Problem getting comfortable playing with a pick!

[descendent22]

I'm playing more and more with a pick these days. Few reasons why are because I really like it for starts, the tone is awesome, and it feels right depending on the song. With that said I am currently struggling getting comfortable with it while performing. I been playing with a pick for a few years now and my fingers also, but more often recently because I'm in a new band and I'm preferring to use a pick a lot more for tone purposes and the songs as well. I trying to find the right length for my strap, where the bass should sit on my body,where on the bass my strumming hand is positioned. All these come into factor and it's like I can't seem to get comfortable or play 100% consistent. At times I play tighter then other times, some days I may be a little looser, but it also feels like a chore to play with a pick. I love playing with a pick but it could be eritating at times. Is there any way I can fix these problems?

 

[BassAndReeds]

Did you try different styles of picks? Maybe the pick doesn't fit your playin style.

 

[MalcolmAmos]

I use the big stubby in 2.0 to 3.0 mm. That's thinker than you may be using, give it a try.

 

[catcauphonic]

You can mess with different strap heights and diff thickness pics, but ultimately it's just going to take a while to get comfortable as you learn to reuse BOTH hands ... because picking with your one hand requires muting compensation for the other.

My Spector with the soapbars was an extra challenge due to where the sweet spot is in relation to the bridge (a little further away than i would like), plus i kept bumping my vol & tone knobs till i got it under control.

Now i often try to learn a song both ways, but the switch still requires a little patience before i get it where it needs to be.

Stick with it & good luck

 

[descendent22]

Thanx everyone, you been real supportive, positive and helpful. There's was something said by everyone that really eased my irritated stated of mind. I use the purple .96mm Dunlop picks which I really like and won't use anything softer. Before I read your responses I actually started to experiment with a couple different picks so we'll see where that goes. Also I have been messing with different strap heights and we'll see where that goes. Something I read cought my attention and that was about the " sweet spot " on the bass. There will be times where I'm at rehearsal or home or a gig and I catch myself in that sweet spot and my playability is perfect. The bass feels comfortable, I play precise and I ALWAYS forget to look to see where/how I am playing or what the exact position is of the bass.

 

[Badwater]

Try a different strap with strap locks. I use the palm mute sometimes with pick, and need the bass up chest high for comfort much like when I'm sitting and playing. Also, I need the bass down at waist level so I can finger pick with comfort.

Thus, I have a strap with 3 button holes, one for the front of the bass, and 2 on the tale end of the strap for the rear end of the bass. This way, I just attach the tail end of the strap to which ever button I need, one for the chest position, and one for the waist position.

The cost is a good leather strap with multiple button attachment holes (one on the front, and 2 or more on the tail end), and 2 sets of strap locks. This single strap set up works for 2 bases.

 

[descendent22]

Try a different strap with strap locks. I use the palm mute sometimes with pick, and need the bass up chest high for comfort much like when I'm sitting and playing. Also, I need the bass down at waist level so I can finger pick with comfort.

Thus, I have a strap with 3 button holes, one for the front of the bass, and 2 on the tale end of the strap for the rear end of the bass. This way, I just attach the tail end of the strap to which ever button I need, one for the chest position, and one for the waist position.

The cost is a good leather strap with multiple button attachment holes (one on the front, and 2 or more on the tail end), and 2 sets of strap locks. This single strap set up works for 2 bases.

I apreciate the advice, but there's no possible way I am gunna play my bass as high as my chest. I found the height I'm comfortable with. It's right around the waist.

 

[mbell75]

I get what you're saying, just have to play with it. When I play guitar, I wear it super low but when I play bass with a pick, I have it substantially higher up because its a different picking motion. My guitar motion is more sweeping and my bass motion is more of a picking/plucking. Nothing says you need to keep your bass at the same height overtime either. Adjust it to how you feel most comfortable that day.

 

[andruca]

IME a soft pick and a guitarist motion is essential. I play mostly HC and metalcore but still I'll quote myself from another post just in case any of all this b/s is useful for you...

I started playing guitar around 1986 and bass in 1988 and it was fingerstyle for me for 20 years. Altho' I've been decently proficient on guitar with a pick, the rare times I had to use a pick on bass it felt real clumsy, rhytmically unnatural. SO I played everything fingerstyle, from soul to speed metal (even HC parts, using a really orthopaedic 3 finger technique sometimes). Now, in 2008 I started playing almost exclusively fast HC and demoed a complete LP with a close guitarist friend (who happens to be an outstanding rhythm guitarist from some big metal acts -with a long history of HC-) and by watching him (a guitarist!) I just re-learned to play a bass with a pick. I simply emulated his rhytmical feel. On guitar you can bang it and not get your pick stuck when stroking simply because such soft and thin strings will move away. But on picked bass well, if you hit hard either you break a string or the pick goes flying away. With time I discovered the perfect way to counteract that so that you can play with a guitar'ish feel is to use softer picks, which also provide for some natural compression. For me it's Tortex Triangle .60mm (orange), when NEW. That's the exact stiffnes for me. Probably an hour into a new pick it starts getting softer. I tried Ultex (same gauge) as it's just a tad stiffer, but as so, they crack or even get their corners chopped with my kind of technique. So I stick to .60 Tortex which don't break and are way cheaper so I don't mind discarding them often much.

