Thanks for clearing that up, Pilgrim. OK, where I have said "tension" before, just replace it with "rigidity."
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Why I keep hammering the Carol Kaye pick method
- Thread starter JimmyM
- Start date
It does take finessing the string at that area. Raising action helps, but what helps most is lightening up a little.
And to lighting up check out one of my favorite players with a pick still going strong today after a life time in the game..
Steve Swallow (Find some of early music)
I find a bit difficult to play using this method when standing: as my bass is angled, the pick strikes the strings with a little angle resulting in a sort of a scratch picking...
how do you wear/balance your bass when playing standing using this method?
how do you wear/balance your bass when playing standing using this method?
how could you keep your bass low picking that way? I can't figure that... have you got a pic?
I wear mine prety high, as the neckplate stands right on my belly...
sorry for being picky about this, but I'm much interested in this subject. I developed a sort of tendonitis and the CK method is the only way for playing without pain. it works!
I wear mine prety high, as the neckplate stands right on my belly...
sorry for being picky about this, but I'm much interested in this subject. I developed a sort of tendonitis and the CK method is the only way for playing without pain. it works!
i'm no kind of authority on technique or chops, but i have what i think is a decent pickstyle, even though i'm really a guitar player 
i wear my P bass low (not punk rock low, i can still reach the knobs), and my right arm just naturally puts the pick around or just behind the pickup.
fingers are open, pick is held by thumb against 1st finger.
the pick ends up at an angle vs. the strings, so i can sort of use my arm to "throw" my hand through the string and the pick slices across rather than smacking into the string. i use a heavy pick (no flexing) and a light grip on it. i don't mind the little "zing" from the pick slicing angleways across the string, in fact i like it.
my arm stays relaxed, my wrist stays straight and doesn't move all that much (ok, it moves a little, but combining the elbow with the wrist means that neither one has to move all that much to drive the pick through the string), and my hand doesn't anchor, although sometimes my extra fingers will lightly touch adjacent strings for extra muting.
it's good for fat, even, "rock and roll" basslines and doesn't hurt. if i want to play faster i can bring more wrist into the equation, but really, if i wanted to play fast i'd just pick up my guitar, thank you
i wear my P bass low (not punk rock low, i can still reach the knobs), and my right arm just naturally puts the pick around or just behind the pickup.
fingers are open, pick is held by thumb against 1st finger.
the pick ends up at an angle vs. the strings, so i can sort of use my arm to "throw" my hand through the string and the pick slices across rather than smacking into the string. i use a heavy pick (no flexing) and a light grip on it. i don't mind the little "zing" from the pick slicing angleways across the string, in fact i like it.
my arm stays relaxed, my wrist stays straight and doesn't move all that much (ok, it moves a little, but combining the elbow with the wrist means that neither one has to move all that much to drive the pick through the string), and my hand doesn't anchor, although sometimes my extra fingers will lightly touch adjacent strings for extra muting.
it's good for fat, even, "rock and roll" basslines and doesn't hurt. if i want to play faster i can bring more wrist into the equation, but really, if i wanted to play fast i'd just pick up my guitar, thank you
i don't think i have any pics of me using a pick. i only use them on 4-5 songs a night tops, sometimes not at all. i wear it low but not so low i can't do this method, and i use very light strings, which gives you more leeway. had to raise it tonight, though. left arm's very sore.
Far be it from me to suggest that bassists engage in any potentially injurious behavior, but from a strictly sonic point, the above advice is Epic Fail.
Practice your picking all you want, kids, but if you think an upstroke will ever be sonically indistinguishable from a downstroke, you need to practice your listening more. Period.
Well, many good pick-using guitarists manage to get to the point where their downstrokes and upstrokes actually do sound pretty much the same. Or perhaps better to say, to the point where they can make them sound pretty much the same if and when they want. So clearly it's not an inherently impossible thing. I can think of no reason to believe that this accomplishment would be necessarily beyond a good bassist who practiced hard.
When I first started playing, I took lessons from this guitar player who was a big fan of Carol Kaye. He pulled out her books, gave me a felt pick and that's how I learned to play. I've never been able to hold a guitar pick the way a guitarist would (between the thumb and index finger knuckle) and play correctly. I hold it between my thumb, first and middle finger, and sometimes it shifts more to my index finger. I've used the black Dunlop 1mm picks for a long time. They give me the right amount of attack and don't sound clicky.
bet i could record a track with down/up and do it again with all downstrokes and you couldn't tell the difference.
I don't agree. Watch Bobby Vega do the palm mute. Funkiest picking ever.
There is no right way. Each his own.
