I am a dyed-in-the-wool fingerstyle player. Always have been. Came over from DB where we didn’t need no steenkin’ picks, and never looked back. I’ve tried playing with them, and the results are laughable.

Yet whenever I find myself playing air bass, I notice that I’m pretending to play with a pick. Weird.

(Of course, as a former DB player, if I’m actually trying to work out a fingering pattern without a bass handy, I play my right forearm with my left hand like it’s a bass neck. But we all...

Air Bass Technique