which one fingered pickey

Shockland · Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2003 6:17 pm Post subject: which one fingered pickey

hey guys here is a question: I am playing punk rock heavy metal , yeah both...
should I play with a pick or fingered??
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Theta · Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2003 11:55 pm Post subject:

What are you most comfortable playing with? I would use which ever method I was most comfortable with.

Dont get these boys started on the whole pick vs fingers debate.....things start to get a bit heated!!!!
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Rufio · Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2003 5:08 am Post subject:

No doubt about that! It's all about preference! Use what feels more Comforatableableableableableable.
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Theta · Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2003 6:16 am Post subject:

D.amn Rufio..thats a h.ell of a finger stutter you've got there mate!!
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Rufio · Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2003 6:34 am Post subject:

Yea, it's been a problemlemlemlemlemlem for me since I got to middledledledledle schooloolooloolool.
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Theta · Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2003 6:36 am Post subject:

Ha ha ha..you type like I play bass!!!!
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CaptainSaveAHo · Bear Cub Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 647

Use both

.

Picks are great for pounding out 8th notes in punk music though.

Rufio · Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2003 1:26 pm Post subject:

Yea, I learned on pick, then tried fingers, went back to poiicking, then went back to finger and stopped. Learn how to play both! When you pick try alternate picking (upstroke downstroke upstroke downstroke etc...) and for finger picking alternate finers (pointer, middle, pointer, middle, etc...)
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cthulu · Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2003 12:53 pm Post subject:

I play the same type of music, although more metal nowadays. I always played with a pick unless I dropped the dam thing in the middle of a song, then I wacked away with my fingfers. Well I ahve been working on my finger picking style alot for the last few months and although I have made progress, I find when I pick up a pick I play alot better, i guess becasue I am used to it. But the one thing I hate about a pick is the crap tone is gives the bass, really gives it a tinny sound, nowhere near as nice as fingers. So I have gone to fingers when I can handle it, and the pick on the faster hammering stuff I am not good enough with my fingers to do. Alot of punkers pick thats for sure, but alot of punkers are real hacks when it comes to playing also.

Shockland · Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2003 1:11 pm Post subject: hmm

Cthulu isn't a cthulu a beast in pagan mythology that when it awakes the world ends or mayb eI'm just completely wrong
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Rufio · Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2003 1:59 pm Post subject:

How do your pronounce Cthulu?
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Neil Gray · Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2003 3:35 pm Post subject:

I think that most players, if they stick it out, wind up being able to do everything with their fingers (keep it bass oriented, fella's! Wink

).
If the picked sound is what you're after, then grow your nails out a bit, and drink a lot of milk for calcium, which will in turn strengthen your nails! If you play with a pick almost exclusively, the one day when you don't have one and HAVE to use your fingers, you'll probably find you can't play more than two or three songs before you've got a blister the size of Ayers Rock on your two or three fingers that you're using, and that's pain!
The one time I used a pick (in a rehearsal, thankfully), I threw it about three times, and it ended up cracking on me anyway. That was enough bad luck in one session for me to never consider using one again; although, my style (funk/jazz) doesn't call for one, either.
I think fingers.
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cthulu · Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2003 3:46 pm Post subject:

Cthulu (pronounced Katulu) is a character (alian creature really) invented byH.P. Lovecraft. Its a octopus headed humongous monster that lives in the sea and travels through time etc. If you ever watch the movie "Dagon" (another lovecraft monster) the massive monster that takes sacrafices in the end is rreally Cthulu, not Dagon.

Anyway, I agree with the last post, I look at the pick is kind of a crutch. I practice primarily with fingers but do go to the pick for fast hammering metal or punk as its the only way I can pull it off. But I think for punk or metal, the pick can be used exclusivley as it fits the bass lines you typically use in these types of music.

Dark Lord Vigo · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2003 6:04 am Post subject:

I never use a pick as I love fingerstyle and slap. However, for metal and especially punk I think you've gotta use a pick.

I know some say you can get a pick sound with fingers, but I don't believe them 'cos I've never heard it! I watched a flea video where he said it was possible, then he demonstrated and it sounded nothing like a pick. I've watched other great players who also claimed they could do it, but guess what...they couldn't. I think the sound can be approximated but it's never quite right.

Also, when playing punk a lot of the feel of the music comes from the agression it is played with. When I played guitar in a punk band it was all picks, all down strokes and VERY HARD (not difficult).

You can get away wih it more in metal, but then again it really depends what type of metal.

If you are playing with a pick, get yourself a big macdaddy thick pick that won't snap. I used to use ones called Big G (or Q, or something). They were about 4mm thick with a thumb and finger indentation and the edges tapered down to a point. it was transparent purple and you would have to hit it with a sledge hammer to crack it. Very comfy to play with though.

Fortunately, learning to pick play is much easier than other styles so you won't have to invest too much time in it.
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cthulu · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2003 7:46 am Post subject:

I agree Dark Lord, I played in a hardcore punk band in New England in 82'-83' and played strictly downstroke pick bass. It really works well with this type of music as your just hammering the strings in a jackhammer beat most of the time. You dont want it to sound to smooth or melodic. For me, one of the hallmarks of early punk was that it sounded harsh, it sounded fresh, and you sort of threw out all the pre-concieved ideas about how a bass, or especially a guitar should sound. On metal, I think it works well with thrash type death metal best, like Venom, Sodom, etc. Sabbath and Maiden etc use a different style bass sound.