An Observation on Pick Playing

[Dingus]

Talk of the Devil... What did I tell you ? He probably wants to give me the cane now ...

[discreet]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1379702250' post='2215994']
Talk of the Devil... What did I tell you ? He probably wants to give me the cane now ...
[/quote]

Bend over, boy! This will hurt you more than it hurts me... SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! YAROO!!

[oggiesnr]

When I first played (early seventies) the pick was the natural/common way to go for most music so that's what I did. I also used a pick on both guitar and mandolin so it also felt natural. These days, because I play Double Bass I tend to use my fingers more but I still enjoy playing with a pick.

One thing I have learnt which comes from being a folkie playing mandolin. I can use the pick in either direction but you get a better result if you make sure that the beat is on a down beat and only use the up-stroke for passing notes etc.

Steve

[lowdown]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1379683397' post='2215688']
[size=4]I will try harder in future to condense my posts into short soundbites for the alcopops generation .[/size]

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

You are a good turn, but your encores do tend to go on longer than your act....

But other than that, do carry on. [size=4] [/size]


[size=4]Garry[/size]

[Mook]

It all depends on the song for me....its important to be able to do both....The Ox was always my inspiration for pick playing.


[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJecJ5SI5W0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJecJ5SI5W0[/url]

[BetaFunk]

This bloke's not too bad.........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4MK7TNDmDw

[Conan]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1379702175' post='2215990'] 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]

That should be "[i]upon which to live out his fantasies[/i]". But we're all friends here so I'll let that go.

Anyway... back on topic....

Edited September 21, 2013 by Conan

[lowdown]

Carol did ok with a pick.
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9idtdWAAEA&list=PLEF9252D63177D537"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9idtdWAAEA&list=PLEF9252D63177D537[/url]

[Conan]

She sure did. When I use a pick I have a bastardised version of her, Leroy Gorman and JJB in my head.

No wonder it sounds rather odd!

[Dingus]

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1379767705' post='2216577']
That should be "[i]upon which to live out his fantasies[/i]". But we're all friends here so I'll let that go.

[/quote]

I rest my case ...

[BigRedX]

[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]

That's because a lot of the time you have something interesting and useful to say, however your misuse of spaces with punctuation plays havoc with my dyslexia and therefore your posts are much more difficult (for me) to read than they ought to be.

Those that do talk in textspeak mostly have nothing worthwhile to say and can be safely ignored.

[Dingus]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1379770805' post='2216613']
That's because a lot of the time you have something interesting and useful to say, however your misuse of spaces with punctuation plays havoc with my dyslexia and therefore your posts are much more difficult (for me) to read than they ought to be.

Those that do talk in textspeak mostly have nothing worthwhile to say and can be safely ignored.
[/quote]

If I may explain a little , I usually pay to have my all typing done by someone else , so Basschat is the only time I sully myself with actually tapping on a keyboard . I have no computer skills whatsoever ( I have a man who does it all for me) , and I am of an age where all my student essays were still written by hand , except in special circumstances where I paid to have them typed from my notes . So I have no idea what I am doing ! I thought spaces made it easier to read . Clearly , I was wrong . My handwriting is terrible too , so it looks my typing is an extension of that .

[4000]

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1379767858' post='2216582']
She sure did. When I use a pick I have a bastardised version of her, Leroy Gorman and JJB in my head.

No wonder it sounds rather odd!
[/quote]

Sounds pretty much like what I'm aiming for!

[maldy]

When I first started playing bass I, shamefully, came to the premature conclusion that people who played with a pick weren't very good. There were many reasons for this, most out of ignorance.

Many years down the line, I realise that there is actually I huge skill to playing with a pick and making it sound good. I'm absolutely rubbish with a pick and I sound like a bag of sh*te. I can slap the bass, which is supposedly a complex thing, but can't pick for toffee! So if the pick is so inferior, why do I find it so hard!

I realise my error in judgement and one day hope to get decent with a pick. But at the moment I've got a long way to go.

So respect to all you pick users. I really don't know how you get such a smooth and even sound. Hats off to you and keep doing what you are doing.

[Marc S]

[quote name='maldy' timestamp='1379841444' post='2217164']
When I first started playing bass I, shamefully, came to the premature conclusion that people who played with a pick weren't very good. There were many reasons for this, most out of ignorance.

Many years down the line, I realise that there is actually I huge skill to playing with a pick and making it sound good. I'm absolutely rubbish with a pick and I sound like a bag of sh*te. I can slap the bass, which is supposedly a complex thing, but can't pick for toffee! So if the pick is so inferior, why do I find it so hard!

I realise my error in judgement and one day hope to get decent with a pick. But at the moment I've got a long way to go.

So respect to all you pick users. I really don't know how you get such a smooth and even sound. Hats off to you and keep doing what you are doing.
[/quote]

Yes, many players made a similar mistake
But the key is that you realise now this is an "error" so to speak...
Of course, you don't HAVE to play with a pick
I just think it's good if you can play in all sorts of styles

It makes you a bit more flexible in your approach
and gives you different dynamics, more variety of different sounds too

I try to keep my skills up, playing pick and finger
Slapping is a bit more tricky still - wish I could do them all with equal proficiency

Practice them all is the key

Edited September 24, 2013 by Marc S

[KingBollock]

Or you could do both at the same time... I was recently playing a tune that required the root and octave to be played at the same time. Actually root, then root and octave. I am very much a pick player. While holding the pick between thumb and forefinger, I down stroked the root and then on the upstroke I plucked the octave with my middle finger at the same time and it worked a treat. I use a very thick pick and tend to play quite softly, so there wasn't even much, obvious, difference in sound. I was well chuffed. After messing around with that style for a while I found it incredibly useful with many possibilities.
I also started including my ring finger for playing stuff like (please excuse my current inability to work out the intervals, or whatever you call 'em...) 4th string 12th fret, 2nd string 14th fret and 1st string 13th fret (I really do know the name for this, I'm sure of it, but it just won't come).

