3 finger technique

[whitenoise]

ive been working on this a bit recently and find that i get real confused playing a lot of things because im thinking about both hands at the same time. i was just wondering if there are any good excerises that develop 3 finger coordination. any help would be appreciated.

[JMX]

The basic exercise for this is playing straight 16th note.

The beats shift from finger to finger, since you play groups of four with three fingers.

Assuming you play the "Billy Sheehan" way, meaning ring(r), middle(m), index(i), and repeat - it goes like this:

1 2 3 4 | 2 2 3 4 | 3 2 3 4 | 4 2 3 4 | etc.
<b>R</b> m i r   <b>M</b> i r m   <b>I</b> r m i   <b>R</b> m i r   etc.

So the accent shifts from ring finger (1st group) to middle (2nd group) to index (3rd group). After three groups of 16th it repeats.
If you're not careful, you play the accents on the same finger, turning the whole thing into triplets.

Exaggerate the accents at first, practice slowly, and you'll soon get the hang of this.

[ldiezman]

I just practice using a metronome.. When I use the 3 finger technique.. Its to get more of a Rolling sound...

[JMX]

Using a metronome is a given of course...sorry Jeff

[Panzer]

After the exercises mentioned by JMX, I'd advice some "octave runs": ring finger picks octave, the other two move make one step up or down on the scale. Try playing this in triplets.

[Mud Flaps]

It's hard to switch from 2 finger to 3 finger. It takes a lot of practice. Play air bass during the day by practicing the finger order mentioned above. This will help. It is much easier to go from 3 to 4 finger. Good luck.

[l0calh05t]

wha? easier to switch from 3 to 4 than from 2 to 3??? well, not for me, I found it quite easy to switch to 3 fingers,but i tried 4 and didn't succeed at all

[BlacksHole]

When using more than 3 fingers, the simple rotation of fringers is not always a good idea since the pinkie is generally too short. I do use all my fingers, but for large parts of my playing I use a simple 2 finger technique. When I need more, I use them, but except for raking style moves, and special needs, employing the pinkie is not something that I do in a finger rotation such as p, r, m, i, ...

[John K.]

Jamerson only needed one finger...