Plectrum playing - why the snobbery?

[3below]

Snobbery? As others state, surely the 'compleat bass player' will be able to do it all. At one time I could use a plectrum reasonably well, these days (idleness etc) I am very lacking in that ability. I regard that as a weakness in my current playing.

[adamg67]

Play how you like, electric bass is still a pretty new instrument anyway. But, if you can play with a pick and with your fingers, you'll have a better range of sounds and feels than if you just do either. I do both (and I'm learning slap now) in the band I'm in at the mo (originals, with some rocky and some pretty mellow songs).

I always used to play with a pick (and I've mainly been a bassist) but I learnt to play properly with my fingers a couple of years ago and I'm really, really glad I did.

[pintspiller]

I use both. I was a pick user for over twenty years, but I find in play certain things much better with fingers now. I actually dig in more with fingers. I used to always use black 1mm nylon Dunlop, now I find d myself using the grey ones.

[MacDaddy]

Finger style is better, because that way you do not lose any picks

[bassbora]

Not sure if anyone posted this but I think this says it all

[url="http://www.bassplayer.com/artists/1171/bobby-vega-to-pick-or-not-to-pick-part-i/55398"]http://www.bassplaye...ck-part-i/55398[/url]

[SteveK]

As others have said, I don't think that there is any real snobbery. I occasionally see something on FB meant as jest. Anyone suggesting that pick players are somehow lesser players are quite obviously Trump adoring Brexit voters

[TrevorR]

I do find it funny that so many folks out there can be so definitive about what constitutes the absolute orthodoxy on an instrument that didn't exist 65 years ago.

As others have said, whatever works for you works for you. In my personal experience I stared out predominantly on fingerstyle and 80-90% of my playing is probably like that. However, there have always been some songs that I've played that never sounded right not played with a pick... Matty Groves, Going Underground, You Really Got Me and a few worship songs we've recently started doing at church.

Mind you, as well as playing with fingers and pick I'll also throw in some 50/60s style thumb where I want a really plummy, soft, fat tone so what kind of Neanderthal throwback am I in some internet folks' eyes...?

[Bilbo]

It's all very simple. The way you manipulate your instrument determines the sound generated. It is then up to the artist in you to determine whether you can use that sound and what you should use that sound for. There are all sorts of creative artists using any number of unconventional techniques to make beautiful music. If all a player is doing is recreating the more conventional sounds within a narrow field of operation, then they will only need conventional techniques and will see no reason to move beyond that.

Picking is entirely credible as a means of generating a particular sound. It is no less legitimate than any other method.

[Hobbayne]

I have had to play several gigs all fingerstyle with no picks.
I now keep a few picks in my wallet for emergencies.

Edited August 3, 2016 by Hobbayne

[josie]

I can only play with a pick - long-term RSI in my right elbow means limited use of my right-hand fingers. You start from where you are, you work with what you have. So I'm developing a sparse bass style with lots of sustain (which my guitar encourages). I do love the rippling finger-picked style I'll never be able to play, but I'll make the most of what I can do. "Less is more" often in bass playing anyway.

[FinnDave]

After all my trouble trying to hold a pick (which I managed for a few gigs) yesterday I picked up a bass I hadn't played for a while, and without thinking played it finger style...something I thought I'd never be able to do again! Seems the most recent operation has made some significant improvements. Now the trick is not to let my pick playing go, but try to keep both going.

[ambient]

What snobbery ?

If you music calls for it, you use it.

Anthony Jacks, who is without doubt one of the greatest living bass players uses one, as does Steve Swallow.

[Bilbo]

You use what you need to make music.

You use what you can to make music.

You use what is available to you to make music.

Either way, it is the music that matters.

[XB26354]

I can't believe no-one has stated the obvious; it doesn't matter which technique you use - just take your pick...

[visog]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1470243788' post='3104455']
It's all very simple. The way you manipulate your instrument determines the sound generated.
[/quote]

Do agree with this and perhaps part of the 'snobbery' or maybe it's expectation comes from the fact that maybe:[list]
[*]Pick favours single string lines and fingers enable more a string-crossing associated with 'traditional' chord tone arpeggio playing?
[*]Easier to emphasise swing with fingers than a pick?
[/list]
Dunno - just putting it out there on what I've encountered in the past when I played with a pick starting-out emulating the mighty Chris Squire - whom I later found out pretty much eschewed much of the bass tradition and played diatonic lines through the chords....

