FINGERSTYLE vs PICK vs SLAP - Battle of the Bass Techniques 

Thanks for watching, guys! Tabs, Backing Tracks, Guitar Pro, and Isolated Bass Stems at: www.patreon.com/NateNavarro Nate's Bass Books: www.natenavarro.net/books Nate's Gear: www.natenavarro.net/gear

The best technique is Nate Navarro.

I think you just proved whichever technique works best for the player.

Leswar Guitars - killer axe! ;)

Wow, Leswar bass!

I’m in the family of giving freedom to each bassist/whatever works for the song or whatever you’re going for. That being said, I think each way for the styles sounded dope as hell. It gave a different feel/sound and I am/was here for it all lol

You really kicked the hornet's nest with this one. I transitioned to bass from guitar in the 80s, so pick was natural to me & I got no end of poop about it although my picking technique is impeccable. Bass is the only instrument where people seem to think that they can tell you how to play it. When was the last time you saw someone tell a drummer NOT to use drumsticks? You can't change the laws of physics~ a pick sliding off a bass string is going to give you more articulation than a finger sliding off a bass string.

Thanks so much Nate, this is awesome! 🔥🔥🔥

Perfect technique with all three! They all fit easily in each genre, it’s up to the player to decide 😊. Awesome video as per usual!!

With a player like you, it doesn't matter. Any technique you use sounds awesome!

Thanks for this!

What stands out to me in this is how similar you get the three different techniques to sound, which is an advanced skill in itself. I think the choice of music helped, but with most players, finger style usually sounds quite different to pick and slap. Imagine playing a Jamerson line slapped 😂. There are songs that employ all 3 techniques and really benefit, but many players can’t do all 3. In 30 years of playing, I’ve only started using a pick in the last year or two, but have used finger style and slap all through.

Great stuff as always!!! Your technical playing always brings a smile to my face - like an uncomfortable "how does he do that, I need to get back to practicing" smile😂 Also, I can't help but think that's the CyberTruck of basses

Cool video ....I gotta learn that thumb through slap technique , it was my favorite for all , because the notes had such solid delivery and nuance

Wow... great!

I like what you did on all styles. Seems like, well executed, you can get away with any technique. I'm not that good with slap or pick, but use them when required. Most of the time, each song kind of "asks" for a technique that suits it better.

Those tones 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Fingerstyle and slap sound really good on this bass, but that pick tone is just 👌in every example imo.

well this was impossible to decide, you made them all sound so damn good, that i believe the technique does not matter, just get Nate on the track and its golden....also that bass is pure 🔥🔥🔥

When you play it doesn't matter it all sounds great!

You are unbelievable bro. Dayyummmmmmm How many years it took you to reach this god level?😊

Your fingerstyle is so aggressive and hard it’s insane. Nothing else needed.

I was really surprised by your hidden slap technique! Did not see that coming at all!

I think all the technic that you played are awesome 👍👍 Menyala 🔥🔥🔥 abangku

Love the sound of a pick for metal. I played finger style when I first started, but all my favorite tones were from pick players like Rex Brown. Still, all kinds of techniques and players have produced awesome sounds.

I like finger style and slap. I don't really like the attack of a pick on bass strings, but it's just my preference, not any kind of rule. Whatever floats your boat is what you should do. I do agree with you though, it's up to the individual bassist and whatever they prefer.

Sounds Great! As a non-bassist, I like the way the Slap Technique sounds best! Hope y'all are doing well!

I like them all but the picki ng is more articulate and then again you make all three styles look easy and sounds really good.

Amen to the best technique is Nate!!!

i listening quickly metal part (because i'm at work lmao) but jeez for metal i would say fingerstyle and slap ! your technique is insane ! i bought your books cant wait to practice more this summer.

