An Observation on Pick Playing

[discreet]

[quote name='bonzodog' timestamp='1379617452' post='2214977']
One habit I can't break though is having the pick hanging out of my mouth when I play with my fingers...
[/quote]

I used to do this back in the day - but I play with a pick exclusively now - I was always afeared of inhaling the bloody thing.

[icastle]

I've never managed to play any instrument using a pick, it's just something that doesn't feel right to me and my timing goes out of the window... usually followed by the aforementioned pick...

I'm not keen on the 'accelerated attack' that a pick gives, but I certainly don't see myself as the ultimate arbiter of good taste.

Live and let live I say.

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

It's good for metal

[tedmanzie]

I play exclusively with a pick. But fingers have better (tighter, snappier) muting. I'd like to be able to do it.

[xilddx]

Pick is awesome, I almost always play finger, but for almost anything other than dub or reggae I use a pick when recording - better attack, better muting, great rich tone depending on the type of pick. I started doing some thumbstyle too, even better for dub tones.

But yeah, I hate the finger fascists - pick, thumb, fingers, chopsticks, whatever gets what's in your head onto tape or out the PA, that's what you've got to do.

[lurksalot]

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1379634212' post='2215225']
depending on the type of pick.[/quote]

That begs a real pedant question , does a builders fingerstyle sound different to an accountants fingerstyle , does the hardness of the fingertips affect the tone or is it

me, I use whatever , the same song might get a different technique depending on the night , the crowd or the mood I'm in

[Hamster]

As my hands/fingers are knackered after years of Karate abuse - I use a pick when the song is too fast (for me) to play fingerstyle or when I can't feel my fingers anymore.

I'm happy with that

[Bassman Sam]

[quote name='Hamster' timestamp='1379636554' post='2215229']
As my hands/fingers are knackered after years of Karate abuse - I use a pick when the song is too fast (for me) to play fingerstyle or when I can't feel my fingers anymore.

I'm happy with that
[/quote]

+1. Only with me it was RA instead of Karate. I always used a pick in the past but now it's a mixture of fingers and pick depending the speed of the number.

[Dingus]

I think the historical reason why playing with a pick was looked down on some players is primarily because of how the bass guitar was conceived and marketed from its' inception . Leo Fender's vision was to invent an instrument that enabled guitarists to take the place of the double bass in contemporary popular music of the day . That must have put the noses out of double bass players at the time , and I know that many jazz bassists in particular were dismissive and scathing of the electric for a long time after the electric was introduced . A lot are still of that opinion in the present day . Playing bass guitar with a pick represented a complete break with that tradition and to some observers it betokened a complete absence of knowledge about the true role of the bass and how to play it . Add to that the undeniable truth that in the early years of the bass guitar all too often the least able guitarist was relegated to playing the bass , usually with a pick , then you can see how some folks came to associate pick playing with limited ability . It's significant that for a long time received wisdom has been that the first true virtuoso of the bass guitar was James Jamerson , who was a double bass player who played the Fender Bass with his fingers with the skills and instincts of a jazz bassist , which is essentially what he was . By contrast , Joe Osborn who was Jamerson's contemporary on the West Coast played with a pick in guitaristic fashion to great effect has only been widely acknowledged in recent years since players like Anthony Jackson have cited him as an influence . By the late 1960's players like Paul McCartney , John Entwistle , Noel Redding and Jack Cassidy were all playing brilliantly with a pick , but the stigma was already in place .

I have always been a fingerstyle player , not least of all because my first bass teacher was primarily a jazz bassist who was completely dismissive of pick playing , full stop . I had it drummed into me for years that pick playing was for the less capable , so much so that even today I feel like the fact that I enjoy lots of pick players is an act of rebellion .Most of the players I wanted to emulate when I first started playing - Geddy Lee , Geezer Butler , Bernard Edwards, Stanley Clarke , Andy Frazer ect- were all fingerstyle players , and so I was more than happy to go along with the no plectrums rule . Since those days I have really changed my thinking and love the sound of a pick , but , like Ian , I just can't get to grips with using one , and never get round to practising it . The pick always feels so awkward and alien that it soon gets put away again . The fact that I've never been a guitarist also adds to my lack of familiarity with the plectrum . Over the years I have come to realise that some bass parts just can't be recreated properly without a pick . Sting's playing with The Police springs to mind as an example of where the kind of muting and ghost notes you can get with a pick are impossible to cop with your fingers . Regarding cutting through the mix , though , I get plenty of cut with my right hand fingerstyle attack , probably because I have always liked agressive players and know how to dig in just the right way to make the notes most audible . Look at Jack Bruce and his fingerstyle playing - you can't imagine him getting buried in the mix !

[BobVbass]

^ WHS

I played exclusively with a pick for about twenty years, really thin one too (compared to most Pick players) I only started using my fingers when I started playing DB and now I mix and match - and for years people told me it wasn't "proper" bass playing, not so much now. Personally i think doing a 16 beat 4/4 walking bass line just sounds the mutts nuts - so much drive, but slower songs just suit the subtlety that you can apply with finger style. I still default to pick whenever things get tricky or insecurity kicks in during a gig.

