[Poll] Pick or Fingers???

on the guitar i change it up or i play pick and fingers. i've tinkered with a few basses here and there and i always seem to play with my fingers. seems more natural to me

Fingers. Haven't been playing bass long...only a couple of months.... but considering I never use a plec for guitar, it's only natural I wouldn't use one for bass....

:D :D :D

Vic

four fingers.....never use my thumb though....hmm...why don't people use their thumbs? (other than slapping). All my bass playing friends told me to not use but I never learned why.

I can't use a pick on a bass. It feels so un-natural

A :-)

four fingers.....never use my thumb though....hmm...why don't people use their thumbs? (other than slapping). All my bass playing friends told me to not use but I never learned why.
I use my thumb. It's not too common, but it's not unheard of. They just told you not to because it hasn't occured to them that it might be useful

In my opinion everybody should do both once in a while. There's no sense neglected any technique and then suddenly, when a song calls for it, not being able to do it.

Speed isn't an issue for me, I can play the fastest death metal phrases with my fourfinger plucking technique. What matters to be is the sound. Sometimes you just need that metallic thwang a pick will give you, like you sometimes need the groove of a slap or polyphony or polyrythmic qualities of tapping.

It's like.. you don't lose something learning or practicing it, but that day when you need it and you didn't, you feel like kicking yourself. It's sorta the same argument for ERBs - It's more variety, more words to your musical vocabulary, how can it hurt?

Sorry for any typing mistakes, I'm fresh outta shoulder surgery and typing lefthamded only is really tearing down my patience.

Hey man, how's the shoulder now, by the way?

It's real good, thanks. Or actually, I don't know if it's better than before , because it still hurts moving it about too much, but then again when you've had your arm in a full fixation sling where it can't move at all for three weeks, anything's better. I'm slowly getting my playing back up to speed, which is going much faster than I had expected, so it's all good.

Cool!

I guess you never know how much you miss a thing...

I threw my back out 3 weeks ago and for about 8 days I tried to remember what it was like to lean over a sink to brush my teeth.

The simple pleasures - like being able to put socks on.

It's finally just about back to normal now though.

Fingers for me......although I would like to learn to use a pick. Off to the practice shed! :wink:

I play finger bass, and always will. I use a pick for guitar, but that's different, that's more chords than anything. I've yet to see a pick bass player do anything more than stick to the root note and follow the guitarist - using a pick definitely seems to limit what you can do with the instrument, and who needs that, really?

Chris Squire's not bad with a pick :wink:

But then I think he plays both ways.

I play finger bass, and always will. I use a pick for guitar, but that's different, that's more chords than anything. I've yet to see a pick bass player do anything more than stick to the root note and follow the guitarist - using a pick definitely seems to limit what you can do with the instrument, and who needs that, really?

How would another technique limit your playing? It brings out another sound, another level of the instrument. It's not even like you're forced to only use a pick, when you decide to try it. You can even do what I do and switch during a song, for when a part needs the metallic twang.

As for pickplayers just following roots and guitars, that's really bull. I mean really. That's just the most closeminded bull, I've heard all day (Well, it's only 12pm, so..). I can get a quick 20 just off the top of my head with creative independent lines and melodic control, who doesn't follow the guitars.. Justin Chancellor from Tool, John Entwistle from The Who, Jason Newstead from Metallica, Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Cass from Skunk Anansie, Matt Freeman from Rancid, Billy bloody Sheenan even uses a pick from time to time.. Really, there's just loads.

Sorry to go off on you like that, but it's a pet annoyance of mine. I just bugs me when people write of another technique completely. Seriously, what you're doing by not letting the pick "restrain" you IS restraining yourself.

I didn't write it off completely, all I said was IN MY OPINION it limits what you can do with the instrument and IN MY EXPERIENCE I'd never seen or heard a bassist use a pick for anything more than following the root note.

And people wonder why I don't come here anymore... :roll:

i use a pick mostly (usually a 1mm thick one) it gets clearer sounds and i can go way faster than with alternating fingers. it definately depends on the style of song ur playing tho. more metal songs definately pic, bluesish would definately call for fingers