They all sound great. It's what the bassist feels the song needs and is comfortable with I suppose!

from what i hear , i think the power of the Compressor Pedal is the BEST : )

Leswar Guitars ❤

I personally prefer pick for that hard attack (I only play metal bass), but I think guys like Steve Harris and Bryan Beller have interesting techniques to make fingerstyle metal work, like "flicking" with the index and middle finger (as if one is using a pick) or the traditional three finger "gallop." With the right amp, bass setup, pedalboard, and technique, you can find the sound you're looking for regardless of what playing style you use.

Great video! Please make a video about slapping bass on 4 vs. 5 vs 6 string bass. There is no video like this on RU-vid

Wow, Genzler! I wish I get one like from Nate! LOL

I think its a really interesting discussion. I personally play with a pick, always have, but here I think fingerstyle sounded more expressive in all cases. I think I'm gonna try and learn more fingerstyle, see if I can get over the initial learning curve.

I knew I'd absolutely love fingerstyle and slap (playing bass can simply not get any better than this) but the pick shocked me. Before I didn't like the sound they gave, however you made them sound so good - the sharp tone picks make can apparently compliment a song too. Great job. My opinions? 1st round, funk, my favorite was slap (of course, slap and funk are great together! 2nd round, rock, my favorite was pick. 3rd round, pop, my favorite was also pick. 4th round, metal, my favorite was metal (I really love the fast 4-finger technique!)

My take after years of thinking about the topic and using a wide range of techniques in various contexts is this: Divorce the technique from style/genre so you can play and think more freely. Slapping a line does not "make it funky". Playing it with a pick doesn't "make it rock/metal or guitaristic". In my personal world my funkiest stuff is played fingerstyle and most aggro is slapped. I use a pick for extra clarity in a dense mix and center technique around thumb pluck/and index middle fingerstyle. I would also add a fourth main category of palm mute with thumb plucking and 2/3 fingers. That is a huge area that players are getting a ton of mileage out of Some tones and rhythmic figures and shapes/patterns will always be easier and more natural with one particular approach even with (like Nate) the ability to fluidly shift between them. Use the physical technique that makes it easiest achieve what you hear in your head or what is written and be intentional with tonal choice - instrument/string type/effects. All of the techniques will vibe very differently on a passive bass/hot active bass/with flats/with a drive pedal, etc. Electric Bass is a glorious young instrument for us all to enjoy!

Leswar are from Beskid Żywiecki mountain range, but there are other Beskids too

Hello Nate! Thnx for this video, I like it 😊 Although I'm not a bassist and I'm not so much into the techniques, I do have an opinion and personal preference. It's nice to become aware of that through a video like this. For me it is: Funk: 🖐 & 👍 Rock: 🖐 & 👍 Pop: 🔺️ Metal: 🖐 & 🔺️ And for your other question: I think it's important that a musician stays close to his or her own preferences and styles that are comfortable for him or her. Yes, composers and other band members will certainly have their preferences, but personally I don't think anyone other than the musician self, should decide how he or she wants to play a song. If you manage to stay close to your preferences as a musician, you will deliver a style and quality that you can also be satisfied with. How quickly are we inclined to judge ourselves? If someone else decides what you should do, it is even more difficult to be satisfied with what you have achieved. Working on authenticity and staying true to yourself, ensures that you create an unique blueprint that only yóu can put on the music. Others can be in charge or play the boss what they want, but I think staying true to yourself and what and how you want to play it, is the most important thing if you want to be and stay happy with what you are doing. Of course, this also depends strongly on the type of contract or the role you fulfill within the assignment, but I will leave that out of my answer for now.

I've started playing bass in 1975 and I've never slapped because there's not much call for it in the metal I've played. But it can be a cool technique. That said, I do both finger style and use a pick. It's comes down to what works best for the song.

I’ve played bass with a pick (or pick formation) a few times myself. Acquaintances of mine do it more frequently than me. I like how they do it and how it sounds. I enjoy utilizing a hybrid of finger style and slapping. My main regret is that I didn’t choose a fretless bass, not knowing about Les Claypool who slaps into infinity on fretless basses or that you can cover the fingerboard with a few layers of epoxy to protect it from the friction generated from slapping. Wish I knew how many layers of epoxy Les has applied to his models.

