Miss you Rodney. Friggin' guy is still teaching me something. RIP!

Biggest piece of advice I can offer, LIGHTEN UP! I started as a pick player and I would DEATH GRIP the pick. Once I joined my first band, we were playing fast metal songs and I found my hand instantly cramping up when I tried to keep up. So I switched to fingerstyle and that helped, just recently I switched back to pick to get a more crushing and consistent sound, and so I could properly keep up with the guitars. I now grip the pick very lightly and use a thicker pick, 1mm or higher. Not only do I get a super consistent tone when I pick near the bridge, but it's effortless and my hand isn't cramping up. I'm playing faster than I did with fingers. Gonna try out some jazz III shapes and see how I do.

I've been playing bass for 9 years, and I still struggle with fast alternate picking, prolly cause I like hitting the strings with the pick parallel to them... I'll try the slant and diagonal picking thing just for that. This channel is GOLD for us metal bassists, thank you so much ^^

decided to switch to pick playing for my personal preference recently (as i was a guitar player before and i like the pick tone better on bass).  this video helped thanks!

Thank you for your video  
I have been playing bass for five years now
Never played  an instrument before
I am in a band called
Long Shadows
Every bit of knowledge  is priceless
I use both fingers and pick
I was finding some picks scratchy now I know why
You have helped me so much with this video
Thank you
Josephine 💜
Your amazing

One thing I realized is that some basses are a bit more pick friendly than others as far as ergonomics is concerned. For example, I find Precision basses to be great for pick playing because there are fewer things that get in the way. On the other hand, Jazz basses seem to be ergonomically better for finger playing because you have two pickups where you can anchor your thumb (if you use that method). Of course, there are also other things to consider when choosing the right tool for the job.

Ok, hello me, meet the real me. I'm back with more ramblings.
The whole pick slant thing is a huge help. And this helps prevent fatigue. Efficiency is the name of the game.

Another thing I am beginning to use to my advantage is palm muting. This is a very helpful way to reduce noise and unwanted notes , by palm muting the set of strings you want to go quiet. I am trying to play some songs with a pick that i used to only play with fingers (rnb/funk) and unwanted noise is the biggest challenge.  A good example is the intro for "The Trooper". The E and A string are not used for most of this passage so my palm is clamped down on top of those strings.

Also...... don't forget the upstroke. You can get an aggressive sound with these too, not just downstrokes.

Last....try playing along to rnb/funk/hiphop .. great way to clean up your playing. The bass has no where to hide. No drums and guitars to hide your mistakes!!!!!

Best video I've ever watched about what way to go about using a pick for bass

Amazing video, the slant picking has improved my playing almost immediately! Such a good tutorial

After watching this I tried a thin pick on my precision bass and I found that I liked it a lot on that. Thanks a lot!

Downpicking on the bass is my speciality :).

I used to be hardcore against playing with a pick, but then injury left my right hand unable to keep up with any sort of clarity and definition. So, I began my journey into pick playing. I've traversed every level of this hell, and really, it's all good and bad depending on what you're trying to play. I use picks of all shapes and thickness. I prefer the jazz 3's for most fast playing. I have gone with thinner picks, but endured an epidemic of broken picks. The thinnest I typically use now are .8mm. I just started using these Dunlop 2mm picks as I've found using them makes it sound more like playing with my fingers, but the 1.35 to 1.5mm range is typically what I go for. I do use hand grips and stress balls to combat cramping and fatigue. I never had issues with my fingers, but I've played sets where my hand became overly stressed to the point where I had to concentrate on just keeping ahold of the pick. When that happened, I started looking into banjo picks and anything that would attach to the thumb or finger, but there were all kinds of downsides to these picks. They were not designed to be used the way I was attempting to use them. I like the practice advice. For technique, I typically will play from the 1st to the 12th fret and back again different scale progressions focusing on keeping my hands synced and ensuring every note is struck clearly speeding up each time through until I'm going as fast as I possibly can without error. I'm definitely going to be working your 1,3,2,4 suggestion into that routine.

Well, we all love Davey 504's channel.  Very funny guy.  But Rodney delivers the goods on bass playing - better than pretty much everyone else .

I play a 1985 Warlock - primarily with a pick.  I get a lot of guff on my YouTube channel from the "purists" out there who don't believe there's a place for picks anytime or maybe just for certain genres of music (but definitely not Geezer, Harris, Geddy Lee, etc).  Anyway, I don't believe in right or wrong when it comes to that subject.  I really love the attack sound of a pick on properly EQd and compressed bass signals.  So, I began using teardrop medium picks and then experimenting with heavy.  I really helped my versatility the most by switching to triangle-shaped picks.  I use heavy gauge (1.0mm and up), but the reason I love them so much is that there's a square mile of real estate to work with.  By varying my finger grip placement on the pick, I can get more or less flex and I can hold my hand up a bit higher to attack the 1st and 2nd strings without much arm movement across the guitar body.  Plus, I can change it all up on the fly!!! An added benefit is when sweat becomes an issue, you've got room to slip and even switch to another one of the 3 pick points without missing a beat (most times LOLOl).

I had a long commute to work about 20 years ago; Wanted to learn playing with a pick. I would put Maiden or Tull on and “play along” with a quarter on the seat belt. That really helped. Visualizing when just listening helps a lot too.

The game ahcnager for me was at some point early on I decided to use a pick. Maybe before I could hardly even play. I suppose I was able to develop some picking ability far faster then the fingers. So I went with that. At the same time I always also played around with the fingers. By default you sometimes grab your bass and get into your pocket only to find you don't have a pick on your person. And going to get one for a 30 second idea or whatever is the reason you picked up the bass led to finger playing. If you want to develope your pick hand I always suggest getting your British Steel CD out and learning all the songs. The Stamina required will dictate proper placement and technique to get through the song. It will hurt as you build the stamina needed but that is normal.

Dunlop blue 1.0mm are great

Pretty much when I got my first bass I was a pick player. Read a Jason Newsted interview and remember him saying how James had said that he had to "get that down picking down." Stuck with me for years (I would play Master of Puppets at tempo with all down strokes and guitar players would just stare). Now I have changed to a bit more of a Lemmy/alternate picking style in my old age ( just cant keep it going like I used too...it happens to all of us) and just enjoying being able to play.
The first picks I gravitated to I guess would be slightly on the heavy side (1.00mm) but I have gone to a more jazz 3 style point. No idea why but those are just feel best.

Picking creates a different sound, and I love it. Let's not forget that the bass serves the band, its music, and the sound as a whole.
So many people, even schoolgirls, can do fancy slapping. But I often find that the slapping sound deviates from the music way too much.

I love any content showcasing pick playing and improving technique