Playing with Pick. Vid & discussion.

Cool vid man. I don't play with a pick myself, I did for awhile when I first started playing bass but I kept losing them, I don't have that trouble with my fingers so I just used them instead lol. Sometimes I use my fingernails as a pic just to switch it up a bit if I want a specific feel. I do love the sound of a bass played with a pick, Duff Mckagens bass sound in Guns n Roses was amazing, so crunchy.

I started with a pick, swapped to fingers when I started playing again & now still mainly play fingerstyle, but it's great fun to grab a pick every now & again! It's a technique, it has a certain sound, and should never be underestimated....

I started playing with fingers and i hated the pick because i could only pick downwards,but now that i've got better at it,i play easily with both picks and fingers.What kind of picks you prefer?Big,small,Heavy,Light..?

Good stuff like always, maybe could have included palm muting even if that isnt so much used with bass but some bassist do it. And thats one thing that you cannot really do without pick.

I prefer use Dunlops JazzIII those are really thick, sharp and small but i just can play faster than any other pick. Tryed those couple years ago when i noticed that Alexi Laiho uses them. Works best for me with bass and guitar.

mts wrote:Good stuff like always, maybe could have included palm muting even if that isnt so much used with bass but some bassist do it. And thats one thing that you cannot really do without pick.

I prefer use Dunlops JazzIII those are really thick, sharp and small but i just can play faster than any other pick. Tryed those couple years ago when i noticed that Alexi Laiho uses them. Works best for me with bass and guitar.

Palm muting?

I actually find it kinda hard to play with a pick, it just doesnt feel.. right. I prefer fingerwalking anyday. But its because of the feel of it. I adore the sound of playing bass with a pick, it sounds really cool, imo.

Cliff em' all wrote:Palm muting?

Where you mute the strings with the palm of your right hand (or left, if left handed). You rest your palm gently on the strings near the bridge, so that it produces a muted sound (but not a dead note).

I taught myself to use a pick to get that.. mean sound from Tool. (Schism actually.)

Not that great with one, but getting better. There's one problem I have with it, and it's annoying because no one ever discusses it. Standing and playing with a pick.

When you sit, your bass is relatively level. However, when I stand, the angle of my bass is more defined, and getting my wrist to match that is damn near impossible for a pick.

Anyone have anything to help that?

Protoplm wrote:Anyone have anything to help that?

This happened to me yesterday actually. The guys and I were jamming for a few hours and my hand was so tired from plucking but I still really wanted to jam, so I picked up a pick and kept going.

Now, I play guitar, and have for 2-3 years now (not really good or anything) but I have acquired technique with a pick from my experience. So basically, when my hand was tired, I first elevated my bass (with my strap on) so that it was fairly level. It actually worked pretty well, but it became quite uncomfortable for my fretting hand, so I moved it back down. I ended up picking on a slight angle... but it still sounded good.

I guess there's a lot of practice to find your angle and to build up technique.

Actually... now that I think about it, the thickness of your pick makes quite the difference. If you use a fairly thick pick, you'll be able to punch out those notes on the bass strings much easier than a flimsy 0.5mm-1mm pick (unless your playing with chords, then these are perfect).

Protoplm wrote:I taught myself to use a pick to get that.. mean sound from Tool. (Schism actually.)

Not that great with one, but getting better. There's one problem I have with it, and it's annoying because no one ever discusses it. Standing and playing with a pick.

When you sit, your bass is relatively level. However, when I stand, the angle of my bass is more defined, and getting my wrist to match that is damn near impossible for a pick.

Anyone have anything to help that?

Its strange I have the same kind of problem with standing up and playing, except its with my overall technique. I mean I can play grand standing up when its not to complicated but I can't let rip like I can when I'm sitting down. I suppose its because Im sitting down when Im practicing and I don't play with a band so I'm not used to standing up. Maybe I'll get a stool if I ever play gigs, 'this songs complicated, get me my stool' lol.

I never haf this kind of problem even though i put my bass preety low..

^ Good for you, I used to play low when I was younger and in a band but years of practicing sitting down and developing the way I play, I have it up high a la John Entwistle style when I do stand up.

Pastichio wrote:Maybe I'll get a stool if I ever play gigs, 'this songs complicated, get me my stool' lol.

Yeah, I had that thought for me playing a pick .. I usually use my fingers