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Its totally fine to do that. I should recommend you try not to pick if you are gonna do this though... Playing further from the bridge creates a more mellowed tone, and usually when I play soft songs and balleds, I aim for that range (or I play a fretless or upgright).

Remember though, that if it ever sounds good to you, and it dosn't cause unwanted damage to your gear, you could give it a go. (I say that because the people slapping fretless basses will jump all over me razz ) Whatever you feel is better for you, your cool!

But seriously, nothing wrong with a pick, but ditch it. Your gonna be way better off. (braces self for returning rants rolleyes )

yeah that happons to me too

ive trained my self to alternate between all five of my right hand fingers and it works pretty well.Then when you need to haul some @$$ you can use 4 or 5 and get the blood goin' pretty dang fast!try instead of just the index and middle finger,use the index and ring and then the index and pinkey alternating.takes practice(AHH!!!!the p-word!!!)but can be dang usefull.for example i was playing for like 15 minutes straight and i was getting worn then i swiched from index middle to index ring and still was rocking the house!!!in the end you can use all four in a row for wicked fast licks!

A good tip to playing your bass low. It looks damn cool and all, but you cant play in the upper range easily like that. Try kicking the bass up a bit till its comfortable at all ranges. Then learn how to flip your bass around like that razz

My 2 fingers can beat a picks speed any day. Just learn how to alternate fingers properly and you shouldn't have problems. If its not fast enough, go check out Victor Wooten's slap techniques. If thats not fast enough then its not audible razz

It's a Punk Band thing. My Bass is already high enough that my Drummer makes fun of me.

i know someonw who plays with his fingers up by the 9th fret, but hes an idiot and it sounds kinda stupid, its got basically no attack, and its really soft, it would be kinda good for the soft chill parts, but i play alot of Sabbath and Zeppelin, so you need attack to be heard through the Distortion!

and sometimes i will use a pick, when the song calls for it, like a GnR song, i'll play with a pick, i'm almost better with a pick than i am fingers, (6 months of Guitar Before Bass helped that out a bit, then 6 months of learning to play with fingers, so i just used a pick)

and i just got a new bass (Fender Jap. Jag, cool its pretty sweet), and i got a Fender Strap With it, and me being 6 foot 5 and all, i put it to the lowest it could go not expecting it to reach my knees, i like the bass around my Waist, so i can play it all COmfortabally ninja

Trust me, I know that there are punk bassits that are pro, but Im talking about bassists who have a lot of their own abilitys, such as a firm knowledge of music theory, or a strong ability to write their own lines, or improv their bass lines on the fly. Of course that dosnt define entirely a "great musician" but I think that they can create a bit more independence for themselves.

I dont know, theres not a real way to justify what I am trying to say. Its hard to explain... Im just not impressed by whats out there...