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Fingers vs pick?
- Thread starter Jorgebassguy
- Start date
Both! I started on fingerstyle 17 years ago and eventually switched to pick to cut through more dense mixes...but over quarantine I've found myself playing a lot more fingerstyle learning a lot of classic metal basslines (cliff burton, steve harris, etc). I like feeling like I can do either equally well!
Slap was a little more of a teenage phase for me but I still like learning primus songs every now and then.
Slap was a little more of a teenage phase for me but I still like learning primus songs every now and then.
Welcome to TB. I started out as a lead guitarist and use a pick for that exclusively. When starting to play the bass I viewed it as a completely different instrument and wanted to approach it as such. That would eliminate the possibility of bad habits or even cliched technique from guitar playing spilling over into the domain of the new instrument. Fingers only. After decades of doing this it's hard to play guitar without a pick or play the bass with one.
There's something more enjoyable for me about playing with my fingers. I also like being able to switch up right hand techniques. But generally I just find it to be more fun.
Both at the same time. I typically use a thumbpick and fingernails for speed and efficiency of movement like a banjo player would.
Sometimes I pull the thumbpick off with my fingers and rest them on the tug bar so I can play with the pad of my thumb if I need a soft attack.
So "carrots". You have an invalid poll.
Sometimes I pull the thumbpick off with my fingers and rest them on the tug bar so I can play with the pad of my thumb if I need a soft attack.
So "carrots". You have an invalid poll.
I use all of them, because I like to vary the tones as I deem fit. While I have learnt and do use them in an orthodox manner, I seem to have naturally developed a hybrid technique where it looks more like classical guitar than typical bass, my fingers are often bent toward my palm but relaxed, I may pluck the string with my thumb or any of the four fingers, I may use double thumbing, Index fingernail, palm mute and pluck or slap. I find the position enables shifting in and out of different techniques far quicker and easier that I can use tonal shift to alter the way the phrasing sounds.
I use all, but mostly fingerstyle. Why? Because I prefer the sound/control, generally. BUt sometimes using a pick seems better, so I do that then. Slap? Same, mostly I don't but sometimes it is appropriate, so I do (I play mostly funk/ska/reggae, so it's only the funk part that gets slap sometimes)
So, I play my new bass a bit for my spouse. Finger style, then I tell her "OK, the next one I play with a pick". I finish and she says "Was that different?". LOL.
I can't do some timing very well with fingers, but it's a breeze with a pick. Fast 1/8 notes across strings, for example. My brain freezes on the decisions re- "is the next one a rake?". With the pick it just happens. Probably from my years with a guitar.
I can't do some timing very well with fingers, but it's a breeze with a pick. Fast 1/8 notes across strings, for example. My brain freezes on the decisions re- "is the next one a rake?". With the pick it just happens. Probably from my years with a guitar.
I carry picks to every gig. Only time they’ve been used in 20 years is a guitarist that forgot his.
I can do fingers, pick, and slap but I use fingers 99.9 percent of the time. I like how it sounds more betterer.
Welcome to TalkBass!!!!
I do it all as well. Most of my playing is divided pretty equally between fingers and pick. But, as others have said, I will do whatever it takes to coax the sound I need out of my bass.