Should I learn to play with fingers?

[Greenman72]

About me:
Been playing for about three years. Right now, I play 100% pick.
Why? Because I like the sound, it's easier to control, and virtually all of the music that I like to play can be played with a pick. (Rock, metal, and occasionally country.)
To be honest, I don't even like the way my fingers sound. (But that may just be because I'm really bad at it.)

Nothing against Flea, Les Claypool, and Davie504, but I have no desire to do the slappy and poppy thing. Not knocking it--it's just not my cup of tea.

Also--I'm 46, not a musical professional, and not in a band. (I might join one someday, but it's not currently on the radar.) I just like to rock out in my bassment and pretend I'm Geezer Butler.

So.....should I even learn how to play with fingers? Or don't fix what ain't broke?

(edit) Some people may ask, "But Greenman - how do you play jazz fusion? Or funk? Or Motown?" The answer is surprisingly simple--I don't play those types of music. Again--just not my thing.

 

[monsterthompson]

I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.

- Bruce Lee

 

[Greenman72]

I should also add: most of my favorite bassists use picks exclusively (or almost exclusively).
Peter Steele (RIP)
Mike Inez
Duff McKagan
Rex Brown
Jason Newsted (who is better than Burton or Trujillo, IMHO)
Dave Ellefson

 

[Greenman72]

I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.

- Bruce Lee

I said that exact same thing when I decided to go "pick-only". Exact same quote.

 

[sean_on_bass]

Nothing wrong with pick only, but at the same time you might not be able to do certain music styles justice with a pick and you may actually enjoy switching between a pick and finger plucking. Also, what if there is no pick? Are you bricked at that point?

Generally i think that trying to justify not learning a certain technique is the wrong mindset. I've never regretted trying new things on the bass, ever. How hard is it to spend 5 minutes a day playing with your fingers? It's not even a hard technique.

 

[Gopherbassist]

It never hurts to learn new things. Even if you only ever use it in the practice room you will learn from playing with your fingers.

 

[monsterthompson]

I said that exact same thing when I decided to go "pick-only". Exact same quote.

To be fair, you should probably attempt learning some finger style. You might have a natural talent/ability for it. It could also help you understand certain pieces of music and make you aware of issues with your picking. Think of it like cross training for sports. I find it refreshing to occasionally try the Alex Webster three-finger pattern for 16th notes. It makes me focus on my counting and fretting hand positions in ways I wouldn’t when using a pick (I started on guitar so picking comes to me more naturally). Maybe devote some time to it as part of your practice routine and think of it as training and development to better your picking, but not as something to develop as a primary skill.

 

[red_rhino]

I think you should do whatever works best for you. 100%. That said, knowing how to use both fingers and pick gives you more options, as there are times when one technique is more appropriate (or effective) than the other.

I'm 46, not a musical professional, and not in a band.

Perhaps not, but you probably are interested in your growth as a player, right? Even assuming that all you want to do is learn how to play along with recorded music, knowing how to use pick and fingers will make you better at that.

I play mostly with fingers. It comes to me more naturally than using a pick. But there was a time when I learned to use a pick because that’s what was needed. It was difficult, my right forearm and wrist were tight and sore because my muscles weren’t conditioned to the work, but it was worth it. I wish I had kept at it more (and now that I’m retired, I probably will resurrect my pick playing).

I love the groove and feel that players like Bobby Vega can achieve with both pick and fingers.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Picks worked for plenty of people (Kaye, McCartney, Squire, etc.). Unless you find you need another tool, no reason to.

 

[tb-player]

You should learn to slap.

 

[J Wilson]

When I started out back in the Pleistocene, picks were more common (mid 70's) than maybe today.

As a beginner, I had the strange problem of co-ordinating both hands in that I could fret way quicker than my fingers could pluck the four strings. Nuts ! I was just fine with the pick sound, so off I went, a few bags of Fender 355 Heavy triangles went with me everywhere.

