I always use a pick. I lost the feeling in my first and second fingers in a childhood accident so I can’t feel the strings with my fingers. Some of the greatest bass players use picks.
Me too! Bet it’s a median nerve damage. I manage to play with my index and middle finger with reduced sensitivity. Takes getting used to. You get better over time.
@@damnyankeex1 I cut my wrist falling on a broken bottle in long grass when I was 13 years old. I’m now 66 and never got the feeling back in my fingers. It was the median nerve that got partially severed. 👍🏻 I actually use thick felt ukulele picks to get a more dead sound with less attack. Just my preference. 😁
Been playing bass for a decade, played finger style ever since. Over time, my ears have evolved to the point where I've decided pick style just sounds better to me now. So, I've made the decision to switch. Thanks for the lesson! I'll be off practicing Pink Floyd for the next 12 hours!
picks can really give your bass a new voice. I really resent my first ten years as a bassist when the "real bass players use fingers" meme was a thing. Now I am trying to get it together with a pick and it's been a bit of a struggle. I don't regret building a career playing fingerstyle one bit but I wish I had started using picks too years ago.
ROFL, Waters uses a pick too?! My main inspiration is JC from Tool, so picking has always been my default, but I’d play “Money” sometimes with my fingers thinking it was originally played that way.
Yes! When I began playing at 15 I began using a pick and that is what I am still most comfortable with. The players I listened to in my teens Adam Clayton, Sting, Michael Been, Mike Mills, Les Pattinson were all pick players. When The Joshua Tree/Rattle and Hum came out, I started to learn to play with my fingers and have continued to work on that but I think I am ready to admit I am a pick player. For me, the attack you get and the tone just sounds right. I am now playing flatwounds with a pick. That is one sweet sound. Thank you Sir Paul. I believe that Money was played with flatwounds as well. From the beginning I used a thumb pick. It worked for me. I never dropped it and I could switch to my fingers mid song. I have experimented with different picks. If players are interested I would recommend getting a variety pack such as the Dunlop Gator Grip. Thinner picks will be brighter and thicker picks will be deeper. I settled on the 1.14 mm. I have also tried Wedgie Rubber Picks 3.1 mm. Those come closest to the sound of playing with your fingers. I am surprised by the number of finger players who can't play with a pick. I have 2 friends I follow on RU-vid who play a lot of U2 songs and all with their fingers. I asked them both why not use a pick for the songs Clayton clearly uses a pick on and they both said they can't play with one. As Luke says, any good bassists should know how to play with both fingers and a pick. And play to what the song calls for. I have recently started following Ian Martin Allison and he frequently plays with a pick, often with flatwounds and effects but always to what the song needs. Thanks for letting me ramble. Stay awesome Luke!
i just started using a pick after 10 years of playing fingerstyle and I also use a dunlop thumb pick for that exact reason. it's been a challenge but picks can really give your bass a whole new voice.
Couldn't agree more. Next they'll be saying real bass players don't wear pink tutus and wear ballet shoes. We all know that's utter bs. Can I get a hell yeah from my fellow bass players!!!
I play with a Dunlop Jazz III pick. I get softer tones by turning the pick slightly so that the string rolls of the curve of the pick. You will not know if I am using my fingers or the pick. Then I also let my finger rest on the string with the pick to dampen the sharpness of the note. Very versatile if used right.
I am really happy to see finally a toturial with the pick at the tip of the index finger. I started bass with picking technique about 30 years ago, without any teacher, and from the beginning I held the pick as is shown in this video. As you said, we have the choice of the technique, and it is refreshing to hear a high level player saying that. We just have to feel comfortable with what we are doing, that's it. Your tutorial is really great. Thank you so much !
Wow, what timing. I decided to get back into bass, again, and decided Whipping Post was the song. That's a lesson of my pick playing needs improvement.
I can play with my fingers, but I I think playing with a pick has more personality, most of npc bass players are like "noooo you can't play with a pick". Who tf cares, really.
Using a pick on bass is illegal and will always be frowned upon. Ex-Friend of mine tried out for a band once and he got all set up and everything, plugged in, reached into his pocket and pulled out a pick, then was immediately ejected and beaten.
thank you so much for the free guide, it's awesome! so helpful, especially the fact that you made fretboard knowledge tests and went that extra step. thank you!
