Playing Bass With A Pick [3 Levels]

Playing bass with a pick – on one hand, it can be a whole TON of fun. Some of the most fun bands had bass players who played with a pick.

On the other hand though, some people simply lose their minds if you play bass with a pick – and not in a good way.

If there’s one thing I absolutely hate it’s B.S. gatekeeping in music and there’s so much of it that lingers around bass picking. Just check this out:

I’m sorry, but no.

‘Real’ bass players just play bass – and they do it however they want! With their fingers, with a pick, slapping, tapping, on electric bass, acoustic bass, upright bass, synth bass, U-bass… The list goes on.

If playing with a pick is good enough for players like

• Paul McCartney
• Carol Kaye
• Sting 
• Anthony Jackson
• Dee Dee Ramone
• Chris Squire

And hundreds of other amazing musicians, then it’s good enough for me as well.

Now playing with a pick isn’t my go-to, but that doesn’t – by any stretch of the imagination – mean that I’m somehow ‘above’ playing with a pick.

In fact, last month, I was on a recording session where some of the songs actually required the brightness and attack that only a pick can give you. The album was full of pop-punk belters, and the bandleader didn’t tell me to use a pick on any of the songs, but man – his eyes really lit up when I did.

Using a pick was the perfect flavor for the song, so why wouldn’t I use one. So if it’s actually OK – and encouraged – for bassists to use a pick, the next question becomes,

“How?”

Well today, I have a brand new lesson for you, fresh from the BAB Studio all about playing with a pick.

In fact, it goes through three ‘levels’ of playing bass with a pick which means it’s perfect if you want to start using a pick, but you’re not sure how to actually practice it. Or you can look at the more advanced levels to make your picking automatic or even start to build some blistering pick speed.

This lesson will help you master left-hand and right-hand coordination, upstrokes, downstrokes as well as string crossing and we’re going to do it all using one of the most iconic picked bass lines of all time.

Check out the pick workout here:

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By the way, anyone who does give you the whole ‘rEaL bAsSiStS OnLy UsE fInGeRs’ line, you can pretty safely ignore what they’re saying. Chances are, they either just don’t know any better or they’re just trying to get a rise out of you.

I always found the best way to deal with them is say something like, “I know, right?” It takes the wind right out of a troll’s sails when you agree with them, and they’re left not knowing how to respond.

If you want to play bass with a pick, then you’ll get nothing but support, encouragement and good vibes from me.

Good luck with the lesson and happy playing!

Cheers,