Funk: Slap, cant beat the groove of that Rock: Pick, for a bit more aggressiveness Pop: Fingerstyle, nice, smooth, and easy to listen to Metal: Logical choice would be pick, for the same reason I choose it for rock. But I go with slap, because it looks and sounds just so awesome

Nice bass, I would put the pickups in the other direction though

One thing amazing about Nate's technique is that he seems to be able to get one technique to sound like the other. (Even w/in a technique - Nate's got one of the best double thumbs out there, he can get is up and down strokes to sound the same.) One thing I didn't see addressed is attack. If you play hard you can get fingerstyle to sound like slap or pick. If you play with a soft attack I don't think you can get slap to sound like fingerstyle. What Nate's "Battle" is really about is prejudice among musicians. In the rock world it's prejudice against slap (mostly I would say by non-bass players). Incidentally, I have heard prejudice against short scale basses from other bass players. Doubtfully, they haven't seen Nate play this very cool short scale. And I have been asked by beginner bass players whether to play fingerstyle or pick, I say "both", depends on the song.

To me it's a combination of what the bass player wants to do, in the context of the music being played, and whatever sounds best in the mix. Your "sound" playing by yourself at home is one thing, with a full band it's quite another.

Приветствую,, мой басовый брат! Респект за твои публикации. Звукоизвлечениесупер!

I also hide my pick in between the pickup and the body. Some lines sound better or are easier to play with a pick!

Whatever works for the song. Sometimes one song requires all three options. One is not better than another. What is impressive is another option. Slapping is the most impressive. It's also what I'm not that great at, so there's that.

Hello Nathan.. hugs man ..

I like all of em Ps what bass is that?! 😜🇬🇧

What’s the bass that he is playing. It’s amazing looking. 🎉

Hi Nate! How to arrange bass lines for metal guitar riffs? Maybe you can record new video with few examples of different types of riffs and how to do that?

When you’re as talented/skilled as Nate, you can definitely get away with any technique in any genre. But I definitely think certain techniques are significantly easier to get to sound good within certain genres. In this demo, I think funk sounded the best with slap, and rock and metal with pick. I expected pop to sound best with fingers, but was pleasantly surprised with how the pick sounded in that context. So for this demo, I think I’d pick pick for pop as well. I do wonder if the results would be different with the bass in more of a supporting role, as opposed to the more lead role heard here.

I find that all three styles inspire different grooves

Todas las técnicas se escuchan super bien pero me gusta mas la técnica de dedos ❤

Funk = slap Rock = pick Pop = fingers Metal = fingers

All bass techniques goes well with all styles!!!! We call it arsenal.

What fits the music (songs) call for without over playing.

Every techniques sounds good, but I'm bias to slap technique because I'm currently learning slap so it sound interesting to me.

I preffer pick to Metal/Rock but Mudvayne (Rian Martinie) as example play the bass fingerstyle and slap. I believe it depends more on whether you really have mastery of the technique you like to use. As newbie on bass (and 14 years as guitarrist) im using pick on my band conscert but praticing almost every day to leave the pick only to the guitar xD

You just proved that plectrums are superfluous for bass playing

Bro is playing a bass that looks like it belongs in guitar hero for the DS 😂 good playing as always nate! Are you recording a mix of mic and DI?

Slap sounds best on all of them 👍

Pick for me! I play bass in heavy metal and acoustic guitar elsewhere. I don't know how to use my fingers and it feels more natural to me anyway, so.. Pick! - always and religiously!