I'm just starting bass and I'm always using my fingers. I didn't want to start playing with a pick cause I want to get better without needing one. I play money with just my fingers like the first time you showed it
As a guitarist I'd been working on a version of efficiency picking. But then I got into bass, and got some study materials from Carol Kaye (carolkaye.com). It turns out she has a very specific technique where all downbeats are down strokes. The downsrokes are synchronized with taps of the left foot (right foot if you pick left-handed). Her rationale came from keeping the rhythm while sight-reading music in the studio for 8-16 hours a day, with minimal mistakes. It was more about rhythmic accuracy and feel than speed and fluency. I am working with it for now, but I'm not sure if I'll change back to something more efficient in the future. I do try to incorporate some of Troy Grady's pick slanting methods to smooth it out.
Thanks for this. There are relatively few video bass tutorials on pick playing (the vast majority show teachers playing fingerstyle) , and even fewer that go into economy plectrum picking. I will testify that if you had alternate picking or 'downstroke on the beat' (Carol Kaye style) styles drilled into you like I did, it's hard work to get economy going. Another neglected technique for bass is joint barring with the fretting hand. Wish I'd learned that one earlier too. A video on it would be useful.
You have done a great page here! \m/ But this example I would play: d d u d d d d d cause it's easy to stay in time right :) down on the beat, up at the "and" (well, I'm a guitar player playing most of the time with a pick) cheers
@@Xubuntu47 Well, I think the example at 4:55 alternate picking is not good. This is very hard to stay on time. because you play at 2 and 2and up/down 16th note. all other notes are 8th so you have to change the speed of your hand for the 2 and 2and. If you make a constant speed 8th down, you only pick at 2and up, all other ups are in the air. With that style, you are always on time :) and your movement of the hand is right on metronome - I think I have learned this on guitar because my weakest point is to stay on time. But I'm not a bass player - I'm a guitarist who plays from time to time bass :) cheers
@@Xubuntu47 this example works only because there are 8 notes (6 8th and 2 16th) in a 7/8 measure. if you have 2 times a 2x 16th you get completely out of time.
Pick playing is far far more difficult...especially because you have to mute the unrequired strings with your fret hand. I love the tone of Pick but for me it's way too hard compared to fingers
That's all well and good but how exactly are you supposed to anchor your plucking (picking) hand? If you're used to playing fingerstyle you never need to look at your plucking hand since your thumb is always anchoring your hand on the above string or pickup. Is there an efficient way to anchor my hand on my bass while I'm playing with a pick?
I learned in 1970s by listening to tapes and seemed obvious there are different tones from pick and fingers and even different gauges of pick. I make heavies from old credit cards (Brian May uses old coins) so will practice Money with one!
Glad I came across your video while trying to learn to play with a pick. I really like the song choice. I feel more inclined to use my fingers on it instead of a pick. It's good practice on perseverance when I'm inclined to throw the pick down in frustration and use fingers instead, to just keep at learning with the pick.
im a finger player who also slaps and plucks, but cant use a pick. i think dont know how to hold it! there are really very few lessons on holding a pick (i guess its assumed you know how to hold a pick?) and yet there are soooo many lessons on fingerstyle and slapping techniques. learning from guitarists is obviously not an option ;)
I started playing with a pick because I played electric guitar. It was a bad idea. As soon as I started fingerpicking, playing the bass became real fun.
I played strictly empty-handed for nearly 20 years before trying a pick. Interestingly, I found myself employing economy picking right out the gate. I'm not sure what part of my past playing experience made it come naturally to me, but I didn't even realize players would do lines on multiple strings with alternate picking, nor can I really see how or why that would be easier to do.
Just personal preference. If it works and it's not causing any harm to your body (no pain etc.) then it's usually all good. I feel like I have more control doing things this way than the fist method, but if I'd spent my whole life with the fist, then things would probably feel better that way.
@@BecomeABassist Thanks! I've been playing fingerstyle for many years and now trying to learn with a pick. I find your method more comfortable too. Some norms from guitar technique don't always apply to bass
I like the variety packs so you can try different thicknesses. Thinner picks have a brighter tone, thicker ones have a deeper tone. I use Dunlop Gator Grip. Went through the variety pack and settled on the 1.14mm.
Another possible video: it is harder to mute strings when playing with a pick because the fingers of your picking hand aren't as available to act as mutes. Another issue I struggled with when I started playing with a pick is the pick always wanted to rotate, maybe my fingers would get just a little bit sweaty. Buying textured picks solved that problem for me (dunlop max-grip).
for certain types of tones the pick is useful but not always... for speed passages are the four finger picking, double thump and three fingers picking (metal)... avoid the pick as your main technique... Trust me. Cheers