As you can see in this video my picking pattern doesn't differ from the guitarist (to the left)'s.



As you can also see I use my whole arm, wrist AND fingers to pick, in a typical guitarist kinda' motion. Live I have to mute more just in case my strokes are not that precise, but even with a guitar like arm motion I've grown very precise over these last 9 years. My point is you cannot appropriately do a solid groove only with your fingers, not even with your fingers and wrist, you need your whole extremity for it to flow. I say worry less about picking precision (and the whole pick up/down -púa/contrapúa in spanish- cycle) and focus more about your arm "dancing" around a groove. If you look clumsy or unnatural playing (what I see in MOST picking bassists) it's probably sounding that way too, even if mixed with your band it doesn't show too obviously.

The other thing you probably noticed is groove related, we play strong (down) beats on snares. That for me is ESSENTIAL for modern fast HC, basically not playing the groove as if you were playing some Ska upbeat thing, SO WRONG. Let me show you just a measure to exemplify.

It has a lot to do with the drummer too. Some drummers simply can't give up on the annoying strong kicks on 1 and 3 and the continuity of the hi-hat (measure A), while the good ones (no euphemisms here) do it the other way around. FAST HC IS NOT METAL, it grooves in a very different kind of way, altho' many don't ever get to "click" and play clumsy HC all their lives. I've tried to discuss it in this totally ignored thread (can live with it, TB is not into pick technique development much). I apply this sort of snare oriented/accented groove concept for many other things I play, not only HC (an example). It's even made me a better guitarist. Here's a drums+bass rough take for you to hear how it sounds. And here's the final song it became after some more takes, guitars, singing, editing, mixing, mastering...

 

[Jeff Bonny]

I struggled with this problem for a lotta years. What finally worked was giving up using fingers and completely committing to the pick....it was just too easy to give in to the frustration of lousy pick technique and fall back on the fingers. And falling back on fingers meant never really "getting there" with the pick. After several years of just the pick I have gone back to using fingers sometimes but it took a couple of years of pick only to start feeling like there was close to the same subtle control of tone and phrasing I'd developed with fingers.

IME a soft pick and a guitarist motion is essential. I play mostly HC and metalcore but still I'll quote myself from another post just in case any of all this b/s is useful for you...

I don't think the flexibility of the pick has much if anything to do with the fundamental technique of using one. During my long sabbatical from using fingers I worked with many different sizes, shapes, materials and flex coming to the conclusion it's more about how a pick sounds not how it feels. I prefer the warmth of heavy, blunt medium sized picks but because I did so much experimenting I have equal technical facility with just about anything this side of the totally weird ones like rubber or felt.

I agree with what you're saying about using your whole body though. But I think that's going to be misunderstood by a lot of people who might not get that it's a very subtle thing and think it means unnecessary motion. What you're doing with every part of your body effects every other part and that's worth figuring out.

I apreciate the advice, but there's no possible way I am gunna play my bass as high as my chest. I found the height I'm comfortable with. It's right around the waist.

You've found the height you're comfortable with using your fingers. Playing with the pick is a different technique. Really getting yer **** together with a pick means developing an interdependent system that includes strings, setup, amp settings and anything to do with the physical mechanics including where the bass sits.

OK wearing your bass like a neck-tie probably isn't gonna be very good but keep an open mind and experiment. Using a mirror to assess mechanical efficiency was useful to me. With the P bass I've ended up with a strap height that's a couple of inches higher than where it sits in my lap. With the short scale Davo (a custom Danelectro type bass built by Dave Reimer) it's about 4" higher than lap height. Not saying that's where you should play but chasing playing with a pick well it's what I've come to....and quite honestly even after a decade or so it's still a fluid thing that might change as my playing evolves.

 

[catcauphonic]

Dang, last nite at rehearsal i broke my 2nd pick (Big Stubby 1.0) on a new tune we were working on with the lowest bpm we've ever used! 2 weeks ago was the 1st one ... on a higher energy number. I obviously need to lighten up my touch a bit ... only happens playing with the band so far. Never broke a string (yet.)

One of these, but not this one >

I go back and forth between these and the Dunlop .96 - 1.5 ... both of which have less flex then this BS 1.0

 

[Matthew_84]

How is your picking technique?

Do you palm mute at the bridge, or do you play without your hand on the strings up closer towards the neck (like over the neck pickup)?

Do you flick your wrist or do you spin your whole forearm like you're twisting a door knob?

I found doing the latter in both questions (playing over neck pickup while spinning my whole forearm) gave me the most consistency, while also giving me the most flexibility and less discomfort.