Whats this st Vincent bass? ;)

2:55 please, write a 6 string book 😅

I've never understood this debate. Double bassists don't argue pizz vs. arco, they just understand that each provides its own sound for specific purposes. If you want a finger style sound, use your fingers. If you want a pick sound, use a pick.

slap across the board :P the reality is everything but funk would probably have the bass mix down so there was barely a perceptible difference. the best would be to simply be a Navarro, and use each when the most serving in the song

Funk - finger Rock - pick Pop - finger Metal - pick

Personally I think the techniques work equally well, personal preference ultimately decides what fit with what. Just don't get a "Producer" that immediately removes all the mids leaving just fundamentals to leave room for the banjos!

A PICC!!

Bass VI video when?

Hi Nate, ave you ever speculated how many of us poor mortals will be enticed to study the bass and how many of us will put the instrument aside forever with these killer videos??? 🤣

Fingerstyle works for every musicstyle imho.

Everything sounds better slapped

Could we have a rock demo? That was just 2 metal demos.

With your playing skills, as many comments stated, every playstyle can suite ever music. But i must say i was sure bevor that the metal part would be best played with a pick. But your playing in all three examples didn't differ in the mix at all 😮

For faster music I like more the pick, for slower and more groovie music fingerstyle. I can't slap but I like to hear it, and your double thump is like the pick and fingerstyle had a son, and this kid is on steroids.

The three are good, but I'm more into fingerstyle. By the way, the metal riff sounded a little bit like a Periphery song.

You could play with a spoon and still sound amazing 😱 Your technique in unbelievable! 😎🤘🏿Nevertheless I see slap and doble-thumb as separate techniques - eg. you could slap and never use double thumb like Flea. What do you think? 🤔

Fingerstyle wins across the board IMO. Slap definitely has it's moments, but overuse can make it sound like a gimmick. I just can't get on board with pick-play though, always sounds "plastic-y" to me. Leave that stuff to the thin-string twangers

Slap sounded best for everything except Pop which finger style did suit better

So you want to know which piece sounded best? My answer is: yes.

Hybrid style! (But i could never hit all those syncopations with any technique) 😅

Finger, Pick, Slap, Pick ...but everything sounded great, so not sure if it matters.

Slap for funk, fingerstyle for metal. Indifferent on the others. However, everything sounds amazing when you play it, so no "losers" in any of it.

Poland mentioned 🦅🦅🇵🇱🇵🇱🇵🇱 Great guitar!

For the funk one I'm torn between fingers and slap. Rock/metal is pick or slap all the way... No other strong opinions. It sometimes comes down to how much you tolerate or desire a "human" feel in timing. The funk one with fingers had an insane amount of SOUL, but that doesn't fit so much with the Rock/metal style when you want it to be impossibly tight.

8:44 сброс смычка

I think I should not quit my day job.

why not all 3, but hey played right thet would all work depending on the sound of the band.

first🎉

I started playing three years ago. The first time i heard about the pick drama was in a video recommending to use all available techniques. I dont believe there is anyone in the first place giving sh*t for using a pick. It's all a hoax. Thanks for reading

Slap sounded the best on everything but pop, where it was totally unacceptable LOL. Makes me sad because my slapping sucks. Fingerstyle always sounded good, but was only the best for Pop. Pick was generally fine. At any rate, I've IME the only people who criticize playing techniques themselves are people who can't play those techniques 😂😂

Slap Pick Slap Fingers

All bassists should have some command & understanding of all three approaches, however should not ruminate on what is the most “stylistically correct” method of deriving a tone that is musical and suitable for the piece. Would you accuse Justin Chancellor (Tool) of being a poor bassist because he uses a plectrum or Bootsy Collins because he primarily embraces slap? I really believe bassists are lucky as we can approach the instrument in a manner that speaks to our creative impulse. Last time I saw Steve Vai or Jeff Beck they were using fingers, pick and frankly anything to pull some unbelievable sounds from their instrument. Bassists should feel unrestricted in the same manner. Be yourself and celebrate all bassists.

I PICK WITH MY THUMB >:D

I use finger and slap. No picks on bass for me. Don't really care what other people do.