Advice on fingering vs using a pick?

[Denis]

The entire time I've been learning and practicing I've been using a pick, but want to start using fingers more. I've tried several of the basses to see which is easiest to try it out on, and find the BaCHbird one of the easiers, in part because the pickup is a great place to rest my thumb.

If anyone has any advice for learning how use fingers vs pick, I'm ALL hears!

Thanks!

[uwe]

Your turning to the Dark Side of the Force then!!!  

Actually, I play more with fingers than I used to too, but it's all in the privacy of my home while "noodling", in a rehearsal room or on stage I still rely on my trusted pick, I'm just not nimble enough playing with my fingers. But learning that is a good thing.

[ramone57]

I use a pick probably as much as I play finger style.  it just takes practice to become proficient!    finding a comfortable place to use as a thumb rest is half the battle for me.  I prefer to use a pickup surround (or cover) but I have also used the end of the fretboard/neck or the E string if needed.  fwiw, I found using a pick more of a challenge than playing finger style.

[chromium]

Wow when I saw this thread on the main page, it just said "Advice on fingering...".

Needless to say- Whew!   What a relief...  (notice I still looked  )

So anyway, I started out playing fingerstyle, and do 99% of the time.  I need to spend time practicing with a pick- I struggle with it on bass.  I'd love to be good at both, and get to a point where a pick feels natural to me.  (Hey- maybe if I spent time practicing instead of looking at gear  )

I remember having blisters and bloody nubs of fingers when I started playing, but I was playing a really poorly setup upright in school, and a equally bad Sears electric bass at home.  Maybe pain is less of an issue if you have a decent bass.  I think that was the hardest thing to get past for me. 

I feel I have more control of the nuances playing fingerstyle, but I think that's just because I'm more comfortable with it.

[bobyoung]

I started with a pick very early on but switched to mostly fingerstyle within a year. I find Fenders the easiest to finger pick, the spacing just seems right to me. I find the T-Bird the easiest to play with a pick, I find the T-bird's strings too close together to finger pick well although I've gotten used to it.
I rest my thumb on the E string except for of course when I play the E, then I pull my hand up a little bit and put it right back on the E string. I do this unconsciously, I had to get up and pick up a bass to see how I do it just then. The reason i do this compared to resting it on say a pickup edge or bridge is because I move my hand left and right depending on how it feels and what kind of sound I want. Closer to the bridge, more percussive, clearer staccato sound, closer to the neck more bassy and blooming sound. More funky towards the bridge and more bluesy towards the neck. I have more control near the bridge as the strings feel tighter.
A technique I've been using a lot especially for blues is using my thumb while palm muting the bass, you can get a very punchy deep clear almost upright like tone like that. This sounds equally as good on the Fender or the T-Bird, it's difficult to palm mute Rics.

[chromium]

That reminded me of something I do quite a bit with fingerstyle playing- changing position of my right hand a lot, to suite the sounds needed in different songs (tight and punchy, versus deep and bassy, etc...). That's my "tone control" most of the time.  The thumb/palm muting thing is cool too- I use that at times.

[leftybass]

Got no advice for you, been playing bass since 1976 and have never played a song without a pick. 

[lowend1]

I have found that the use of muting and "ghost" notes is invaluable in making up for deficiencies in the drummer's kick technique.

[Basvarken]

If you're really a beginner at playing fingerstyle I would recommend starting with very simple patterns.
Learn to control your index en middlefinger by trying to play as even as possible along with a metronome. Just on one single string.

Once you think you have that down you can start alternating between the strings. Still trying to play as even as possible.

Don't forget it is not about speed (yet). It's about being able to play tight and in time.
Be critical on yourself.
Record what you're playing and listen back. You can be a much better judge of your own playing if you listen it back while you're not playing.

The whole muting and ghosting stuff should be way up ahead in lesson number 30 if you ask me...

[n!k]

I have always played with my fingers, but I do practice picking so I can go there if I think the song needs it. I think my favorite picks are my fingernails though!

[n!k]

Here are some things I picked up (no pun intended) that might be helpful:

Practice putting your thumb on the string above the one you are playing, it helps to anchor yourself and also to mute open ringing strings. When you're playing your E (or whatever your lowest string is) rest it on the pickup (or where ever you like to perch).

Practice a consistent method for fingering. I always start with my middle finger, then alternate with my index.

Practice beyond two fingers. I started working in my ring finger for those galloping kind of sounds a couple years ago and now I can't stop! Your fingers are little machines that will train themselves to do things if you practice over time.

Try it backwards! Instead of fingering "up", finger "down" using your fingernails as little picks. Holding your index fingernail as a pick works too.

If your hands get sore, stop for awhile. If your arm gets sore, adjust your bass strap. Stay loose, have fun!

[Highlander]

Beware of "burning" the finger-tips...

A tip I was given years ago (by a keys player several years younger than I) was, "No, perfect practice makes perfect..."

So, Glasshopper Denis... plactice, plactice, plactice, plactice, plactice... and then plactice some more...  

[TBird1958]

 With the band, and in rehearsing our material solo I use a pick for everything, even the songs that would logically require fingerstyle, this keeps my volume and tone pretty consistant. I know I don't have the finger strength to play our stuff anymore, in fact I'm downright arthritic  
At home alone with other "lighter' material I do still enjoy using my fingers tho and keep my callouses at least respectable     

[gweimer]

I have always played with my fingers, but I do practice picking so I can go there if I think the song needs it. I think my favorite picks are my fingernails though!

Ditto that!  I've started trying a pick again, mostly for the 8-string.  Even the BaCHBird has a comfortable feel with a pick.  Overall, though, I'm a finger man.  In fact, it's my right hand that does most of the work.  I use three fingers pretty religiously, and have stretched to use all four.  Nothing like a good horse gallop across the strings for accent.

[Pilgrim]

I learned on upright bass, and therefore have been a 2-finger player forever.  I'm slowly working my way into playing with a pick because there are some sequences we play that result in my pretty much pounding out 16th notes for 15+ minutes nonstop.  I can do it, but the hand gets tired, knowwhutImean?  Still, a pick seems very unnatural to me.

I'm almost to the place where I can play slow numbers with a pick - but I'm still much faster with my fingers.