pick.

Obviously it's all down to practice, and since I have played exclusively with my fingers for 10+ years .... Well I guess it's going to take me a little while to get where I want to be.

Megadeth lines are what honestly finally motivated me to devote practice time with a plectrum, I can play a bunch of songs, but there is just no way to do that palm muting like Ellefson does so well with my fingers. At least, I haven't discovered a way yet.

 

[NoiseNinja]

Try as I might, there are some songs I just can't get the tone I am looking for with pedals and EQ, so I have actually recently started practicing with a pick/plectrum (it's almost like learning a new instrument so far ).

I used an insane amount of my Musician's Friends points to order an insane amount of picks to try out.
For me, what I find most comfortable right now are the Orange Dunlop .60 gauge picks, but I do like the 'feel' of the 1mm Big Stubby. The 3mm seems waaay to thick, IDK.

Am I doing myself a disservice using thinner plectrums? Like is there any repetitive motion injury I may not be thinking about when playing with a thin pick? I play sunbeam .100 -.40 on all my basses, which are light gauged strings obviously.

No.

Pick choice is a very individual thing, some prefer relatively thin flexible picks and some like thick completely inflexible picks.

The .60mm orange Dunlop Tortex pick would be fairly similar in terms of flexibility to the .73mm Dunlop USA Nylon one that I prefer (as nylon is a more flexible material than Tortex), and I like it that way and am able to play faster with that than I would with any less flexible pick, or that I would with a more flexible pick for that matter too.

A .73mm nylon pick seems to be the exact right pick for me.

One thing you should try out though is how you like using the round corners of the pick, instead of the pointy tip, to pick with.

It will be slightly stiffer that way, but the roundness does that the pick sort of strokes the strings more so, rather than striking them, and using it like that will produce a slightly cleaner tone with a slightly less bright and snappy attack and as far as I am concerned overall improve the amount of control you have over the pick.

Though it might not work for you, and that is perfectly fine, still worth trying out.

In any case there's absolutely nothing inherently wrong with preferring a relatively flexible pick if that is what works best for you.

Some will properly tell you that there is, and while that might be absolutely true for them, it isn't necessarily true for you, I know for certain it isn't for me at least.

 

[comatosedragon]

No.

Pick choice is a very individual thing, some prefer relatively thin flexible picks and some like thick completely inflexible picks.

The .60mm orange Dunlop Tortex pick would be somewhat similar in terms of flexibility to the .73mm Dunlop USA Nylon that I prefer (as nylon is a more flexible material than Tortex), and I like it that way and am able to play faster with that than I would with any less flexible pick.

One thing you should try out though is how you like using the round corners of the pick, instead of the pointy tip, to pick with.

Hey, thanks! I have some of the yellow .73's also, still trying to find 'the best'. Good to know there is no need to stress about injuries.

And thanks for the tip about playing with the rounded edges; I do like the attack that way, just need some (lots) more practice to get where I want to be.

 

[NoiseNinja]

Hey, thanks! I have some of the yellow .73's also, still trying to find 'the best'. Good to know there is no need to stress about injuries.

And thanks for the tip about playing with the rounded edges; I do like the attack that way, just need some (lots) more practice to get where I want to be.

The yellow .73mm Dunlop Tortex picks that you got would be less flexible than the greay .73mm USA Nylon pick that I prefer, probably closer in terms of flexibility to that of a .80mm or so nylon pick (as, as said, nylon is a more flexible material than Tortex), but it might do the trick for you (as said the .60mm Tortex pick would be closer in terms of flexibility to a .73mm nylon pick).

In any case experimenting with different shapes, thicknesses, flexibility/stiffness and materials of picks until you find the pick that works optimally for you is the exact right approach.

Different materials will feel and sound different too, beyond what the thickness and flexibility/stiffness of them dictates.

Nylon picks will generally produce a bit warmer tone than Tortex picks for instance.