Why Every Bassist Should Learn Pick Playing: A Heavy Groove Lesson in A Minor
For years, I refused to play with a pick. I was convinced that I didn’t need one and that I could play everything with my fingers. In a way, it was also a motivation to practice fast fingerpicking. But the pick is not just an easier way to play fast passages and riffs. The plectrum has different tonal qualities and, above all, precise articulation, which always has the upper hand over finger technique.
So, dear aspiring (or more experienced) bassists, please get over your prejudice against the pick and learn to use it in situations where it is necessary and sometimes, I would even say, essential. This skill, by the way, has saved me in some tough studio session situations.
In the following groove, we’re going to use a lot of the open A string and the resulting tonal material of the A minor Aeolian scale (A, B, C, D, E, F, G) combined with the A minor blues pentatonic (A, C, D, D#, E, G).
From bars 1 to 16, you will play a typical open string bassline featuring interesting combinations of melodic scale tones and chromatic dissonances. I love experimenting with soundscapes created by mixing open strings as a foundation (ostinato) with tones from scales or chromatic, dark-sounding dissonances.
Bars 17 to 32 feature a bluesy-sounding riff mixed with unusual fast sixteenth-note divisions, then Bars 33 and 34 feature a syncopated outro with prog rock vibes and a very resolute ending.
In fast sixteenth note passages, you’ll find the effectiveness of the pick useful; otherwise, you can try playing the song with your fingers if that suits you better.
Download the full transcription and follow along with the video below.
Enjoy this lesson? Support Marek and get more transcriptions on Buy Me A Coffee. Marek is a seasoned bassist and author of the Bass Gym 101 series, a complete methodology for aspiring bass players worldwide, available via Bassline Publishing and Amazon. For more, visit Marek's website.
Waaaay back in the early ’70s, during my initial experiences in a professional recording studio.
The two things I adapted to my bass playing, especially in recording sessions, were:
1. Use a plectrum to get that ‘clean’ note articulation, and
2. Use flatwound strings to avoid finger noise, especially in ballads and quiet passages in music.
At first, the pick felt foreign, and I felt like I was betraying my craft after being hammered by bass playing friends to use my fingers only.
Nowadays, I incorporate Pick fingers and thumb and enjoy all the tone variations I get on jobs, and often get good compliments for my mix of sounds.
I tried playing this as written and thought the picking pattern seemed way more difficult and unnatural than I would play it. Then I watch the video, and he doesn’t pick in the pattern as written at all, for the first section he is downstrokes only on the A string and upstrokes on the D string. Way better than trying to alternate throughout. The second section he does alternate through the 16ths, but on the 8ths he again is mostly downstrokes except for the end note of the phrases.
Two finger technique, plectrum, thumb / slap, finger tap on fret – yeah ideally learn them all. You should learn upright too, and maybe a bit of bowing in addition to always playing pizzicato. And capotesta thumb technique up the fingerboard. It all depends on the tone you want (which is why I like having a bass with flat wound strings and another with round wounds). But it is your style and your preference. (Personally I hate playing with picks – the Steve Harris “gallop” style gives me enough speed to cover the Allman Brothers’ “Whipping Post” without one).