[Marc S]

I actually started playing bass finger-style
Which at the time, was dismissed by my punk & heavy rock playing pals

I started playing with a pick, but tried to keep playing with fingers - just to keep the ability to do so
It actually gave me some confidence in my playing
Because if I ever dropped my pick, mid-song, I knew I could continue playing
albeit with a different sound & feel....

A couple of years back, I was in a Ramones tribute
I know a lot of people think that's just simple 3 barre chord stuff,
but the Ramones played downstroke only

After about 10 or 12 songs, this can hurt - especially more mature fingers, shall we say
It's not simple at all, the left hand may not have much to do
but try playing an hour this style, at very fast pace, with only a few 2 second breaks between songs
It's something of a physical workout

It really gives the songs a sort of "cutting edge" style,
It's almost mechanical, and a bit like an express train, thundering along the tracks
- especially when you hear it live
It grates on me a little to hear people playing Ramones songs when they aren't playing them this way

I can't imagine how you could get this sound & style if you didn't use a pick

+ 1 to everyone who recognises that all styles of playing are valid

Edited September 20, 2013 by Marc S

[Conan]

@Dingus

I love your posts mate, but any chance you could use a few more paragraphs? They are rather daunting to read!

Edited September 20, 2013 by Conan

[RandomBass]

Fingers, pick, slap, tapping: all different tools to use depending on what is needed. That's what makes the bass such a versatile instrument. I'm naturally a finger player and really need to get my picking up to scratch. Don't ask about the other two....

[Conan]

[quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1379635661' post='2215226']
does a builders fingerstyle sound different to an accountants fingerstyle , does the hardness of the fingertips affect the tone[/quote]

Definitely! I notice this in my own tone. If I don't play much for a while, my finger tips get soft and my tone, as a result, also softens.

When I play regularly they are much harder and give a more 'pick-like' attack to the notes.

I'm not sure which I prefer, but I get far fewer blisters when my finger tips are hard!

[discreet]

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1379668971' post='2215407']
@Discreet ...[size=4]I love your posts mate, but any chance you could use a few more paragraphs? They are rather daunting to read! [/size]
[/quote]

Sorry about that. I reckon Dingus is worse, though.

[Conan]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1379669449' post='2215418']
Sorry about that. I reckon Dingus is worse, though.
[/quote]

Oh bollocks! Sorry about that! I was obviously thinking about you while writing about him... er

Edited September 20, 2013 by Conan

[4000]

Regarding 'pick sound', if you use 50 different picks you'll get 50 different sounds, and that's before experimenting with angle of attack, force of striking etc etc etc.

[Dingus]

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1379668971' post='2215407']
@Dingus

I love your posts mate, but any chance you could use a few more paragraphs? They are rather daunting to read!
[/quote]

And they wonder why standards in schools are slipping ?

I will try harder in future to condense my posts into short soundbites for the alcopops generation .

( Edited for conciseness . If this post is still too long for you I could always cut some more out ) .

Edited September 20, 2013 by Dingus

[leroydiamond]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1379683397' post='2215688']
And they wonder why standards in schools are slipping ?

I will try harder in future to condense my posts into short soundbites for the alcopops generation .

( Edited for conciseness . If this post is still too long for you I could always cut some more out ) .
[/quote]

[Conan]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1379683397' post='2215688']
I will try harder in future to condense my posts into short soundbites for the alcopops generation .
[/quote]

Yeah, I remember Two Dogs.... Hooper's Hooch... Is that what you meant?

[Dingus]

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1379685695' post='2215725']
Yeah, I remember Two Dogs.... Hooper's Hooch... Is that what you meant?
[/quote]

I am only joking . I just mean to say that , to me at least, my paragraphs are only , well, .. .paragraphs ! It may well be that written English has moved on without my knowledge and that sentences are now the way to go . I'll give it a try .

[Conan]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1379686211' post='2215732']
I am only joking.
[/quote]

Me too!

[Dingus]

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1379700704' post='2215969']
Me too!
[/quote]

More people criticise my written English on Basschat than any other member . I'm starting to get paranoid about it . Everyone else seems to get away with communicating in textspeak and I get pulled up for every slight grammatical error and spelling mistake. I think that Discreet geezer secretly dreams about being a strict English teacher and he has chosen me to live out his fantasies on .

[discreet]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1379702175' post='2215990']
More people criticise my written English on Basschat than any other member . I'm starting to get paranoid about it . Everyone else seems to get away with communicating in textspeak and I get pulled up for every slight grammatical error and spelling mistake. I think that Discreet geezer secretly dreams about being a strict English teacher and he has chosen me to live out his fantasies on .
[/quote]

tl;dr.

[discreet]

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1379674400' post='2215523']
Oh bollocks! Sorry about that! I was obviously thinking about you while writing about him... er
[/quote]

Yeah, I get that a lot...