I was wondering if you guys have any tips on mastering the 3 finger technique.

A good practice is to play triplets with every finger on a different string like this. The seventh fret being your ring finger, fifth fret being your middle finger and fourth fret being your index finger and progress speed as you are playing.

|-------------------------------------------------
|---4--------4-------------------------------------
|------5---------5---------------------------------
|---------7---------7------------------------------

If you want to learn the three finger gallop, you should listen to some Iron Maiden and try playing it as fast as he does using three fingers.

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Heres a technique which i use when trying to merge my third (ring) finger into my playing, do a scale, any scale.. and play it with your index and middle.. and then go onto the scale with your index and RING finger, walking with both of them..

And once youve done that a few times, your third (ring) finger should be able to merge in with all of them, try using it back and forth I-M-R or R-M-I , and see which feels the most comfortable..

Good luck, and post back on how your getting on..

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Thanks for the informaton guys, it really helped.

If you want to play at insane speeds, try to incorporate your pinkie into the mix, too. I use all 4 fingers when doing very very fast stuff. While a little awkward at first, it soon becomes very natural to do. The way I do it is this: I - P - R - M in a sort of rolling gait. I found that the ring finger was the weakest, suprisingly, not the pinkie. But this technique is basically only good for when you are going very fast on pretty well the same string, or in a 4/4 feel. You can also practice it anywhere by just plucking (tapping, sort of) on any surface...ie: your leg, a table, etc. But as with all very fast playing, you must basically do it more towards the bridge of the bass, or it'll just sound like mush.

Hope this helps some,

Later.

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Big Big thanks guys!

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ZZ Top full mp3 albums

Hello and welcome. You seem like a very good bass player (judging from the fact that you have been playing for a quarter century, not the fact that you pick with 4 fingers). It's good to see another talented and experienced bass player here at metaltabs (not that I'm one of those players).
It's nice to see someone else that plays with four fingers. I know exactly what you mean when you say the ring finger is weaker than the pinkie. I found that odd too. Anyways why did you decided to play from pinkie to index? I do the opposite: index to pinkie. Why? It just seemed easier when I was trying the two. Do you think it makes a difference which way you do it?
Also I find that it is difficult to find the right balance in terms of where to place the picking hand. If it is too close to the bridge, then the pinky gets much more attack than the index (since it is closer to the bridge). If it's to far, then the strings hit the frets giving the Steve Harris "click". I'm currently practicing playing differently. Instead of lifting each finger high above the string to strike it, I place the finger close to the string before playing it. This way if I'm careful, I can avoid the clicking, even on the B string. The only problem is that I find it very difficult to play quickly this way. I'm slowly growing in speed, but I'm still only half as fast as I can be if I'm just whaling carelessly on the strings. Will what I'm trying work? Is there a better way? It's taking so long to develop speed this way.

Also, I use 4 fingers all the time, not just for fast parts. Why do you say this technique is only good for fast stuff?

Edit: P.S. I like the Marx quote. How about "from each according to their ability to each according to their need" (actually that's not originally Marx's)

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Hi, Rattlehead.

Actually, I'm starting with my index finger, then moving to pinky, ring, then middle, in that order, for 4/4 stuff. The reason I play it like this is simple: it's the way I was originally shown how to do it. lol. I find that for fast stuff, I can reach incredible speeds like this, so long as it's in the 4/4 feel. Generally, I don't pull my fingers very far at all from the strings, just enough to pluck again (less than 1/2 inch), and just sort of roll them across in the above order.

I don't generally use all four fingers to play our stuff as I just find it easier (for me, that is) to play it with 2 or 3, depending on the actually notation and timing. That being said, however, I admit, I'm intrigued by your method, and think I'll start trying it a little at a time to see how it feels.

Cheers,

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If you are talking about doing I M R M I M R M ...in that pattern, I would suggest doing this sequence along with your regular scales:

||--------------------------|---------------------------||
||o-------------------4---5-|-5---4--------------------o||
||o-------3---5-3-7-5---7---|---7---5-7-3-5---3--------o||
||--3-7-5---7---------------|---------------7---5-7-3---||

Another good technique while playing your scales is to accent every fifth note for one octave, then do the same on the way back down after an you reach the 1rst octave. This way you can learn to make each finger sound even. Keep doing this slowly and build up. Even attack and spacing between notes is more important than speed. As mentioned above, your ring finger is physically weaker than your other fingers (I believe the tendons are tied to those of your middle finger?), so take your time and get it right

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Thanks for that answer Subsonic, that's exactly what I was looking for. That 1/2 inch thing is exactly what I'm doing, now I know I just have to practice alot and I will get good at it.

I have another question, becaue I'm somewhat confused by your picking order. When doing groups of four notes (like fast 16ths or 32nds) do you always hit the first of every four notes with the index? Or can you lead with any of the four fingers? For example could you do this: R M I P R M I P? It's basically the same thing you're doing now except the leading finger is the ring instead of the index. If your answer is yes, then the only difference between us is that my pattern moves away from the thumb (without using the thumb obviously) while you move toward the thumb.

Another thing that's pretty difficult no matter how many fingers you use is playing a string without letting your finger rest on the string below it. You have to do this if you want to let lower notes ring as you climb up strings.

Added: Stachio, when you say every fifth note, you mean every D note on the G major scale in your example right? That makes for accents at odd times ... pretty cool. Unless I'm mistaken here ...

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That's it. I just applied that to any scale/mode in general when learning it. This way, you learn to strengthen each finger you use (I M R). If you did it every fourth note, you would only be accenting with the same finger. This evened out the tone I got out of each finger and cleaned things up a bit. Hope that makes sense.
You just want to make all your fingers as fast and strong as the others (although technically, your middle finger is doing twice the work of the other two).
If you can get 4 fingers down, though, go for it. I couldn't deal with rotating my hand to "even" out the finger lengths. My picky isn't long enough.

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I see. I definately agree, now that I understand what you mean. I also try various exercizes with accenting the make sure I have the same strength in each finger. Another good thing is playing riffs that consist only of triplets. What I mean is something like this for example (just made it up):
---999888
666------999
For each new root you start on a new finger in this one as well. Even if you play six or twelve of the same root in your riff, just make sure to accent the first of every three notes.

Actually you hardly have to do anything to get the pinkie to reach the string. All I do is slightly curve my hand to the right, so that each finger is more or less at an equal distance from the strings.

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^^this is from wherei learnt bout 2.5 yrs back.like whatismentioned i do 3212.doesnt really matter with which finger you start from.......oh and also do the playing thing on table,chairs whatever you find.belive me it helps alot in developing your speed

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