# Picking Like Meshuggah on Bass?



## Veldar (Dec 29, 2012)

Yeah so I've been messing around with picking on my bass for a month or two now and feel that my technique is really bad, therefore I can't play fast.
For Christmas I got Meshuggah's DEI, Nothing and Obzen and can't pick as fast or accurate as them, obviously they've been playing for years and are great but I can't even get near their speed without hurting my hand.

What I'm doing right now is holding the pick the same direction as my index finger and holding with my thumb and middle finger.

So how bad it that technique and how do Meshuggah pick? (videos if you can even if they have a P-bass in them)


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## Nykur_Myrkvi (Dec 29, 2012)

Here's a video of a bass + drum jam.


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## ToMurderAMachine (Dec 29, 2012)

^ Bassist has a good sense of rhythm, but his bass lines seem a bit dull to be honest.


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## Kroaton (Dec 29, 2012)

That's like saying Jesus' carpentry skills were not that impressive.


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## MetalBuddah (Dec 29, 2012)

ToMurderAMachine said:


> ^ Bassist has a good sense of rhythm, but his bass lines seem a bit dull to be honest.



Well, it is Dick who really makes the guitar parts sound good so that is why he basically plays the same shit as the guitar. Without Dick, Meshuggah's tone would be nothing


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## GenghisCoyne (Dec 29, 2012)

Kroaton said:


> That's like saying Jesus' carpentry skills were not that impressive.



i wish i had a nickel for every time i heard someone bash the crown molding he put up in the basement of the temple after kicking out the money changers.


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## ToMurderAMachine (Dec 29, 2012)

MetalBuddah said:


> Well, it is Dick who really makes the guitar parts sound good so that is why he basically plays the same shit as the guitar. Without Dick, Meshuggah's tone would be nothing




Very true, no doubt he has good tone, and as I said, a good sense of rhythm. He's clearly a decent musician, but I'd probably appreciate meshuggah alot more (not that I don't already consider them godly) if he were to write more creative bass lines.


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## Bigfan (Dec 29, 2012)

ToMurderAMachine said:


> I'd probably appreciate meshuggah alot more (not that I don't already consider them godly) if he were to write more creative bass lines.



Even considering their sound is mostly a result of them always playing in unison?


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## goldsteinat0r (Dec 29, 2012)

MetalBuddah said:


> Well, it is Dick who really makes the guitar parts sound good so that is why he basically plays the same shit as the guitar. Without Dick, Meshuggah's tone would be *nothing*



.....I see what you did there?


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## DavidLopezJr (Dec 29, 2012)

ToMurderAMachine said:


> Very true, no doubt he has good tone, and as I said, a good sense of rhythm. He's clearly a decent musician, but I'd probably appreciate meshuggah alot more (not that I don't already consider them godly) if he were to write more creative bass lines.


Seeing them live really opened my ears to how much of their tone is really just the bass. If he went off to play different lines, I would lose intrest. Coming from a bass player point of view as well.


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## Devyn Eclipse Nav (Dec 29, 2012)

Yeah, I feel that if the bass did something else in Meshuggah's music, it'd just sound weird and off. There are some bands where the bassist doing something else sounds right, and others where the only thing that fits is the bassist doubling the guitar. Meshuggah's sound _needs_ the bass to be the same as the guitar.

As for how they play, it doesn't really matter how they pick, you just have to build up your endurance & control in your arm and hand and wrist. It just takes time, since you're developing fine motor skill, which is hard to do, and just takes practice.


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## knuckle_head (Dec 29, 2012)

For what it's worth he isn't purely a unison player. His 5s and 6s are tuned to C on bottom and he does drop down below the guitars for flavor - he doesn't live in the C by any means but he does use it.

He plays jazz too fwiw, and is a phenom with finger style. His picking style is dictated by the guitar style and song structures - if you can get the bottom end of the guitar parts you can get to Dick's parts and technique.

Don't get too hung up on what the right way is - concentrate on what makes it easiest for you to pull it off. The way you hold your pick sounds perfectly fine. You will always launch/perform best from a comfortable starting place - if it's comfortable it's perfect.


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## jeleopard (Dec 29, 2012)

Not to hijack the thread or anything, but what does Dick tune to >.> I've read Bb, but a lot of tabs are in F :\


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## knuckle_head (Dec 29, 2012)

jeleopard said:


> Not to hijack the thread or anything, but what does Dick tune to >.> I've read Bb, but a lot of tabs are in F :\



C and F for Meshuggah


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## Veldar (Dec 29, 2012)

Zeno said:


> As for how they play, it doesn't really matter how they pick, you just have to build up your endurance & control in your arm and hand and wrist. It just takes time, since you're developing fine motor skill, which is hard to do, and just takes practice.



