i have been trying to train myself to play with three fingers on my right hand for a while but i cant seem to do it. does anyone that does this have any tips or exercises for me?

Hey Munkey, I try, and can play with three fingers only
slowly, and if I concentrate really hard, but, I must agree
with you it is hard.

Mike J.

I don't have a strict right-hand style (I play very similarly to Gary Willis--three fingers, very light touch, and over the bridge pickup), but I found that I could integrate my ring finger after about a month of practice.

Yea, I play with 3 fingers. All I can say is, when you tap your fingers on the table, do you use all 5? Well if you can do that, why can't you use 3? Just apply the same concept to plucking the bass, and you're almost there! Just practice! Another way is to tape 2 of your fingers together, making you use (ex) your 1+2 fingers taped and your ring finger free, this helps.

Steve Bailey has a video(sorry not sure which one)that covers a technique that he learned from a classical guitar teacher, it makes a lot of sense to me but it is not easy!

i play with index-middle-ring and thumb, like classical guitarists. in fact, i do some classical pieces on my 7 string basses.

I use three, and sometimes try to use four. It takes practice. You just have to make a conscious effort to use all the fingers you want - very much the same way I brought in my pinky finger on the left hand. The technique is refered to as raking (well, if you use all four), and it's not so hard to train your hands. What I found was that I was so comfortable using two fingers, I never ventured outside the boundaries. You just need to concentrate on putting that extra finger in there.

I believe I can incorporate my ring finger into my right hand technique if I need to. One of my first lessons with my teacher consisted of a short discussion about fingers vs pick and number of fingers. I then proceeded to fiddle around with 3 fingers, somehow under the general impression that "you should only use 2 fingers!" But to be honest, I don't even know where I got that impression, seeing as I had never picked up a bass before in my life, and I had never seen any footage of a bassist anywhere.
Anyhoo, I tried out using 3 fingers on my right hand and found my ring finger to be amazingly stronger than I had expected, and was able to pluck the string with just about the same amount of force as my other 2 fingers every time. I think it'd be nice to play some songs where I can show off my 3-finger technique, but I can only get triplets done competently with 3 fingers, and can't get 16th notes, as well as barely passing 8th notes depending on how many bpm I'm going.
Oh well...was that useful? :D

There's a method called "Hanging Ten" which forces you to use all of your fingers because you duct-tape weaker ones to the stronger ones you would normally favor. And it worked GREAT for me. ZOOOOOOOM! That instruction plus a load of other stuff is at
http://www.harmony-central.com/Bass/#instruction. Just click on the "instruction" link and you'll see "Hanging Ten" listed,

Originally posted by hexbass
Steve Bailey has a video(sorry not sure which one) where he

That would be his fretless bass video. I remember that since I have seen Bass Tips Vid where his first sentence is "I know you bought fretless bass vid but let's look at right hand technique first." I think his video was called just "Fretless Bass" or something similar.

About training 3rd finger, just use your middle finger with 3rd finger instead of usual index and middle.

I play mostly thumb and double thumb, due to an injury a couple years ago to right index and middle finger.
Doc

till recently i couldn´t play with three fingers...
what i did was starting playing fast triplets for some songs (like the solo in Nature Boy by Primus)...then it got like a tic with this triplets...I mean...I used them almost anywhere in the fretboard and sometimes with no reason (that´s a good thing)...so after 2 months my third finger had independence and agility.

BTW: those triplets were like Ring-middle-index one after another...fast.

then I saw an Entwistle video on his page and after that i was very excited I put Rage against the machine CD and tried his fingerings (failed jaja) but i was playing with three fingers and i was very comfortable...now i´m adapting all my previous songs that i have learned to a three finger playing...guess i havce a long road ahead but at least i know i can.

ok i´m almost a year of starting playing and i love it

hanging 10 is a great article.. worked for me

I've actually noticed that I've settled into playing with mostly my first and third fingers.. it's kind've weird

I still use my middle finger, but definitely not as much as the other two

Why nobody mention the astounding three finger technique of Maestro Billy Sheehan? this is one of the reasons because i feel that he's the only virtuoso who can't be imitated unless you born again.:)

I play with three fingers (at least sometimes..)
You should try to play with uindex and middle finger like John Myung does sometimes..He does that in his video

Use all 4. Just start off really slowly and built it up. Somebody mentioned tapping your fingers on the table, which is what i did for about a month or two to get it down. At that point the faster stuff which you would usually use a pick for becomes easier and the trick beomes doing techincal parts with all 3 or 4. The hardest finger is the pinky. Just abuse it for a few weeks and it'll fall in line.

I use 2 fingers! ....... ohhh........

One time I was playing and suddenly realized that I had been using my ring finger unnoticed for the whole song! It was great, I just sort of subconsciously worked it in there without even worrying about it. No luck with the pinky though, I don't need it for what I play anyway. Peace.

I was forced into using my ring finger a few weeks ago, when a nasty little cut on my middle finger made it hard to play. After being a bit shaky to begin with, I managed to cope fine with it. I don't really use it, but it's good to know I can use that finger if I have to.

If you consider the thumb a finger, then yes I do play with three fingers. I use my thumb, index and middle finger, kinda like a classical guitarist. I notice that Sting plays this way too, although he's much better at it.

I play with three fingers occasionally, only when I need three really stady notes.

I switch between two fingers to three from time to time...you don't really go "faster" with three fingers than by using two, but when playing a lot of parts with steady sixteenth notes, it's more relaxing to do so.

I haven't had to use three fingers for speed because I play with a light touch fairly close to the strings. 16ths are usually no problem. But I have been playing more chords lately, so I use thumb index middle for a triple stop. I haven't played too many quadruple stops yet as my left hand needs some more flexiblilty.

I'm working on using my ring finger, starting with triplets and gradually using it more. I have trouble with my pinky though, it is an inch shorter than my ring finger so I don't see how it could be used along with the other 3 similarly lengthed fingers.

The Steve Bailey video is called "Fretless Bass" and I think it is an excellent tool for bass players with some experience who have moved to fretless or just want a few practice hints. He is an astonishingly accomplished and varied player.

Originally posted by APouncer
... I have trouble with my pinky though, it is an inch shorter than my ring finger so I don't see how it could be used along with the other 3 similarly lengthed fingers...

AP- I didn't either...at first I'm doing that "Hanging Ten" regimen from Harmony Central, the one about employing all four picking fingers.

It turns out I'm using it to pick up on the B and E in the ready position when the index and middle finger are picking on the D and G. Wish I was just starting to learn bass sometimes instead of trying to break old habits. Sometimes I give up hope of breaking them, they've been ingrained for so long.

I broke my middle finger last summer and was forced to play with my ring and first fingers. after a while it became natural but i had a problem playing with my middle and ring finger, do i only used those two fingers until it became natural. THen i combined both and now i can play pretty efficieantly with all three, and occasionally 4 fingers. so i suggest isolating both your ring and first and your ring and middle fingers seperately and then putting them all together. it ill take some practice but youll get it. Aslo practice with triplets, they will help coordinate all three fingers.

Yes, I use three fingers on my right hand. OI actually use three fingers and my thumb...and am working on incorpoarting my right hand little finger.
I have found that moving my hand position to something more akin to classical guitar has helped tremendously in bringing the ring finger into the fold. I might add that my right hand is never "locked" to one position but shifts very often during the course of a single tune. In flamenco guitar, using the thumb and at least one other finger is called "apoyondo". You might want to see if you can find any reference to that technique in guitar method books.
Also look for videos (instructional) by Abraham Laboriel. He has the most incredible right hand technique (5fingers, double strums.....) and left hand technique!
Max Valentino