Pick or Fingers?

[hankSRay]

To take the matter to another step, how do you guys hold your picks?

I usually hold my pick very loosely at the very edge between my thumb and index finger. Its a wonder I dont drop picks left and right.

 

[cdb]

No picks for me. I alternate fingerstyle with slap and pop, and a pick gets in the way of my wacky flexibilty thang..

 

[phatduckk]

To take the matter to another step, how do you guys hold your picks?

depends on what im playing actually. i hold it way different when im "just playing" vs. playing fast w/o vs playing a fast run.

i guess id have to take pictures cuz there's no way i could explain in words

 

[nashman]

Very interesting comments ... all very much appreciated .... thanks! I just naturally started playing finger style, however when I heard my gig partner play the same bass/rig last Saturday night, I was amazed at the difference like I said. I have only just tested a pick recently, but find it much more difficult to "find" the strings with the pick (I'm sure that's natural since I'm new at it) and I also found it much more difficult to control both the volume and muting. I'm comforted that so many also use finger style ... and will continue to experiment with a pick as time goes by. Thanks once again to all!

 

[spencer]

To take the matter to another step, how do you guys hold your picks?

I have never seen anyone use a pick like I have except my dad who i learned it from on guitar and a friend who I taught. But please let me know if its common. I don't actually use the pointy end of the pick, I use onE of the corners. I gives me more to hold on to with my thumb and its alot easier for me to pick this way. I'll take picture if needed, I want to know if im the only one.. If I am... try it this way its soo much easier.

 

[eddybomb]

i use mostly my fingers and thumb, but i do use a pick on song styles that need that extra bite. while playing finger style, if i need more attack on certain notes or whole licks i tend to roll my finger tip toward my thumb and attack the string with the tip of my fingernail. do what makes you comfortable...other methods of plucking will happen naturally as the need presents itself...believe in the force.

 

[Caca de Kick]

Me...fingerstyle, slap, pop, and rake my fingertips like flamenco for chording, I don't play with a pick. And I don't mean to sound like a snob, but I generally dislike the scrape/grind sounds a pick does to a bass sound.
I too feel fingers are more expressive...I can get different sounds just plucking with either using more of the pads of my fingers, or using more of the tips, or use the sides of my fingers like an upright player, and I also use a downward strike technique with my fingertips (a'la Doug Wimbish).

I have honestly tried using a pick for certain things in the past but have always found my finger playing is louder, stronger and faster. My drummer has only played with pick players before me, and commented how much he liked the finger playing instead.

 

[high mileage]

^^^That's pretty much where I'm at but not familiar with the Doug Wimbish thing. Well, not much of a slap 'n pop player either...

There are a lot of sounds you can get with your fingers but a pick sounds like a pick. I try to work on playing with one sometimes because there are songs that we do that would sound good with one, but I prefer not using them.

 

[Urwordsbreakmed]

Pick..

I used to play with finger. Band member was like play witha pick you can play faster...
Gave it

But now I have to used a Pick I stub my (middle) finger and its bend kinda weird hurts to play with fingers

 

[Gary Raymond]

Finger only. Grew up using a pick, then due to an injury to my right thumb at work, can barely hold a pick now. Discoverd Delta Blues & started playing fingerstyle there, then as older age & arthritis set in, it bacame harder & harder to pluck & finger the small strings, so I switched to Bass about a year ago & have only used fingers.

 

[koogie2k]

Pick. I am a guitarist trying to play bass....LOL.

I am just more comfortable with a pick. However, my instructor is weening me off the pick. It is coming along fairly nice....but I still use a pick when I gig.

 

[StingRayzor]

Fingers only for me. But, I would have to agree with other folks and say that it should really come down to what works best for the sound of the band and the particular song.

I went and saw Isis about a month ago at a small club in Balitmore. Watching that bass player switch from pick to fingers while adjusting his EQ in the middle of tunes was pretty interesting. It was very tasteful. He picked where the song needed it or where it brought out his effects more clearly. It seemed as though he was rolling the bass back a little for picking or while using chorus, then rolling it back up for finger playing.

 

[kitekrazy]

I went to a Journey/Def Leppard concert this summer and both bassists used picks.

 

[fly]

i find when a new tune we're tryin to pull out of our a**es is goin' down...i use a pic to get the groove goin'....and half way through,i drop it and have a goo with my fingers.

this is my main way of dialin in songs.

now when we record....i almost always use a pic.....much better tones out of pro tools with a pic.

but when we play.....almost always fingers.

 

[cat_empire]

well i mainly play with my fingers, but i also use my thumb as a pick, wooten style