Ok I just though I was doing it wrong because the guitarists at my school all picked differently to me



knuckle_head said:


> C and F for Meshuggah


I thought low it high was Bb F A# D# G#?


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## knuckle_head (Dec 29, 2012)

Veldar said:


> I thought low it high was Bb F A# D# G#?



He showed me his 'wicks when he was here last spring - he had 5s and 6s tuned to C and F on that tour


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## Veldar (Dec 29, 2012)

knuckle_head said:


> He showed me his 'wicks when he was here last spring - he had 5s and 6s tuned to C and F on that tour



I'm so jealous, it sucks living in Australia

Edit: Are there any videos of Fredrik or Marten picking up close of demoing their skills?


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## jeleopard (Dec 29, 2012)

Veldar said:


> Ok I just though I was doing it wrong because the guitarists at my school all picked differently to me
> 
> 
> I thought low it high was Bb F A# D# G#?




Drop Bb? F?

Dammit Meshuggah, stop


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## knuckle_head (Dec 29, 2012)

jeleopard said:


> Drop Bb? F?
> 
> Dammit Meshuggah, stop



C standard from what I was shown . . . .


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## facepalm66 (Dec 29, 2012)

Veldar said:


> I thought low it high was Bb F A# D# G#?


 
You thought good. They do tune like that

To the overall point, I don't really see what's so difficult picking bass with meshuggah lines (except for bleed). Pretty basic.

And to those saying that meshuggah bass lines are inferior... As far as my ear goes, mostly all of the time, bass plays along with the guitar


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## Djdnxgdj3983jrjd8udb3bcns (Dec 29, 2012)

I didn't think Dick wrote the bass lines anyway? I may be wrong but he isn't involved in the studio and Thordendahl does the bass on the albums.


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## facepalm66 (Dec 29, 2012)

^ the basslines do not need a lot of work, since, like i said, they follow the guitar mostly (except for catch33), and Fredrik plays bass in the studio. But Dick is involved in the song writing, all of them are in one way or another


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## jeleopard (Dec 29, 2012)

So Dick plays in Bb? Does he just riff the parts in 4ths to provide that massive sound they produce?


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## Veldar (Dec 30, 2012)

facepalm66 said:


> You thought good. They do tune like that
> 
> To the overall point, I don't really see what's so difficult picking bass with meshuggah lines (except for bleed). Pretty basic.
> 
> And to those saying that meshuggah bass lines are inferior... As far as my ear goes, mostly all of the time, bass plays along with the guitar



I didn't mean the bass lines in particular I meant the guitars as well.
When I played some of their stuff it felt weird,sloppy and was wondering how they pick and if my technique was bad or going to stop me from potentially playing faster songs like bleed.I never learned how to pick right because when I did bass lesson I was a finger player and slap pop guy.


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## facepalm66 (Dec 30, 2012)

So you just dont know how to play pick  so just play pick, and you'll learn it eventually. It is as they say: practice makes it perfect. 
Doesn't really need a post to find that out, i guess.


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## Winspear (Dec 30, 2012)

jeleopard said:


> So Dick plays in Bb? Does he just riff the parts in 4ths to provide that massive sound they produce?



Nope, he plays in unison - same octave.
Guitar F Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb

Bass drop A tuned up Bb F Bb Eb Ab
So all of their strings are the exact same pitch except he has a Bb to play an octave under their 7 string riffs.


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## AVH (Dec 30, 2012)

EtherealEntity said:


> Nope, he plays in unison - same octave.
> Guitar F Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb
> 
> Bass drop A tuned up Bb F Bb Eb Ab
> So all of their strings are the exact same pitch except he has a Bb to play an octave under their 7 string riffs.



This is exactly correct.


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## jeleopard (Dec 30, 2012)

Dendroaspis said:


> This is exactly correct.



Okay.

Damn. Now I need some thick strings :|


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## Chuck (Dec 30, 2012)

Just pick however it is comfortable for you dude. No need to pick the same way Dick does. 

And also, yeah Meshuggah wouldn't be Meshuggah if Dick didn't spend 95% of the time following Fredrik and Marten.


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## Veldar (Jan 3, 2013)

I've been looking at how other people pick and they use the wrist where I was using my finger thumb to move the pick, probably from using my finger and thumb for slap and finger style.


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