# Electric Bass Players: Finger or Pick? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2012, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344 "2012-01-04T04:50:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344/1 "2012-01-04T04:50:36Z")
I know there are a couple of more options like tapping or bowing but I wanted to keep it simple. I basically always play finger-style except for one song which is basicllay non-stop eighth notes in a very simple pattern. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344/2 "2012-01-04T04:54:11Z")
I always played with fingers only, mostly jazz groups though if that matters. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344/3 "2012-01-04T15:38:20Z")
What, no slap? šŸ™‚ I prefer fingers since thatā€™s how I learned, but there are some things that just need a pick, fast songs or lines that require a really sharp tone that a pick can do better than a finger. ---
**Author:** ![AndyPolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@AndyPolley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyPolley)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344/4 "2012-01-04T15:41:32Z")
Iā€™ll grab a pick every now and then when itā€™s called for, but Iā€™m a finger style guy first. Iā€™d consider slap to be on the finger-style side of things. I canā€™t slap while holding a damn pick. šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344/5 "2012-01-04T15:41:57Z")
Always fingers for me. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344/6 "2012-01-04T17:21:49Z")
I use a pick only if my fingers are blistering or hurting. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344/7 "2012-01-04T20:25:26Z")
I havenā€™t actually played in many years, but when I did it was always fingers, with exceptions for a few really fast songs. ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344/8 "2012-01-04T20:40:49Z")
Iā€™m a complete klutz with a pick. I started on upright, so a pick didnā€™t even become an option for many years. ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344/9 "2012-01-04T20:50:26Z")
I use both, depends on the tone for the tune. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344/10 "2012-01-04T21:35:47Z")
I donā€™t play, but I voted for my bass player ;). Fluent in both; great with a pick for balls-out punk and rock songs - the Ramones type stuff - but uses a pick for everything elseā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344/11 "2012-01-05T13:03:16Z")
So, he uses a pick for everything, but is only great with it for balls-out punk and rock? šŸ˜ƒ I learned bass fingerstyle, tried a pick a handful of times over the years and always hated how I lost my thumb ā€œanchorā€ and intimate contact with the strings when using it. So, Iā€™m a lousy pick player. ---
**Author:** ![Kim\_o\_the\_Concrete\_Jungle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ee7513/32.png) [@Kim\_o\_the\_Concrete\_Jungle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kim_o_the_Concrete_Jungle)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344/12 "2012-01-05T14:26:27Z")
I can do both, but I use a pick most of the time (0.73mm Jim Dunlop Nylon). To my ear, finger style just doesnā€™t compare to the percussive attack of a pick and the nice, even note that follows it. The main exception is when Iā€™m trying for a sound more reminiscent of an upright bass. Then I play finger-style. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344/13 "2012-01-05T16:51:09Z")
I prefer to use fingers, but as I double classical guitar and bass, I have to use a pick. Iā€™m sure thereā€™s a way to play bass without totaling your nails, but Iā€™ve never done anything but wreck my nails trying to find it. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344/14 "2012-01-05T17:43:56Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > I prefer to use fingers, but as I double classical guitar and bass, I have to use a pick. Iā€™m sure thereā€™s a way to play bass without totaling your nails, but Iā€™ve never done anything but wreck my nails trying to find it. Thatā€™s interesting because at least for my fret hand, longer nails are much worse when I play guitar than bass. I can see the plucking hand can use longer nails, though. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344/15 "2012-01-05T18:54:55Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > but uses a pick for everything elseā€¦ :smack: ā€¦fingers for everything elseā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344/16 "2012-01-05T20:38:02Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Thatā€™s interesting because at least for my fret hand, longer nails are much worse when I play guitar than bass. I can see the plucking hand can use longer nails, though. Sorry, to clarify - on my left (fretting) hand, the fingernails are trimmed and filed to just below the quick, i.e. no white at all. On the right (plucking) hand, the nails are grown out from the pad of the fingertip by about 3 - 4 mm, and shaped to allow plucking of the strings from different angles for different tone colours. The strings on an electric bass are too thick and immobile for my guitaristā€™s nails, and Iā€™ve yet to find the angle of attack that will allow me to play without smashing my nails to bits. I can play double bass with fingers or bow, as the angle is different, but short of putting the electric between my thighs and playing it like a cello, (never tried it; it might work.) I always use a pick or bust my nails. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344/17 "2012-01-05T20:45:06Z")
Fingers only. I lost the taste for playing anything with a pick a while back, I like the control you get over your tone with your fingers a lot better. I can mimic the sound of a pick with my bare hand, but I canā€™t mimic the sound of my fingers with a pick. ---
**Author:** ![born\_too\_late](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba9def/32.png) [@born\_too\_late](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/born_too_late)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344/18 "2012-01-05T21:23:53Z")
I prefer finger picking, but like others here said, sometimes the song requires the pick tone. Since I also play regular 6-string too, Iā€™m comfortable using the pick when I want to. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344/19 "2012-01-06T13:41:23Z")
Fingers. The way it was \*meant \*to be played. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344/20 "2012-01-06T15:00:31Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Fingers. The way it was \*meant \*to be played. šŸ˜ƒ Now, now. Next youā€™ll argue for fretless šŸ˜‰ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-bass-players-finger-or-pick/608344.md?page=2)