2 or 3 finger technique (not thumb)

[nilorius]

Please share Your thoughts about playing with 2 or 3 fingers (4 welcome too). For me - i like 3 fingers in use. More freedom, less muscles in use, more speed. Best regards...😉

[Gasman]

Quite often one is enough!

[Doctor J]

 

[asingardenof]

Usually use two (or one if the song is extremely simple), but occasionally bust out the ring finger if a gallop is called for.

[Reggaebass]

Always use 2 alternating, I’ve never played anything fast enough to have to use 3 

[BlueMoon]

2 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

Always use 2 alternating, I’ve never played anything fast enough to have to use 3

^^^^^ This works for me as well.

[Franticsmurf]

Almost always two, alternating. Sometimes one in a semi 'pick' style (imagine gripping a pick between thumb and 1st finger, but without the pick. The edge of the 1st finger acts as a soft pick). The three finger gallop makes an appearance for the occasional tune ('Does Your Mother Know' at the moment) or if I'm a bit bored during a practice or rehearsal. 😃

[Woodinblack]

I use 3, my two fingers are not really fast enough for whatever reason and they don't seem to be getting faster, so when I first got a bass when I was a kid i used 3 fingers and thats what stuck, one fingernail like a pick, one finger both sides (like geddy lee but not as good), two for medium paced stuff, 3 for everything else. In no fixed reason, just whatver my hand decides to do.

[Graham]

I generally use two, but I have Alex Webster's (Cannibal Corpse) book and I've been working on using three as well.

 

Takes a lot of practice to get it right, even and not mess my head up, but getting there

[Dan Dare]

I assume you're talking about the plucking, rather than the fretting hand. Two should be sufficient for most things. The ring finger is the weakest and, because it shares some tendons with the second finger, does not operate entirely independently of it. It may give you "more speed" in theory, but probably not in reality. I spent some time a few years ago attempting to learn to use it and found it wasn't worth the effort. YMMV.

[Woodinblack]

It gives me more speed in reality. Not only that it is more comfortable. 

However, if you currently use 2 I doubt it is easy to learn to use 3, I started with 3, so 2 seems a bit uncomfortable.

[MacDaddy]

Yup 3. It's not just about speed, it makes some octaves and intervals easier to play.

Plus you've got more options if you injure a finger 😉

[Hellzero]

One most of the time, two for faster licks, three when I use my thumb and three to five when I play chords (I'm mainly a fretless sixer player and yes I do play chords on fretless).

[KingPrawn]

I'll use them all. I learnt classical guitar as a kid and when I moved to bass the fingering was very similar so I've never changed my approach. My index and ring finger are the same length so if I'm just using 2 fingers I tend to use 1 & 3 as I don't need to angle my hand. I'm not sure it really matters in the big picture. No one has ever commented. I do love a Billy Sheehan gallop though.

[Boodang]

3 for triplets

[toneknob]

I use the Gary Willis three-finger method, see various videos at https://www.youtube.com/@gwillis44/videos

Of course I sound nothing like Gary Willis but it's great for muting and cross-string picking efficiency.

 

[fretmeister]

Depends on the phrase being played. Each finger sounds very slightly different and of course has a different strength.

4 fingers for really fast passages, 1 finger for slow, everything else inbetween.

 

3 fingers is excellent for triplets.

[BassTool]

Three for me 👍🏼

[Rayman]

Almost always one, but I throw in ghost notes with my second finger quite a bit.

[Baloney Balderdash]

I have started working on incorporating proper 3 finger plucking technique into my finger play, but as it is now I exclusively use it for galloping.

 

Other than traditional 2 finger plucking technique, though I more so stroke the strings, in a slightly inwards slapping motion, with the outmost tip of my finger/nails, rather than really striking or plucking them, I also frequently incorporate double thumbing, classical acoustic guitar finger picking technique (again currently I only use thumb+index+middle finger, but am also currently started working on making including the ring finger feel natural), as well as flamenco guitar style index and/or middle finger flicking technique, depending.

 

Sometimes though I will just use 1 finger plucking technique, more akin to James Jamerson, either index or middle finger, depending.

 

Beside that I also sometimes utilize a pick, my preferred ones being either a Dunlop Tortex .60mm, or a Wedgie Soft 3.1mm rubber pick, depending.

 

Really it's a matter of what feels and sounds best depending on the musical context.

 

And regarding on whether using 3 fingers is faster than 2, I don't find this to be true, but it is definitely less straining to play fast using 3 fingers compared to just 2, I found though that fastest of all, at least when we are talking about single string picking, actually even faster than using a pick, is the flamenco guitar style index and/or middle finger flicking technique.

  

 

 

Edited November 1, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[Billy Bongo]

Two mostly if I'm with a band or in session, although a thumb comes in handy. If soloing extemporaneously (sorry for the gobful) I use a bendy pick. I once tried to use my pinky, kind of as a reserve, but it confused the remains of my aged brain, so I stopped and went back to watching the rain run down the window.

[EssentialTension]

One.

 

Two if really necessary.

 

Three? Nah.

[Elfrasho]

My early learning was a billion sheehan vhs so I taught myself a rigid 3 finger technique. This has very much evolved but anything constant semi quaver is still 3 fingers. Broken rhythm stuff is a mix. When I play 2 finger though its often 1 and 3.. finger 2 is least used

[paul_5]

I've spent a LOT of my playing doing 3 fingers - mainly to distribute the work more evenly. Playing night after night is easier when you don't have finger fatigue!

[Stub Mandrel]

I played fingerstyle guitar (not brilliantly) before bass and as a result I have no problem using all five digits although the little finger is a weak so I tend not to go beyond my ring finger on bass.