Four fingers

[Hector]

Just curious, has anyone else dabbled in four finger LH technique? Would be nice to get a thread going

[LiamPodmore]

I was always taught to use four for fretting. My pinkie still isn't as strong as i'd like it to be, but it gets a lot of use. The real fun is attempting four finger picking.

[Hector]

On upright bass?!

[artisan]

I'm a pretty crap player but I have always used all four fingers,when I switched from BG I just carried it over.

[Marc S]

When I started playing BG as a begiiner, I was quickly able to use all 4 fingers on my left hand (probably because I'm left handed, but play a right handed bass). On DB it is of course, the preferred technique not to use your 3rd finger
I discovered this on various youtube lessons, and tried to train myself to play the "correct" way, and not use this finger on DB
Usually, if I concentrate sufficiently, I'm able not to use it most of the time

However, there are times when I'm a bit lazy with technique, and moreover, times when I just find it seems natural for me to use all 4 fingers
like artisan says above, I've probably just switched over from playing BG...... bad habits, but hey ho, old dog, new tricks etc etc

Edited November 8, 2016 by Marc S

[stingrayPete1977]

I've gone the other way and carried the hand shape using three fingers (with the 3rd behind the pinkie to help) onto electric bass

[Beer of the Bass]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1478639717' post='3170594']
I've gone the other way and carried the hand shape using three fingers (with the 3rd behind the pinkie to help) onto electric bass
[/quote]

Yes, I do the same with the 1-2-4 fingering on electric bass. I think it may be because I spent several years in my teens with only a fretless bass, and the fingers fall on the note positions more naturally that way.

[bobmartin]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1478639717' post='3170594']
I've gone the other way and carried the hand shape using three fingers (with the 3rd behind the pinkie to help) onto electric bass
[/quote]

Me too, I find that it's more elegant when playing 4 in a bar.

[stingrayPete1977]

Phew, glad it's not just me!

[fatback]

If you use the Rabbath pivot, you find yourself using four fingers naturally as you approach the heel. I use Weichs though, so that makes it easier.

I try to use with caution, given the weakness of that third finger.

[NickA]

On my full sized double bass with my little hands ... not a hope below 4th position, beyond which thumb, 1, 2, 3 works better anyway. Pivots make up for the missing finger on occasion tho.

I learned the 'cello as a child: always all 4 fingers with all kinds of back and forth extensions - and translated that to bass guitar long before learning the db. Now play three different instruments with three totally different sets of fingerings! Tempted to re-tune the guitars in fifths, but (apart from making my hands hurt) it just feels wrong somehow (fourths, fifths and octaves dont flow so easily from first finger).

My double bass teacher claims to use strict 3 finger technique on double and guitar ... but he's a bit of a simandl man.

[BaconCheese]

Playing the db like a cello (tuned in fifths, four independent fingers) is not for everybody. Most players who choose that path use a bass with a string length of ~100cm.

If you are playing "regular" Jazz/Latin stuff, all this was played on basses tuned in 4th, the same goes for the vast amount of orchestral literature.

Playing a standard size 3/4 bass with a string lenght of ~105cm, 4-finger technique is very exhausting- in many cases, you would have to do a bit of shifting anyway, because going from the index to the 4th finger is more than the range of your hand. This has nothing to do with Simandl, really. It is about playing with less tension and effort. So for most db players, 3-finger technique is the way to go. If you got the pivot down, which is not hard to do, you basically have all the range you need. Also, you can use the thump position fingering anywhere on the fretboard whenever needed.

[fatback]

By coincidence I'm torturing myself trying to play the Bach cello concerto in G thing (pizz as a start) and the stretches do get tough. I'm finding that sometimes a pivot and three fingers just isn't fast enough and end up using that third finger. Not a good idea, I'm thinking. The strain will surely tell.

Even attempting this is for me plain silly. But i'd dearly love one day to be able to play that piece.

[NickA]

My bass if full size 4/4 (it was cheaper than a 3/4!) tuning THAT in fifths is NOT an option. Fourths in half position is uncomfortable.

What is this Bach 'cello concerto .. do you mean the first 'cello suite? That's not too hard on a 'cello, but goes down to a C (extension of 5-string time). I have a transcription for Bass in C but can't hack any of it apart from the Menuet movements. Way beyond grad 8 methinks. Good luck with that!

[fatback]

I know it's silly. But even struggling through a few bars at a time is an education of sorts. I guess I just like the tune.

[NickA]

It is very silly, (especially as I can play it on a cello) but a challenge and an education as you say; and some things writ for 'cello sound much better on a bass .. Rachmaninov's Vocalise for one.

So, had a go at the Suite No1 in G prelude yesterday (the transposed to C version) . not a hope on the double bass, but just about do-able on a fretted bass guitar using all 4 fingers. Think Arthritis will set in long before I can play it on my db. You keep trying tho!

[fatback]

That's what not gigging does; you thrash about doing pointless things just to keep yourself amused.

[oggiesnr]

I use four fingers on occasion because there are times it makes sense rather than doing a hand shift. I need one note a semitone up from my where my fourth finger would usually be so finger that note with the third, use fourth for the fly note and come back down to 3, 2 and back to the usual 4 rather than the hand shift.