Picking Troubles

[TheLoneBassist]

Hey everyone, I play a Ibanez GSR 200 4 String bass with Ernie Ball Super Slinkies 45-100 and one of my biggest issues is trying to pick because it seems im not gripping enough and it slips or i end up close to the saddle and it starts to slightly cut and chafe against my hand, the picks i use are a Dunlop Flow 2.0, Dunlop Jazz III, Ernie Ball Prodigy 1.0 and a series of custom made picks from vegetable ivory from my friend, so i just wanted to know if there was any kind of advice someone could give me on just finding a comfortable way to play with the pick

[BusterKnott]

This may not be the answer you're looking for but I have one that works well for me.

 

I had nothing but trouble using a pick so I quit using one at all and simply play fingerstyle. I pluck all the single notes and strum chords using the topside of my fingernails using all downstrokes. This style of playing chords is very similar to the rasgueado technique used in playing flamenco.

 

On two string power chords I frequently play using pinch chords. My style of picking and strumming is very similar to the way Robby Krieger played guitar with the Doors. Interestingly enough Krieger played both classical & flamenco guitar before he joined The Doors and refused to use picks when he played with the band.

 

I found this little tidbit interesting because like him I also studied classical guitar for years before I ever picked up an electric and can't stand using picks either.

 

My fingerstyle plucking and pinch chord technique also work extremely well for playing bass; at least they do for me.

 

Hopefully this helps!

[TheLoneBassist]

This may not be the answer you're looking for but I have one that works well for me.

 

I had nothing but trouble using a pick so I quit using one at all and simply play fingerstyle. I pluck all the single notes and strum chords using the topside of my fingernails using all downstrokes. This style of playing chords is very similar to the rasgueado technique used in playing flamenco.

 

On two string power chords I frequently play using pinch chords. My style of picking and strumming is very similar to the way Robby Krieger played guitar with the Doors. Interestingly enough Krieger played both classical & flamenco guitar before he joined The Doors and refused to use picks when he played with the band.

 

I found this little tidbit interesting because like him I also studied classical guitar for years before I ever picked up an electric and can't stand using picks either.

 

My fingerstyle plucking and pinch chord technique also work extremely well for playing bass; at least they do for me.

 

Hopefully this helps!

I will most definitely give this a try, I'm really fond of the pinch technique itself when it comes to power chords, now and again though since im left handed playing a right handed bass I have some issues with the fret hand which makes me lose my concentration in my plucking hand, and so its like a big circle of hatred lol, but thanks for telling me about the finger nail technique hopefully it works 

[coldrampage]

@@TheLoneBassist I play bass with a pick because I'm a guitarist peasant. I use a dunlop tortex triangle, you can get a pretty good grip on it 'cus of the shape but to be honest its the only bass pick I've tried and I'm not sure how good it is in comparison to other stuff (and I think its technically a guitar pick lol). 

 

"i end up close to the saddle and it starts to slightly cut and chafe against my hand" I rest my arm on the saddle and pick just after the neck ends, I'm not sure if it's good to play like this but its how I do it (probably why I suck).

[BusterKnott]

 

This may not be the answer you're looking for but I have one that works well for me.

 

I had nothing but trouble using a pick so I quit using one at all and simply play fingerstyle. I pluck all the single notes and strum chords using the topside of my fingernails using all downstrokes. This style of playing chords is very similar to the rasgueado technique used in playing flamenco.

 

On two string power chords I frequently play using pinch chords. My style of picking and strumming is very similar to the way Robby Krieger played guitar with the Doors. Interestingly enough Krieger played both classical & flamenco guitar before he joined The Doors and refused to use picks when he played with the band.

 

I found this little tidbit interesting because like him I also studied classical guitar for years before I ever picked up an electric and can't stand using picks either.

 

My fingerstyle plucking and pinch chord technique also work extremely well for playing bass; at least they do for me.

 

Hopefully this helps!

