The prejudice against pick-playing

[JohnnyChatter]

People like to make rules for stuff... as you get older you either get grouchy or realize half the poopie in life you thought mattered doesn’t matter. I mostly play with a pick these days. Why? I play rock n roll and it sounds better. I also play a bunch of Motown and older funk. I kinda go back and fourth when I’m not playing rock. Years ago I thought if I didn’t play with my fingers I wasn’t a good bass player so I got really good at it. Comes in handy when I drop a pick. It’s not that hard to play with fingers... Maybe some people just like the sound. I don’t like p basses but some of the best tones I have ever heard were from a p bass. I also know dudes who slap better than I ever will but can’t keep time...

 

[smtp4me]

Two words: Cody Wright.

I don't use a pick unless I'm covering a song where the original bass track was played with one. I know how to use one because I also play 6 string acoustic. It's not my thing on bass, but I certainly don't fault anyone who plays with one by default.

 

[JohnnyChatter]

Maybe I’m old and got started young. I know there is technique to playing with fingers and picks but I feel like it’s kinda common sense. You see someone do it and you just do what they are doing. We didn’t have YouTube videos to teach us when we were kids.

 

[higain617]

No debate about toilet paper....It's OBVIOUS which way it should hang.......

That doesn’t stop people from hanging it the wrong way.

 

[Tom Gallo]

This past week I played on two different tracks people were doing. On one, I used a pick and the only finger style. I did what was most appropriate for each song. No big deal if you ask me.

 

[pbass2]

I wonder how many of those with a pick prejudice actually realise how many songs they have heard and love have bass parts played with a pick.

Yep. As I mentioned earlier, back in the 70's when I started learning bass, I started out with a pick. I was playing with older cats from the get-go, playing in clubs when I was 16. Narrow-minded geezer guitarists would sometimes give me grief about it, and try to school me on whatever song they thought I needed to hear as far as "how a bass should be played(with fingers)". At least more than half the time it was a song with pickstyle bass, they were just too ignorant to realize it. As far as I'm concerned anybody who still has the "pick prejudice" in this day and age is as much a troglodyte as those old f#*ks from that bygone era.

 

[corinpills]

Oh, fer Chrissake... how many threads are we going to have where we eventually realize that whatever sounds good is good? Sometimes a pick sounds right and sometimes fingers sound right. That is all that really needs to be said on the subject.

 

[N4860]

Wanna see Tim Lefebvre serving the song in a recent video by going back and forth between fingerstyle and a pick? Of course you do. Here you go:

Like 4 or 5 of the notes were played fingerstyle...why bother suggesting that as a tune switching between fingerstyle and pick playing?

 

[Kukulkan61]

I play with fingers always have, I've never played with a pic only messing around at home with one. I say play how you want and what works for you and the song...

 

[Tazziedevil]

If you play any amount of funk or styles related to funk, it's hard to escape slap.

There'a plenty of funky bassists who don't slap (or don't slap often).

 

[Fat Freddy]

Oh, fer Chrissake... how many threads are we going to have where we eventually realize that whatever sounds good is good? Sometimes a pick sounds right and sometimes fingers sound right. That is all that really needs to be said on the subject.

What do you reckon that we should be writing about then?.....

 

[LowActionHero]

I also started on guitar and therefore started with a pick on bass. I wanted to play fingerstyle, so I started with slower/easier songs and gradually worked my way up to playing mostly fingers now, (or thumb), with a few songs using a pick (mostly faster, or more complicated songs, or songs that originally used a pick)

I do prefer fingers now, it just seems more natural, but I have nothing against anyone who uses a pick, though I am a little surprised how many PROS are playing with a pick.

 

[Tom Bomb]

What do you reckon that we should be writing about then?.....

Take your pick …







… and shove it.

 

[Teijo K.]

Exactly, and a lot of jazz double bass players look at the bow disdainfully.

Because they are afraid of it.

 

[Fat Freddy]

Take your pick …







… and shove it.

Nothing original then?.....

 

[Tom Bomb]

Nothing original then?.....

Nothing.

 

[zontar]

I mostly play with fingers, not a pick, but I do use one sometimes.
there are rhythms that I find easier to play with a pick and some songs sound better with one.
But I am not caught up in what others do--fingers or pick.
If I play a song that was done with a pick, I'l probably still play it with fingers.
But maybe not.

You want to use a pick all the time?
Go for it.
I would recommend you try both at some point and see what you like.
But to have a prejudice against one or the other makes no sense to me.
A preference?
sure.

 

[BAG]

I also started on guitar and therefore started with a pick on bass. I wanted to play fingerstyle, so I started with slower/easier songs and gradually worked my way up to playing mostly fingers now, (or thumb), with a few songs using a pick (mostly faster, or more complicated songs, or songs that originally used a pick)

I do prefer fingers now, it just seems more natural, but I have nothing against anyone who uses a pick, though I am a little surprised how many PROS are playing with a pick.

I would say pick playing is more natural for you..... as that is what you did naturally while working up the skills to play fingerstyle.

 

[Mili]

Anyway, how do y'all feel about the obvious prejudice many bassists have against pick-playing?

 

[swink]

This prejudice comes from a certain type of players, who look at the pick with contempt because it comes from the world of guitar. They are mainly found in Jazz and R & B styles. They are the same ones who looked upon the electric bass with disdain when it first appeared. It's a profile of narrow-minded and insecure people.

It's easy to spot them in the videos because pick playing is the only thing they can't do. They are virtuosos in slap, tapping, etc. but as soon as they play with a pick it's just awful to hear.

They sometimes say that it's a good thing to master as many techniques as possible to be versatile, but it's total hypocrisy because they have no intention of doing it themselves. When they have a pick between their fingers, one can read the disgust and fear on their faces, as if they had just committed sacrilege.

I feel sorry for them, actually.

I'm completely incompetent with a pick. When people see me with it, they shield their eyes and run for hard-cover.
But I'm not one of these guys who have a prejudice against anything other than finger style.
I don't care what technique is used as long as it fits the groove....
It's all about limitations and finding a way around it that makes it interesting.
You can play Funk without slapping.
You can play synth-bass without a pick.
You can play Jazz on a P-bass...
You can whatever....Think outside the box!!!
Don't claim it will be easy but interesting ...