These also double as burglary tools and throwing stars . . . .

After a while though, I wanted a rounder sound for big slow stuff, so little by little I'd finger the slow stuff, and use the pick for fast, crankin' stuff. Eventually, I could do everything either way (although I can't slap/pop at gunpoint, I'm useless at it).

There's no real rules to this, the only rule is that you do whatever you can that feels right to help you make your best music. Past that, it's nobody's bidness.

 

[hieronymous]

I voted mostly yes. I feel fortunate to feel proficient in both pick & fingers - although I often practice things with both, I find that left to my own devices, I play differently when using one or the other technique. During the pandemic when I started playing regularly, I settled on a fingers technique of playing up by the neck, and striking the strings pretty hard - approaching it more like Geddy Lee than Jaco Pastorius. Playing with fingers can be pretty flexible, with a wide range of sounds available. John Entwistle is another fingers player with a classic rock sound.

sean_on_bass has a good point too - what if there is no pick to be found, or the kind of pick you use isn't available or breaks? I'm pretty particular about my picks. But I've got the opposite problem - my plucking hand middle finger got messed up, so for the past several months I've been 100% pick. Even stuff that I might normally play with fingers, I've been doing with pick.

Edited to add: Just remembered one of my favorite heavy fingers players - John Wetton! I always though he played with a pick, but it's fingers! My favorite version of this tune is the one from USA (bass sounds grungier to me), but you can see him playing here:

 

[MrLenny1]

I say YES. I used a pick when I first started then stopped using one 3 years after.
After 30 years of Pizz I returned to a pick for a new gig. Just a good tool to hace.

 

[prndltech]

Don’t forget about Bobby Vega.

I’m playing with a pick more and more, but I was and probably always will be a finger style player.

Kinda like the first reply… if you can play well, no one will care how you do it or what you use to do so.

 

[SteveCS]

To be honest, I don't even like the way my fingers sound. (But that may just be because I'm really bad at it.)

Of course you are bad at it - we all were at the start! The way your fingers sound when they are soft, mushy and flailing is very different to how they will sound when they are trained, conditioned and controlled. Of course that takes time, but the rewards in terms of timbral palette, expressive nuance and feeling 'connected' are immeasurable, IME/IMHO.

 

[Nebadon2000]

Picks worked for plenty of people (Kaye, McCartney, Squire, etc.). Unless you find you need another tool, no reason to.

Many of those pick players were guitar players first IE: Paul and Carol

I am aware most all Basses have a Pickguard

When I went to my First Bass lesson in 1974 I brought a pick and Teacher asked to see it: he took it and through it on the floor then started stomping on it yelling Bass Players don't use picks

I went out every weekend to see local bands and noticed 95%+ used fingers only so I went with that

I believe it is best to be proficient at both but for me I couldn't get comfortable with pick and didn't have the desire or commitment to get comfortable

So I am Fingers only and 50+ years and thousands of gigs later I got by

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

I voted "mostly yes". Being primarily a finger style player, I can only say that the time I invested in becoming proficient enough with a pick, was time well spent. Took me a while, but I got there.

 

[Stylee Mousse]

I has no dog in this, uh, conversation, but I’ve done both, for years at a stretch, then both.

The “what if you don’t have a pick?” Angle is funny. I bought a gross (144) nylon Dunlop 1mm back when I used them and made sure to always carry some. Like always wearing underwear, carrying your drivers license. AND kept them in my case, in the van….

 

[Bar Band Bassman]

The broader your palette the more vibrant and evocative your art can become. That's my take. Better to have it and not need it than vice versa.

BBB

 

[DavidEdenAria]

THUMB!

Seriously I am mainly pick but it's not hard to thumb pick if you put in the time.

I cannot do the limp wrist for long at age 66 but I use 5 fingers to pick at times, mainly for therapy and dexterity.

Geezer Butler is a whole topic....