Yes, she lets the heel of her hand brush against the strings. That was something I missed in my original post and it was way too late to edit.
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Why I keep hammering the Carol Kaye pick method
- Thread starter JimmyM
- Start date
Yes, and she seems to put her little, ring and middle fingers at one of the higher (pitch-wise) strings when she plucks the lower ones, at least at that photo.
You can't go by photos. She could just be stopping a string and not picking at all. Watch vids.
Jimmy is on point about this. Watch some videos, she definitely does not anchor placing her fingers on the front of the bass.
I'm nearly ten years late to this thread. Haven't read it all. Playing bass guitar with a pick is a fundamental skill that ALL competent bass guitar players should practice. Ironically, I'm also an acoustic guitarist/singer ... and play guitar almost exclusive with my fingers ... and play bass almost exclusively with a pick. There's lots of good information in this thread ... and some really bad stuff, too.
Some people just don't have the issues I have with pick playing. But IMHO they will one day. Then they'll be crawling back to this thread looking for help!
Carol goes into some detail about her method in this link from her site. See tips numbers 26 and 27.
The Official Carol Kaye Web Site
The Official Carol Kaye Web Site
We're all going to be developing carpal tunnel syndrome from using our smartphones, to browse Talk Bass, and Carol's website, long before bass playing does us in.
Not if you use proper typing techniques.We're all going to be developing carpal tunnel syndrome from using our smartphones, to browse Talk Bass, and Carol's website, long before bass playing does us in.
I'm an expert - I refined typing down to two fingers.
It's "Tinder Thumb" that's the real killer.
LOL! Well I'm glad I don't have to worry about it. I'm happily married
I have a question on this technique and am looking for folks opinions. A key part of Carol’s picking technique is keeping your right foot, that’s keeping time, in synch with your picking hand. I got into the bad habit of keeping my picking hand going up/down, even if I’m not strikingly a note, which doesn’t seem terribly efficient and often trips me up when I hit the string when I don’t intend to. I’ve been working diligently on this and it definitely helps improve stamina and accuracy. Curious as to others thoughts / opinions / experiences.
I'm not sure I completely understand what you're saying, but....
To me, the foot-tapping part isn't important. Maybe it's just me, but my foot doesn't just naturally tap on downbeats, so trying to make it do so is extra work and a distraction. To me the key is simply to play downstrokes on downbeats and upstrokes on upbeats. That's the thing that I enjoy most about playing with a pick: having the rhythm of my wrist movement match the rhythm of the tune, as if I were playing rhythm guitar.
First I'm hearing of the foot tapping thing. I never give it a second thought, really.
Ultimately I understand that rhythm becomes engrained, and you don’t need to tap, but it’s definitely mentioned in her teaching materials and for sure it’s been helpful to me. I consider myself to have good rhythm but it took me a bit to get reading and picking down, especially with 16th note syncopations.
Foot pat aside, do you guys find yourself keeping time with your pick hand moving up/down regardless of if you’re playing a note or not or do you only move it when you’re actually picking? I guess it’s a weird thing to explain...think similar to a funk guitarist whose hand is always going but where chords are only sounding periodically, and the rest is scratchy. I get that it is likely desirable in that context and slightly different from what I’m saying. Make sense?
Foot pat aside, do you guys find yourself keeping time with your pick hand moving up/down regardless of if you’re playing a note or not or do you only move it when you’re actually picking? I guess it’s a weird thing to explain...think similar to a funk guitarist whose hand is always going but where chords are only sounding periodically, and the rest is scratchy. I get that it is likely desirable in that context and slightly different from what I’m saying. Make sense?
I don't sit there and move it down and up if I'm resting for 4 or more bars
but if I'm playing, I usually do keep the time that way with my hand.
devnulljp
Supporting Member
And where's he at now?
(Sorry...I'm sure it doesn't make his fans happy for me to joke about it, but I think Lemmy would have gotten a chuckle out of it)
I really believe that the differences in the the anatomy of the hand, the type of bass you play, how the bass hangs in relation to the body and other variables have a lot to do with technique. Carol found a system that works for her. I really like it but I have "adapted" it over time.
