Using ring finger for plucking

[Guest]

4 hours ago, kendall said:

Alex Webster from Cannibal Corpse has a tremendous 3 finger attack.

This is the reason I started using three fingers. I play a lot of thrash and death metal and playing some of the faster stuff without a pick means you need to bring that ring finger in. My favourite death metal bass player, Steve DiGiorgio, also uses it. I've only recently started trying to build up to playing straight sixteenths with it but I'm making serious progress now. Also I know Steve Harris always used strictly two fingers but I'll be damned if playing Iron Maiden gallops isn't easier with three!

But Alex wasn't even the first or the biggest player to do it, he himself says he borrowed it off Billy Sheehan who uses it in his blazing lead guitar-esque lines.

[xgsjx]

1 hour ago, razor5cl said:

But Alex wasn't even the first or the biggest player to do it, he himself says he borrowed it off Billy Sheehan who uses it in his blazing lead guitar-esque lines.

I learned a lot of my techniques from Billy Sheehan - the Talas years book & cd.  Most notably putting the hole finger over the index finger when tapping.

[dmccombe7]

2 hours ago, razor5cl said:

This is the reason I started using three fingers. I play a lot of thrash and death metal and playing some of the faster stuff without a pick means you need to bring that ring finger in. My favourite death metal bass player, Steve DiGiorgio, also uses it. I've only recently started trying to build up to playing straight sixteenths with it but I'm making serious progress now. Also I know Steve Harris always used strictly two fingers but I'll be damned if playing Iron Maiden gallops isn't easier with three!

But Alex wasn't even the first or the biggest player to do it, he himself says he borrowed it off Billy Sheehan who uses it in his blazing lead guitar-esque lines.

Altho i'm not a fan of Iron Maiden i read an interview where Steve Harris said he used 3 fingers which is why he is able to do those fast triplets. I tried it at the time to see and yep it made sense.

Dave

[odysseus]

I played classical guitar long before I played bass, so thumb and 1st 3 fingers all get used on bass too.

[Bassfinger]

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

Altho i'm not a fan of Iron Maiden i read an interview where Steve Harris said he used 3 fingers which is why he is able to do those fast triplets. I tried it at the time to see and yep it made sense.

Dave

Love their music or not, Bomber Harris is a damn nifty player.

[dmccombe7]

10 minutes ago, Bassfinger said:

Love their music or not, Bomber Harris is a damn nifty player.

Definitely agree. I enjoyed the hits but have only ever bought the occasional album just to see if i could copy Steve Harris's bass lines. He has an unbelievable stamina to keep that pace up for a full live concert. All credit to him. I do like his tone tho. 

Unfortunately it gets a bit boring for me. Its for a younger generation than me . 

Dave

[Guest]

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

Unfortunately it gets a bit boring for me. Its for a younger generation than me . 

As someone who is often the youngest person around on this forum, I think I'd have to agree there! Very, VERY big fan of Maiden, their later stuff is a bit hit or miss but you cannot fault their 80s material at all really.

[dmccombe7]

45 minutes ago, razor5cl said:

As someone who is often the youngest person around on this forum, I think I'd have to agree there! Very, VERY big fan of Maiden, their later stuff is a bit hit or miss but you cannot fault their 80s material at all really.

I would go as far as to say they were the best at what they did from that style of metal. I can also say that i saw Iron Maiden before they were hugely famous and doing the larger rock venue pubs and clubs. Nice enough guys too from what i remember. I helped them load their gear into my local venue (got me free entry at night and a few beers)

I preferred more traditional Rock music like Deep Purple and Whitesnake etc but that's what i was brought up on after my Glam rock era in early 70's of course.

Dave

[EssentialTension]

10 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

... Jack Bruce ..

 

Didn't Bruce play mostly with index finger only?

[dmccombe7]

54 minutes ago, EssentialTension said:

Didn't Bruce play mostly with index finger only?

He did use one finger style most of the time which was a carry over from his cello and upright basses but he used all his fingers like a classical guitarist when he had fast passages to play. He was taught at Royal Scottish Academy of music so i'm guessing it stems from that.

Dave

Edited June 15, 2020 by dmccombe7

[joeystrange]

There was a guy who played in Wednesday 13’s original band. He played mostly with a pick but would alternate, seemingly randomly, between using the pick and plucking with the middle and ring fingers whilst still holding the puck between index and thumb.

Certainly an unusual technique.

[xgsjx]

5 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Unfortunately it gets a bit boring for me. Its for a younger generation than me . 

Dave

IM are one of my dad’s fave bands. He’s 77. 😹

[odysseus]

9 hours ago, razor5cl said:

As someone who is often the youngest person around on this forum, I think I'd have to agree there! Very, VERY big fan of Maiden, their later stuff is a bit hit or miss but you cannot fault their 80s material at all really.

Yeah, I lost interest after Seventh Son.... 1988ish I guess... 

[kendall]

To add a contrast to this,, I remember reading somewhere that Tim Commerford from RATM used only one finger to pluck.  Subsequently I tried playing Know Your Enemy using this technique and it wasn't pretty.

[Woodinblack]

3 hours ago, kendall said:

To add a contrast to this,, I remember reading somewhere that Tim Commerford from RATM used only one finger to pluck.  Subsequently I tried playing Know Your Enemy using this technique and it wasn't pretty.

I was watching a video the other day of Bombtrack, and he certainly uses two there, not alternately, but still two. Even though the song isn't actually hard, I have a real problem with the start of the song with two fingers as it seems in the coming back thing you end up with your fingers wanting to do something else, so I have been playing it a bit in practices, even though it is not a song I am doing, to try to get past that.

This one in fact

 

Edited June 16, 2020 by Woodinblack

[Stub Mandrel]

I use index, middle, ring for fast triplets, so does Billy Sheehan so no shame there!

[ubit]

I think you should just adopt what feels right for you. If it feels right, do it. Apart from thumb pluckers. They should be mocked!

[bloke_zero]

I was watching through these Percy Jones videos (which a friend of mine described as watching a Hieronymus Bosch water colour master class) and he talks persuasively about three finger technique - here at about 3:20 -

I can really hear it making sense of some of his percussive runs on those early Brian Eno records (like Another Green World) - and it makes a lot of sense in terms of right hand muting.  I have to say though, I love me some thumb style too - totally different tone!