FWIW, I also use three different picks depending on the tone I want... A 0.71mm Dunlop Gator Grip for a brighter attack, a 3mm Stubby for a warmer attack, and a thick wooden one for in between tones. The wooden one is longer than the other two but since my hand isn't always held up against the strings, it takes maybe 2 seconds to compensate and then I'm good.

 

[descendent22]

I struggled with this problem for a lotta years. What finally worked was giving up using fingers and completely committing to the pick....it was just too easy to give in to the frustration of lousy pick technique and fall back on the fingers. And falling back on fingers meant never really "getting there" with the pick. After several years of just the pick I have gone back to using fingers sometimes but it took a couple of years of pick only to start feeling like there was close to the same subtle control of tone and phrasing I'd developed with fingers.



I don't think the flexibility of the pick has much if anything to do with the fundamental technique of using one. During my long sabbatical from using fingers I worked with many different sizes, shapes, materials and flex coming to the conclusion it's more about how a pick sounds not how it feels. I prefer the warmth of heavy, blunt medium sized picks but because I did so much experimenting I have equal technical facility with just about anything this side of the totally weird ones like rubber or felt.

I agree with what you're saying about using your whole body though. But I think that's going to be misunderstood by a lot of people who might not get that it's a very subtle thing and think it means unnecessary motion. What you're doing with every part of your body effects every other part and that's worth figuring out.



You've found the height you're comfortable with using your fingers. Playing with the pick is a different technique. Really getting yer **** together with a pick means developing an interdependent system that includes strings, setup, amp settings and anything to do with the physical mechanics including where the bass sits.

OK wearing your bass like a neck-tie probably isn't gonna be very good but keep an open mind and experiment. Using a mirror to assess mechanical efficiency was useful to me. With the P bass I've ended up with a strap height that's a couple of inches higher than where it sits in my lap. With the short scale Davo (a custom Danelectro type bass built by Dave Reimer) it's about 4" higher than lap height. Not saying that's where you should play but chasing playing with a pick well it's what I've come to....and quite honestly even after a decade or so it's still a fluid thing that might change as my playing evolves.

Playing pick isn't new to me, I been playing for a while but just recently I been exploring my options with getting more comfortable. Like a stated in the OP that sometimes it feel like a chore. As far as tone settings and picks I use and stamina i got it all down. I'm constantly looking for newer ways to improve my playing. I will say that I am experimenting with strumming hand position and my strap heights but my strap isn't going much further then the way I've always player

 

[descendent22]

How is your picking technique?

Do you palm mute at the bridge, or do you play without your hand on the strings up closer towards the neck (like over the neck pickup)?

Do you flick your wrist or do you spin your whole forearm like you're twisting a door knob?

I found doing the latter in both questions (playing over neck pickup while spinning my whole forearm) gave me the most consistency, while also giving me the most flexibility and less discomfort.

FWIW, I also use three different picks depending on the tone I want... A 0.71mm Dunlop Gator Grip for a brighter attack, a 3mm Stubby for a warmer attack, and a thick wooden one for in between tones. The wooden one is longer than the other two but since my hand isn't always held up against the strings, it takes maybe 2 seconds to compensate and then I'm good.

I wouldn't say I palm mute but I do play around the bridge sometimes resting on the bridge. Also my middle finger, ring finger and pinky on my strumming hand almost grab or rest on the body or bridge. I would think it's more of a wrist motion I would be using as well, I don't play as if I were turning a door Knob. A couple years ago after buying a Dunlop variety pack of picks and spending sometime trying to figure out which one would be best for me I settled on the purple .96 mm .i can't get used to any other pick while playing. Those picks just are most comfortable for what I'm doing.

 

[inanimate_carb]

There's no shortcut - you just have to keep playing pickstyle until it becomes comfortable and natural. Progress with this needs to be measured in months, not days or weeks.

I'd also suggest choosing one brand, thickness, and material of pick and just stick with it. Switching around adds more variables, and you won't develop a consistent feel for how the pick responds if you use different ones all the time.

 

[catcauphonic]

I wouldn't say I palm mute but I do play around the bridge sometimes resting on the bridge. Also my middle finger, ring finger and pinky on my strumming hand almost grab or rest on the body or bridge. I would think it's more of a wrist motion I would be using as well, I don't play as if I were turning a door Knob. A couple years ago after buying a Dunlop variety pack of picks and spending sometime trying to figure out which one would be best for me I settled on the purple .96 mm .i can't get used to any other pick while playing. Those picks just are most comfortable for what I'm doing.

That's cuz purple rules

 

[5544]

I apreciate the advice, but there's no possible way I am gunna play my bass as high as my chest. I found the height I'm comfortable with. It's right around the waist.

I've found that adjusting my strap 1/2" makes a big difference in how both of my wrists are angled.

I fall in the "They can't see what you look like when listening with the ears and not the eyes" camp.