Anyone who even comes up and asks why I use a pick instantly falls into the "rookie or idiot" pile.
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Why is playing with a pick so frowned upon?
- Thread starter ferdinandstrat
- Start date
Not to put too fine a point on it, but not every bass has a pick guard (ex: my Lakland, BC Rich, LTD or Warwick) and personally I wouldn't want to scratch my finish by cramming a pick in there. In my mind if I was playing a song with a pick the whole thing would need to use a pick or fingers. One less thing to manage while I'm trying to perform.
I played upright for about 12 years before I picked up electric bass. My inspiration was Chris Squire so naturally, it was with a pick in my hand. I struggled for a while, but eventually became quite comfortable with a pick. It took a lot of practice but I was able to pull it off. Now, I play about 80% finger style, 20% pick. I don't slap, ever. I can appreciate those that can and do, but its just one style I just can't bring myself to try.
WHY people knock playing with a pick, I'll never know.
If its good enough for these guys, who am I to argue???
John Entwhistle (The Who)
John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin)
Chris Squire (Yes)
Bill Wyman (Rolling Stones)
Jack Bruce (Cream)
Roger Waters (Pink Floyd)
John Deacon (Queen)
Noel Redding (Jimi Hendrix)
Paul McCartney (The Beatles, Wings)
Carol Kaye (The Beach Boys, Ray Charles, The Monkees, Frank Sinatra, Simon and Garfunkel, many more)
Joe Osborn (Ricky Nelson, Johnny Rivers, Mamas and Papas, Simon and Garfunkel, The Association
Mike Mills (REM)
Sting (The Police)
Tom Petersson (Cheap Trick)
Rick Danko (The Band)
And Phil Lesh (The Grateful Dead)
ask Glenn Hughes ... Trapeze, Deep Purple , Black Country Communion , California Breed ... he seems to use a pick in most rock settings ... the voice of rock .. !!
To each his own. Both my basses have pickguards and a finish harder than the plastic a pick is made from. Sometimes the folks I play with go right from one song to another.
I play my bass with a pick, fingers, thumbs, slap it, kick it, use a bow on it, depends on what the sound you want to make. Looking down on pick players is like looking down on basketball players who shoot 3s and dunk and can lay up from the left and right hand...its silly its a different technique with a different sound. Usually the bass players ignorant enough to question why people play with a pick is because they cant do it.
You identified the one exception to not telling other people how to play - it's OK when it's the person paying your salary.
PS if we are not suppose to play with picks why did Leo Fender put a pick guard on his basses?
Who's doing the frowning? I have never heard anybody say a bad word about Chris Squire, Bobby Vega, John Entwistle, JPJ , Flea, or any other bassist that played with a pick. I like to have either technique available and always bring a pick with me to all rehearsals and shows. I play most of the time with fingers, but just for the heck of it I'll break it out and start using it and it will change my approach and I will look at a song differently. It opens me up creatively. Other times if I'm struggling on a gig to get a sound that I like it gives me a different tonality that may just work better for that gig at that moment. Also, certain songs it just sounds better. I have played "Happy Jack" by The Who and "The Chain " by Fleetwood Mac on gigs and prefer using a pick for those songs. I couldn't imagine playing a Green Day song or a Yes song on a gig without it. The bassline played with pick is so much a part of the songs those bands play.
I think you can get great tones with a pick, especially for rock/metal styles. It's really hard to get that punch/aggression/clarity in with fingerstyle. I am a fingerstyle metal player. The reason I use fingers is so that I can also slap and tap readily.
Just stick it to your mic stand like everyone else does.
No one needs to justify their choice, but lets at least keep the reasons real. It's not playing while juggling flaming pins while riding on a unicycle across the Grand Canyon on a wire. You palm or drop the pick when not needed and grab another one when you need it. With a minute of practice, I think you can master this skill.
In over twenty years of playing in bands and jamming with friends, I have never had anyone ask me why I play with a pick or with my fingers.
I hate to say it aloud, but I've always thought that too many bassists have an inferiority complex. In the case of this conversation, the pick reminds some bassists that A) the guitar player gets the same kind of adulation that a quarterback gets, whether he/she deserves it or not...and B) It can't be denied; there are many of bassists out there who are (at their hearts) frustrated guitarists, and the pick reminds those of us who decided early on that 'The Bass is for Me' resent guitar players who are just killing time on the way back to the front of the stage. They're out there...I've met them.
I've used a pic, on and off, for most of the last 40 years. It serves some songs well, and it certainly pairs well with my '72 Ric 4001...but I wouldn't commit to either a pick or my fingers and dismiss the other. That would be selling some piece of music short....something I try to avoid.
Early on, I found that rotating the pick so as to use one of the two 'blunter, rounder' corners of the triangle mellowed out the pic sound that amounted to 'click' on my Ric. I've used the rounded corner of the pic from then until now. Give it a try...see what you think.
I've used a pic, on and off, for most of the last 40 years. It serves some songs well, and it certainly pairs well with my '72 Ric 4001...but I wouldn't commit to either a pick or my fingers and dismiss the other. That would be selling some piece of music short....something I try to avoid.
Early on, I found that rotating the pick so as to use one of the two 'blunter, rounder' corners of the triangle mellowed out the pic sound that amounted to 'click' on my Ric. I've used the rounded corner of the pic from then until now. Give it a try...see what you think.
Watch Steve Swallow play and tell me real bass players don't use picks.
It depends the sound the song calls for. If one needs enhanced dynamics, fingers are unbeatable because it's easier to control the amount of energy applied to the string. Another benefit of using fingers is the ability to play 2 or more strings simultaneously. With a pick the access is sequential and physically impossible to play 2 notes at the same time, not that it matters much but a truth nonetheless.
Arpeggios are, in my opinion, easier to do with fingers as is combining the thumb in the mix.
But sometimes using a pick is the best solution when playing R&R all out, for example. With a good compressor, a player can achieve consistent results.
Looking down on players that use a pick is myopic at best. Just my opinion.
Arpeggios are, in my opinion, easier to do with fingers as is combining the thumb in the mix.
But sometimes using a pick is the best solution when playing R&R all out, for example. With a good compressor, a player can achieve consistent results.
Looking down on players that use a pick is myopic at best. Just my opinion.
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