• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

So how many people use a pick?

#43
Just to throw in my (obnoxiously redundant) two cents, I really beleive the choice between using a pick and using your fingers is a matter of personal prefrence. For some people, either pick or fingers is the only way they'll go. For others, it depends on the song and the effect they are trying to create. I really don't think any one of those categories is better or worse than the other. However, I fall into the third category.

I use both methods fairly often. When I first began playing, I was in a punk band (I am in a diffrent punk band now), and I used a pick almost exclusively for the tight and bright tone it gave. As I became more competent on the bass and began branching out into diffrent genres, I found fingers work better for some material. I still use a pick often, however, and will never go completely one way or the other. Its just a matter of tone, and to me, I feel the versatility of being able to use both my fingers and a pick is a good advantage to have.
 
#44
I use whatever style a song or sitiuation calls for. I play 65% fingerstyle 25% with a pick and 10% other, slap, thumb, ect. I think you should be open enough to try different styles especialy if you do originals and or play in a couple of different bands (covers ect.) that way your rythym section wont be locked into just one certain groove...JMOP
 
#48
Two cents worth if anyone cares.......
I have been playing for 12 years now, and have always been a die hard finger player. Even when the GN'R stuff came out in the late 80's and blew my mind, I still played with the fingers.
However..... What first turned me on to playing bass was hearing Geddy, Cliff, and Steve Harris. And, after ten years and every relaxation technique known to man, i still could not play fast enough to play the stuff that turned me on in the first place. My fingers and tendons were just too tight to get the speed necessary. Even when I learned the John Myung 4 finger right hand thing, I still had no speed. So, here I am 12 years later teaching myself to play with a pick so all those Metallica tunes that have alwyas been to fast can now be realized. Sometimes, how you play is not a choice, but is dictated by the music or by physical limitations, as is my case.

The debate rages on.............
 
#50
Yah, I started out playing with my fingers, cause i thought that it was the "right" thing to do, but my musical interests changed and the band i am currently in is punk, and i think punk players who use there fingers are sissys(lol) j/k. but i never use a pick at home or any other time i play bass, so go figure. I like useing a pick and it works but the sound is totaly different.



-cp
 
#51
I play usin finger style. I have tried to use a pick in the past and it just doesn't feel natural to me. Plus, any sound or speed I need I can get just fine with my fingers.

I have also heard people say that to play bass with a pick is wrong. Well, I say, if thats your preferance and it gets you the sound you want, then it doesn't matter what other people think!!!
 
#52
I originally started playing bass 4 years ago for a concert band in school (gasp!) and my teacher wouldn't let me use a pick. he didn't like the sound.

I've tried using a pick recently, but it doesn't feel right, and I can't get anywhere near the speed of using 3 fingers... with fingers is the way I learned to play, so I'm gonna stick with it.

it's all what you think sounds good and feels right.
 
#53
Originally posted by silvermaneZ
What first turned me on to playing bass was hearing Geddy, Cliff, and Steve Harris. And, after ten years and every relaxation technique known to man, i still could not play fast enough to play the stuff that turned me on in the first place. My fingers and tendons were just too tight to get the speed necessary. Even when I learned the John Myung 4 finger right hand thing, I still had no speed. So, here I am 12 years later teaching myself to play with a pick so all those Metallica tunes that have alwyas been to fast can now be realized. Sometimes, how you play is not a choice, but is dictated by the music or by physical limitations, as is my case.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't feel too bad about that. I was just reading a Bass Player interview with Graham Maby who says he often uses a pick for his faster lines.

I've never understood why this is a debate in the first place. I can see some animosity toward those guitar players who "converted" to playing bass, but these anti-pick protests almost begin to sound like some kind jealousy toward guitar players. As a bass player (never a guitarist) who plays both ways, I can tell you my playing and picking style is not much like a guitar player's. Is slapping any more or less legit than finger picking? Are six string basses less legit than four string one's? What about those who use funk fingers: heretics?

The pick is just a tool in the arsenal. Sometimes I'll even lay down the same track both picked and plucked and then choose between them, just as I might try using two different basses on a part. In my most recent studio foray, I used a fingered Smith on one track and a picked Rickenbacker on the other because each seemed to suit the song best.

I wonder if guitar players have this kind of debate?
 
#54
On a gig Saturday night I got to digging in a little too much on my stingray and developed a huge bubble blister on my middle finger (that humbucker can really eat some flesh)needless to say halfway through the 3rd set I could'nt pluck much with it at all. One of my bandmates suggested using a pick (what I thought was odd was that I had'nt even considered it). I had'nt used a pick since 1975. I gave it try to no avail. If it was what I ever considered a skill I've certainly lost it. I finished the night plucking with one finger (we had to change the set list around a little to accomidate ) but it all worked out. Anyway the point is I doubt I'll ever pick one up again. While I like to think that I try to be open minded to all styles I have to admit that I really never felt like a bass player till I learned to play with my fingers. Dropping the pick in my teens to me was like taking off the training wheels. To each his own! And I know it sounds narrow minded but God I hate to see a bassplayer using a pick.
 
#56
I'm a converted guitarist of going on 8 years now. When I started out I used my picks, and tried very hard to use my fingers. In time I learned to use my fingers, and love the tones my hands can produce. (On the other hand), I still go to the pick for very sharp&thin tones that I need for some of my rock songs.
I think some players to often wish they were playing the upright bass.(a fingers only club)

If you want so baddly to play only with your fingers,
THEN GO LEARN TO PLAY AN UPRIGHT DOUBLEBASS.

 
#57
Originally posted by LowfreqB
I think some players to often wish they were playing the upright bass.(a fingers only club)

If you want so baddly to play only with your fingers,
THEN GO LEARN TO PLAY AN UPRIGHT DOUBLEBASS.

Click to expand...

Double bass is hardly a "fingers only" club! I generally use my bow about 98% of the time. In fact, I find it a waste to hear a great double bass played ONLY with the fingers.

I still strongly believe that electric basses benefit from using both fingers and pick, just like I sometimes use my fingers to play my double bass (but I sure feel naked without my bow!).
 
#58
Pick is one sound.
Fingers is another.
One not better than other just different.
Unless of course the guy paying you wants the pick in which case picks rule('till they want fingers again anyway...)
I don't use the pick that much but it always amazes me in these pick/finger discussions how many never bothered to learn. To be able to say you've mastered the ebg in all the western popular music forms you have to play pizz, pick and slap. Period. So get on with it.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back