I will most definitely give this a try, I'm really fond of the pinch technique itself when it comes to power chords, now and again though since im left handed playing a right handed bass I have some issues with the fret hand which makes me lose my concentration in my plucking hand, and so its like a big circle of hatred lol, but thanks for telling me about the finger nail technique hopefully it works 

 

I'm left handed as well and play both bass & guitar right handed. I've found that this gives me a big advantage with my fretting hand but a disadvantage rhythmically with my right hand. I simply don't have the coordination in my right hand to maintain strumming patterns. Needless to say I will never attempt rythym guitar! That being said with enough practice you should be able to easily master fingerstyle and pinch chords on bass. If you choose to transition to guitar at some point strumming with fingernails shouldn't give you much trouble either. If you need further info on how to do it search "rasgueado technique" or "Flamenco" on YouTube. There are tons of videos there on these techniques!

[TheLoneBassist]

@@TheLoneBassist I play bass with a pick because I'm a guitarist peasant. I use a dunlop tortex triangle, you can get a pretty good grip on it 'cus of the shape but to be honest its the only bass pick I've tried and I'm not sure how good it is in comparison to other stuff (and I think its technically a guitar pick lol). 

 

"i end up close to the saddle and it starts to slightly cut and chafe against my hand" I rest my arm on the saddle and pick just after the neck ends, I'm not sure if it's good to play like this but its how I do it (probably why I suck).

@@coldrampage thanks for the advice, ill def give it a try and see how it affects me, i might try to get a dunlop Tortex Triangle when i get my next check in

[TheLoneBassist]

 

 

This may not be the answer you're looking for but I have one that works well for me.

 

I had nothing but trouble using a pick so I quit using one at all and simply play fingerstyle. I pluck all the single notes and strum chords using the topside of my fingernails using all downstrokes. This style of playing chords is very similar to the rasgueado technique used in playing flamenco.

 

On two string power chords I frequently play using pinch chords. My style of picking and strumming is very similar to the way Robby Krieger played guitar with the Doors. Interestingly enough Krieger played both classical & flamenco guitar before he joined The Doors and refused to use picks when he played with the band.

 

I found this little tidbit interesting because like him I also studied classical guitar for years before I ever picked up an electric and can't stand using picks either.

 

My fingerstyle plucking and pinch chord technique also work extremely well for playing bass; at least they do for me.

 

Hopefully this helps!

I will most definitely give this a try, I'm really fond of the pinch technique itself when it comes to power chords, now and again though since im left handed playing a right handed bass I have some issues with the fret hand which makes me lose my concentration in my plucking hand, and so its like a big circle of hatred lol, but thanks for telling me about the finger nail technique hopefully it works 

 

I'm left handed as well and play both bass & guitar right handed. I've found that this gives me a big advantage with my fretting hand but a disadvantage rhythmically with my right hand. I simply don't have the coordination in my right hand to maintain strumming patterns. Needless to say I will never attempt rythym guitar! That being said with enough practice you should be able to easily master fingerstyle and pinch chords on bass. If you choose to transition to guitar at some point strumming with fingernails shouldn't give you much trouble either. If you need further info on how to do it search "rasgueado technique" or "Flamenco" on YouTube. There are tons of videos there on these techniques!

 

Well thanks for the advice :) and yea the only thing my right hand mainly has is speed but i have moments where my brain will completely back fire and I have issues doing a open string on like the second string while mixing in notes from the strings above and or below the open strum, and I really feel its from not playing with my dominate hand, I might try getting a new Bass or at least trying one at my close GC whenever I can to see if it makes any difference

[SandyD]

I'm not a bass player, but I've been buying all sorts of different picks recently because I'm trying to figure out what works for me.  I keep on coming back to Jazz IIIs because of the shape and size of them, and I've found that I vastly prefer the nylon one over the tortex one.

 

The tortex feels very slippery in my fingers and I have a hard time holding onto it when I try to play harder solos.  The nylon one is more textured and grippy and much easier to hold onto without having to use a death grip. 

That said, the tortex one is great for strummy songs (Wonderwall anyone?) because it is more slippery and glides across the strings nicely...if I can hold onto it...