Things cocky bassists say

[Dave W]

Not new but I hadn't seen it until this morning.

[westen44]

I could be wrong, but to me that sounds like what a guitarist thinks bassists would say.  But some of that might really be valid.  Like the part about picks.  I get so tired of the bias against picks from bassists.  I play fingerstyle sometimes, but only because I have neck problems and it puts less pressure on my neck to do it that way.  But that guy has a sense of humor in the video and that's what it's all about. 

[Rob]

I could be wrong, but to me that sounds like what a guitarist thinks bassists would say.   

[Dave W]

I could be wrong, but to me that sounds like what a guitarist thinks bassists would say.  But some of that might really be valid.  Like the part about picks.  I get so tired of the bias against picks from bassists.  I play fingerstyle sometimes, but only because I have neck problems and it puts less pressure on my neck to do it that way.  But that guy has a sense of humor in the video and that's what it's all about.

You'll hardly ever find a well known bassist putting down another bassist for using a pick. It's almost always third-rate wannabees.

[westen44]

You'll hardly ever find a well known bassist putting down another bassist for using a pick. It's almost always third-rate wannabees.

Yes, I agree.  And I think I've mentioned this here before.  But I'm also around other people in real life who are anti-pick, especially one person who is a bassist and a good one.  We're the same age, but grew up in different parts of the country.  It appears he has always felt playing with a pick is something to be stigmatized.  People I grew up with idolized Paul McCartney and Berry Oakley.  If you said anything negative about the Beatles or the Allman Brothers, you would have been looked at as having a very poor taste in music.  Probably more so even for the Allman Brothers than the Beatles.  The Allman Brothers were considered to be music gods by the people I was around as a teenager.  Paul McCartney and Berry Oakley used picks back then; so case closed.  But fingerstyle and pickstyle were considered equal.  Sometimes I have to wonder if at least some of the anti-pick people are so against it because they're not very good using a pick.  I don't know.  I once saw a video of Bobby Vega.  He played with a pick throughout much of the video.  Then he switched to fingerstyle.  Very impressive either way. 

[doombass]

I believe the stigma sometimes is related to picks being associated with guitarplaying. If you use a pick you're more likely to be considered a failed guitarplayer. I actually agreed to some parts of that video. 2:09-2:16 and 2:34-2:40 for example. As a musician you're more likely to dissect music so that you appreciate it because of single instruments. More so than non musicians that have a harder time to pinpoint why they like a certain song.

[Basvarken]

When I started to play bass, I played fingerstyle only.
I had taken guitar lessons from a flamenco teacher and he taught me to use all fingers on my right hand (except for the pinky. don't know why). Hours and hours of training, alternating between the fingers (PAMI, PIAM, PMIA, etc).
It came in handy when I started to play bass in band that did Iron Maiden covers et cetera. Steve Harris was my idol back then ;-)

It wasn't after ten years in a band that I learned to play with a pick. I had started a tribute band doing Thin Lizzy songs. And Phil Lynott had this very steady pulsating right hand pick technique. Again hours and hours of practice to get that down pat.

I'm glad I learned both, because it just extends the palette of choice.

Never been much of a slapper though

[Dave W]

I believe the stigma sometimes is related to picks being associated with guitarplaying. If you use a pick you're more likely to be considered a failed guitarplayer. ...

It originated way back when by upright players who wouldn't accept the idea of a bass in guitar form. A bass guitar wasn't a "real" bass and therefore anyone who played with a pick wasn't a "real" bassist. It's no wonder they gradually lost gigs to electric bass players.

My usual response to anti-pick people is "real bassists play arco." 

[doombass]

My usual response to anti-pick people is "real bassists play arco." 

 

[gearHed289]

My usual response to anti-pick people is "real bassists play arco." 

Pretty much same here, though I don't bother chiming in on stupid anti-pick commentary anymore.  And what about those shameless guitar players playing finger style?  I could also mention the list of legendary, respected bass players that play with a pick either all or some of the time. 

[Dave W]

Pretty much same here, though I don't bother chiming in on stupid anti-pick commentary anymore.  And what about those shameless guitar players playing finger style?  I could also mention the list of legendary, respected bass players that play with a pick either all or some of the time. 

Most of my influences play or played with a pick. It doesn't matter to me one way or the other.

[Stjofön Big]

Always played with a pick, until I - all of a sudden, and very surprising - got arthritis in my thumb 35 years ago. Couldn't hold a pick any more. Just dropped it! This was in the middle of a tour of West Sweden, and Norway. So I started using my fingers. The shift was pretty easy.
Need is the mother of invention. You do what you have to do.

[Pilgrim]

I make sporadic efforts to learn how to use a pick. It would sure come in handy for those steady, repetitive passages that go on and on.

A couple of guitar players have been surprised to see that I tend to use a pick with all upstrokes, which to me seems natural because that's the direction that my fingers pull when playing finger style. I haven't gotten as far as two-direction pick technique.

As a convert from upright bass, I came to electric as a fingers player, and that's definitely my stronger technique.  I consider pizzicato to be the foundation of electric bass, with pick as a secondary (but effective) tool.

[Bubbalou88]

I don't have a problem with playing with or without a pick. That is individual choice. I admit I play mainly without a pick but I am working on using a pick also. Faster stuff I deal with playing fingerstyle as picking needs to come up to speed at some point.

[Pilgrim]

I don't have a problem with playing with or without a pick. That is individual choice. I admit I play mainly without a pick but I am working on using a pick also. Faster stuff I deal with playing fingerstyle as picking needs to come up to speed at some point.

Me too. I'm still faster and more accurate with fingers than a pick.