Billy Sheehan Explains Why Using a Pick Can Be a Good Thing, Recalls Getting Online Critique for His Playing

In the world of bass and beyond, Billy Sheehan is one of the synonyms for virtuosity. However, as we all know by now, you can’t please everyone and, with the wonders of the internet and online discussion, there’s always going to be a naysayer or two. In other words, no one is safe from hard critiques and nitpicking, not even Billy.

As Mr. Big has called it a day, playing their final show in September 2024, we took a moment to chat with Billy. Among other things, the bass virtuoso reflected on a few technique-related matters, including what it’s like to play with a pick, as well as receiving criticism from at least one not-so-famous online musician.

“The comments we get on the internet — you never know who they’re from,” Billy recalled. “And it’s funny they take in a question sometimes somebody that’s been able to do it career-wise.”

“But in a way, it’s kind of good, too. Because you see how you defend yourself against things.”

“And sometimes, I’ve been challenged. One guy one time — I think it was the beginning of the pandemic — challenged me on my right hand technique that it’s always [going] in this direction — the pinky, ring, middle, index.”

Billy’s preferred picking direction, where he always goes from the pinky to the index finger or the ring to the index finger if he’s only using three, didn’t sit well with the guy in question. The bassist added:

“He said, ‘No, no, it should be back and forth because the middle finger is doing twice as much, playing twice as many notes as the two fingers next to it.’ And I was trying to explain to him and he got pissy with me. And I said, ‘Well, you know, good luck. Do whatever you want.'”

While going in both directions can be a more demanding task for the middle finger, and is arguably trickier to pull off, it’s far from a sign that any bassist is “better” or “worse” for doing it this way. Billy didn’t forget this and, in his defense, he found a video of an absolute bass legend who did his fingerpicking the same way.

“And then he communicated to me again,” Billy continued. “And then, in the interim, I had found a great video of Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen — he was probably the greatest bass player ever, bar none, on a stand-up bass.”

“And he’s always played with three fingers, and it’s all in this direction. So I said, ‘Go look up Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen,’ and I never heard from him again. So… [Laughs]”

“This is the way I do it. But I also practice it backwards and back and forth. So, no matter what eventuality comes that’s required of me to play. I try to build a machine out of my fingers that will do anything that I can conceive of, no matter which direction, right, wrong or indifferent, that it happens.”

“And sometimes practicing backwards or the wrong way will add a new aspect to the little micro musculature in your hand that is an advantage.”

In other words, it doesn’t really matter how you’re playing as long as you’re making it sound the way you want and “getting your message across,” so to speak. Nonetheless, being prepared to attack the strings in all the possible ways can only be a good thing.

And, although this may sound like sacrilege to some of the bass-playing population out there, using a plectrum is not wrong either. Discussing his playing, Billy also reflected on using picks as a bass player and how it can positively affect one’s performance when needed.

“Sometimes I’ll take a pick and play,” he said. “I got up with [rock band] The Last Internationale. They were doing a festival with us, and they’re friends of mine. And the young lady singer is a quite great singer — a great band. And she was playing bass for a couple of songs.”

“I learned one of the songs. I got up, and it was a little Mustang bass, like a three-quarter size. And the strings are close together. So, I had a pick. And I played the song with the pick.”

“What a riot! What a blast to actually play and perform a song with a pick. And my left hand felt different! It seemed to have more facility than it did before.”

“Because one hand compensates for the other often. So if you make the other one do something different, you come back to some new thing. Hopefully, a good thing.”