I basically used the pick instead of my thumb, and it allowed me to play everything else without having to retrieve my pick from my gob. Dead handy.

[Marc S]

[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1380012948' post='2219370']
Or you could do both at the same time... I was recently playing a tune that required the root and octave to be played at the same time. Actually root, then root and octave. I am very much a pick player. While holding the pick between thumb and forefinger, I down stroked the root and then on the upstroke I plucked the octave with my middle finger at the same time and it worked a treat. I use a very thick pick and tend to play quite softly, so there wasn't even much, obvious, difference in sound. I was well chuffed. After messing around with that style for a while I found it incredibly useful with many possibilities.
I also started including my ring finger for playing stuff like (please excuse my current inability to work out the intervals, or whatever you call 'em...) 4th string 12th fret, 2nd string 14th fret and 1st string 13th fret (I really do know the name for this, I'm sure of it, but it just won't come).

I basically used the pick instead of my thumb, and it allowed me to play everything else without having to retrieve my pick from my gob. Dead handy.
[/quote]

Impressive,
I gave this a quick whirl the other day, and it's not easy is it?
Might suit only certain styles and basslines,
but I'm impressed none the less

[tonyquipment]

I only use a pick if I really have to, for example fast aggressive music style

I used to only exclusively use a pick but lately I found that I can do pretty much the same stuff with fingers ... Its just easier to not use a pick

I'm lazy.

[gary mac]

[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1380012948' post='2219370']
Or you could do both at the same time... I was recently playing a tune that required the root and octave to be played at the same time. Actually root, then root and octave. I am very much a pick player. While holding the pick between thumb and forefinger, I down stroked the root and then on the upstroke I plucked the octave with my middle finger at the same time and it worked a treat. I use a very thick pick and tend to play quite softly, so there wasn't even much, obvious, difference in sound. I was well chuffed. After messing around with that style for a while I found it incredibly useful with many possibilities.
I also started including my ring finger for playing stuff like (please excuse my current inability to work out the intervals, or whatever you call 'em...) 4th string 12th fret, 2nd string 14th fret and 1st string 13th fret (I really do know the name for this, I'm sure of it, but it just won't come).

I basically used the pick instead of my thumb, and it allowed me to play everything else without having to retrieve my pick from my gob. Dead handy.
[/quote]

Being predominantly a pick player, I use this same technique quite regularly when gigging certain numbers. It works really well.

[elom]

I'd always played fingerstyle but I've recently joined a grunge band and playing with a pick just gives me a tone and attack that seems to fit the music better. It's taken longer than I thought but I'm now getting comfortable with it. Actually I really ought to experiment with some different picks rather than just the same one that has been sat in my case for donkey's!

[KingBollock]

[quote name='Marc S' timestamp='1380811907' post='2230941']
Impressive,
I gave this a quick whirl the other day, and it's not easy is it?
Might suit only certain styles and basslines,
but I'm impressed none the less
[/quote]
Too be honest, if it was difficult for me I probably wouldn't bother! But I may have a bit of an advantage in that I had cracked out my Banjo a couple of days before so I had that kind of finger picking in my head. I use a similar technique for slapping, too, but I curl the pick up in my index finger and use my middle finger for popping, I actually find it easier that way as opposed to popping with my index finger with no pick. Having said that, I'm bloomin' rubbish at slapping either way I do it.
As I said, I have a soft picking technique anyway, I think that might be quite a large advantage, too.

[Annoying Twit]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1379586768' post='2214408']
Tex Comer, Ace, plays in a local band and he has always played with an old Precision and a pick. He sounds great on any amp he's using.

You get more definition and attack at the start of the note when using a pick. I like that but I'm not a pick player.
[/quote]

I can't imagine someone wanting to not play solely with a pick, or without one. Perhaps people more advanced in bass playing than me have specialised to the point where they'd lose too much playing the other style. But to me, there are different sounds available through each technique, and I want to be able to achieve both of them. I have a shine bass which I don't like the sound of. I've been experimenting to see what I can do with it. Last night I discovered that I really like the palm muted sound I get when I play with a pick. (But I'm noting I need to be careful about orientation of the pick when I play or I get an unattractive scraping sound rather than the well defined attack). Played properly, the pick adds back some of the attack lost through the palm mute. And the muting gets ride of the ringing higher harmonics of the note, which on this bass with the current pickups, I don't like all that much.

[uncle psychosis]

[quote name='elom' timestamp='1380932210' post='2232666']
I really ought to experiment with some different picks rather than just the same one that has been sat in my case for donkey's!
[/quote]

On bass I love really, really thick picks. 3mm Dunlop Big Stubbies, in Nylon. They just seem to work better on bass than those tiny thin things. I've also recently ordered some felt picks, looking forward to trying them.