I play with fingers now and have much better control generally although matching the precision and tone of Roundabout or Heart of the Sunrise on fingers is a challenge.

[FinnDave]

Not sure about that, having had to start using a plectrum about 6 months ago after a lifetime of finger style, I can't easily tell the difference between my old style and new in recordings, other than the clearer tone a pick produces. Plenty of cross string work involved.

[discreet]

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1473279561' post='3128711']
Not sure about that, having had to start using a plectrum about 6 months ago after a lifetime of finger style, I can't easily tell the difference between my old style and new in recordings, other than the clearer tone a pick produces. Plenty of cross string work involved.
[/quote]

Agreed. I used a pick exclusively for years and only came to fingerstyle relatively recently. Now I play fingerstyle exclusively, so it's all in the fingers - but when I used a pick, it was all in the pick. Both are good, both are good, both are good. That is all.

Yes... I know the fingers on your fretting hand are just as important, if not more so, but I'm keeping it simple.

[FinnDave]

I miss the organic feeling of finger style, but I'm getting close with the pick now. Definitely prefer my tone with the pick. Only real drawback is that I can't plays double notes as easily, used to slide one finger off just behind the other. Luckily we don't do 'White Rabbit' any more, as I find the main riff tricky with a pick. Other than that, I'm back to where I was before my accident.

[guildb30179]

Playing with 2+ fingers does give you move control and variety to your sound, but, if like me, you don't get to play as much as you should, playing heavier stuff with a pick, does avoid the blisters between rehearsals and gigs. If you're playing rock stuff with a bit of grind, use a pick for attack and consistency, softer blues & funk stuff, fingers will give a lot better response and worth learning the technique, it really doesn't take that long to get used to. But to echo everyone else, whatever suits you is fine, no snobbery, a house brick, brilliant suggestion, it will be unique for sure!

[discreet]

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1473333283' post='3129159']
Only real drawback is that I can't plays double notes as easily, used to slide one finger off just behind the other. Luckily we don't do 'White Rabbit' any more, as I find the main riff tricky with a pick. Other than that, I'm back to where I was before my accident.
[/quote]

It's a combination of upstrokes and downstrokes and a flexible pick. I also do a permanent palm mute when pick playing and use my palm as a pivot point with 3rd and 4th fingers on the treble side of the bass body for stability... if that makes sense.

Edited September 8, 2016 by discreet

[FinnDave]

I get (and use) alternating up and down strokes, but can't get used to a flexible pick, currently using a 2mm Dunlop delrin, which is pretty rigid. Tend to rest the edge of my hand on the bridge, partially muting, but can't get my fingers anywhere near the body (the injuries again).

[discreet]

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1473374390' post='3129693']
I get (and use) alternating up and down strokes, but can't get used to a flexible pick, currently using a 2mm Dunlop delrin, which is pretty rigid. Tend to rest the edge of my hand on the bridge, partially muting, but can't get my fingers anywhere near the body (the injuries again).
[/quote]

Bloody hell, a 2mm pick is mega! I've used Herco nylon 0.50mm gold for decades. They tend to get lost before they wear out. I had the same pick once for around 20 years, was devastated when I finally lost it. Being a tight-arse.

[FinnDave]

I find the 2mm gives me plenty of control, I don't want the pick twisting and flexing when I play. I was using home made picks thicker than that before I discovered them. I've tapered the edges of a couple after a few gigs, but they look like they'll forever.

[discreet]

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1473375116' post='3129703']
I find the 2mm gives me plenty of control, I don't want the pick twisting and flexing when I play. I was using home made picks thicker than that before I discovered them. I've tapered the edges of a couple after a few gigs, but they look like they'll forever.
[/quote]

Mm yes, they probably WILL forever.

[FinnDave]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1473375253' post='3129707']
Mm yes, they probably WILL forever.
[/quote]

Tired after rehearsal!