Any of you play Bass with three fingers or four?

[dem00n]

I met this dude today who can play with all 4 of his fingers, he was crazy fast and accurate.

Ive seen something like this but i always wanted to know how you made a finger bend and the other ones not bend at all.

Like if i bend my pointer finger with all my fingers up the middle finger goes down a little to.

 

 

Sorry if that is confusing.

[damian]

Hmmmm......I use my big toe to bass slap.....very funky..

[Andy R]

I use my first finger to point at him and my pinky to get him past 3 when we count off the song.

[damian]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[ChanMan]

Yep... 3 fingers and sometimes my thumb.

 

But I have no idea what I'm doing, so consider that :D

[craigh]

John Entwistle used all 4 fingers also.

 

Craig

[Silenced Fred]

Just index, middle and pinky... wait, you said bass with a b... I just use the index and middle

[surfpup]

Yeah but can you play it with your ...

 

[animalfarm]

Love the Bass Vid!

 

You thread title immediately had me thinking:

"3 or 4 Fingers in a SHOT GLASS"? Made Sense!

 

"I have a Bad-@ss Solo coming up - Better give me 4 fingers!"

[Andy R]

Yeah but can you play it with your ...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCRNzWfQ17k

 

Now if he could do that with a stand up bass that would be impressive!

 

 

 

[dem00n]

Picking fingers.

I knew some of you thought i mean two fingers and a thumb, but i meant three fingers, pointer, middle and ring.

[FennRx]

i dont play bass; i want to get laid.

[Murph]

I'm guessing you mean right hand, eh? Right handed playing?

 

I just use the first 3, the pinky is too short.

 

And furthermore, back when I was drinking, the pinky would get drunk faster than the other three. I know that's probably not politically correct but it's true.

[Silenced Fred]

i dont play bass; i want to get laid.

:lol:

 

 

well played good sir

[MrNylon]

Picking, not on the fretboard. Three fingers. From the pinky up to the middle. If i use my pointer finger, I get to much of a treble sound for some reason. Never can figure that one out.

[pete c]

i have to use a pick for bass could never play finger style

[MrNylon]

I've tried using picks over the years, not my comfort zone.

[Spiritofalbro]

u could always try the geddy lee way he uses his thumb alot in a non slap fashion and often only his middle finger (not saying he doesnt use the pointer ) in a flamenco fashion . personally i use pointer middle and ring for triplets and when i want a dirty sound ill use two fingers at once for the string smacking off the board sound

[ChanMan]

I use a pick a lot, too, as I'm still developing my finger style.

[duane v]

I use a pick a lot, too, as I'm still developing my finger style.

 

I use a pick, but that's only because my Hofner needs the extra punch

[ChanMan]

It's kinda funny... I'm pretty good with a pick, and my thumb, but my tone just thuds using my fingers....

 

 

I'll get it yet, though. Right now I'm just trying to keep the fret buzz at a minimum

 

/chuckle

[MrNylon]

Hey ChanMan; don't know how long you've been doing bass or what you're using, but if you're getting a lot of buzz with finger playing you may be set a bit low. It's not always as clean as playing with the pick, but you shouldn't be buzzn' like a bee with fingers.

[RobinTheHood]

Ive seen something like this but i always wanted to know how you made a finger bend and the other ones not bend at all.

Like if i bend my pointer finger with all my fingers up the middle finger goes down a little to.

Lots and lots of practice. The index finger is the easiest by far, but there is always a little reflex bending in the other fingers. I can bend my pinky about two inhes and the ring finger will reflex bend about 1/2 inch. Any other finger and the reflex will be about 1/4 inch. Part of the trick is to tense up the other fingers a bit...especially the pinky. For example, if you are bending your middle finger, pull upwards with your pinky at the same time. The ring finger will involuntarily move a slightly shorter distance. Finger stretching is a good way to build seperate coordination for each finger.

 

I am a two-finger player. I used to favor just playing with my index finger though. It feels the most comfortable and I get a lot of speed and accuracy out of it. Often times, I will use both the index and middle fingers to pluck a single note or series of single notes. But I think that comes from applying the left hand rule of keeping your fingers close together, to the right hand. My right hand is usually in a cupped-like position. You can kind of see it in my avatar pic.

 

Every once in awhile my ringfinger will get some action, but not in conjunction with the other two finger. More like an "oops. I almost missed that note" sort of thing. No actionfor the pinky. My right-hand pinky is probably my weakest finger. Sometimes I'll plactice triplets with the first three fingers, but I'm pretty sloppy and I cant work it into a song.

[Californiaman]

Three or four?

I use all 10.

Go figure.

Three or four? What is that the new math way of playing bass.

[RobinTheHood]

Hey ChanMan; don't know how long you've been doing bass or what you're using, but if you're getting a lot of buzz with finger playing you may be set a bit low. It's not always as clean as playing with the pick, but you shouldn't be buzzn' like a bee with fingers.

I like my action as low as absolutely possible. I've noticed that (for me) if you strike the string to hard, the string will smack the upper reg frets from the attack. Thats just part of having low action on a bass. This can be avoided with technique. It takes a lot of practice and patience though...and a alot of thought about how you are striking the strings. Another thing to help in that situation is to turn up the amp and play softer. Much softer. The harder you strike the strings, the wider they vibrate and have more of a chance of rattling on the upper reg frets.

 

This is one of those things that I have been working on in a major way since getting my new bass. We have some songs with big dynamic changes, and I have to be careful going into the softer parts so I dont rattle. Sometimes I will use the side of my finger to get a softer touch. The harder, calloused pard of my fingertips are more susceptible of producing harsher tones and string rattle partly due to lack of sensitivity in my fingertips. This is another good reason for not anchoring to the pickup when playing (from another thread). That type of anchoring reduces your dynamic range and tends to make you pluck harder due to the position of your hand...also which makes your hand fatigue quicker than it should, causing even less dynamic range after a period of time just because your hand tires quicker. People with bigger hands may not notice as much because they have more range just from a size standpoint.