Anybody switched to 3 fingers lately?

[Ye_olde_dragon]

I've just made the transition from two fingers to three. It's actually coming along alot better than I thought it would. It's weird though, I sometimes find myself switching back to two fingers when playing songs I know. I have to constantly keep reminding myself to keep that third one in there. All in all, I'm pretty pleased with my progress though.

Anyone else out there making the switch (or already made it)? Do you feel like it's helping (or helped) you? I actually can't play as fast with three fingers as with two, at this point, because I'm still working out the logistics of having the extra digit. But I think with a month or two of consistent work I'll be far past where I was with two fingers.

[scuba steve]

i made the swithch a few months ago, and now im just as good with 3 as i was with 2. i deffinatley can play faster and more fluidly with 3 than i could with 2. it opened up alot of stuff for me.

[audienceofone]

Out of curiosity, what pros use 3 or more fingers?

[Bocete]

Steve Bailey, Gary Willis, John Myung of Dream Theater, to name a few.

I started practicing my third finger a few months ago, and am lame at it. I have menaged to play triplets and sixteenth-sixteenth-eight patterns without changing the string I attack, and the sound of frets hitting the strings is off the charts, and my left hand can barely keep up with it.. But I need to keep practicing and I'm sure I'll get it right
I do play with two fingers most of the time, and the t-t-TA percussive charges I can do have really added something to my music.. And it's almost too easy to do it

[Ye_olde_dragon]

Originally Posted by Bocete

Steve Bailey, Gary Willis, John Myung of Dream Theater, to name a few.

I started practicing my third finger a few months ago, and am lame at it. I have menaged to play triplets and sixteenth-sixteenth-eight patterns without changing the string I attack, and the sound of frets hitting the strings is off the charts, and my left hand can barely keep up with it.. But I need to keep practicing and I'm sure I'll get it right
I do play with two fingers most of the time, and the t-t-TA percussive charges I can do have really added something to my music.. And it's almost too easy to do it

I just started working slowly with a metronome. Like 8th notes at 100-120 bmp, whatever I felt comfortable at. Then I would increase it just a little bit at a time. I've been doing it for a few days now and it's pretty quickly becoming as comfortable as using two fingers. I would say I have about three quarters of the speed and dexterity that I have while playing with two.

[Bocete]

What do you play while practicing? Do you just keep on playing the same note, or scales, ...?

An extremely hard thing to do is to play Patitucci's Spider while alternating 3-2-1-3-2-1-3-2-1. Here's the tab, can play it anywhere on the fretboard:

------------------|----------------
----3---4---1---2-|---3---4---1---2
--1---2---3---4---|-1---2---3---4--
------------------|----------------

I could DIE trying to pull this up

[Demon]

Just wondering, in what order and pattern do you use the fingers?

[Ye_olde_dragon]

Originally Posted by Bocete

What do you play while practicing? Do you just keep on playing the same note, or scales, ...?

An extremely hard thing to do is to play Patitucci's Spider while alternating 3-2-1-3-2-1-3-2-1. Here's the tab, can play it anywhere on the fretboard:

------------------|----------------
----3---4---1---2-|---3---4---1---2
--1---2---3---4---|-1---2---3---4--
------------------|----------------

I could DIE trying to pull this up

That does look hard, I'm going to have to try it. Right now, I'm starting off practicing scales (just the major and minor, and the pentatonic, nothing fancy). I do that for twenty or thirty minutes, then practice moving back and forth over the strings playing multiple notes....hmmm, that doesn't really describe what I mean. Something like this:

----------------------------2-2--4-4--5-5--------
-------------2-2--3-3--5-5-----------------------
---3-3--5-5--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------

and then back again. Then I'll usually practice just getting the notes to ring clear on a single string, without clacking (which is really hard for me). After that I dunno, I just mix it up. Do some improv over some scale or another, practice a few songs.

Thanks for the tip on the spider walk riff. That's looks tough.

[Enden]

I've been trying lately. Not going so well :\

[McHack]

I'm assuming you mean PLUCKING w/ 3 fingers...

That said, I just thought its a natural extension of playing... However, keeping the timing using 3 fingers on 16th notes can be cumbersome, so if its for a long stretch, I'll just use two. But, thats a pretty rare occurrence... so yea, I use 3 pretty much full time.

[*smb]

I've given it a go but it doesn't seem to make such a difference. I don't aim to churn out 16ths constantly anyway, and two fingers is far from slow with practice. I do find myself using all four fingers and thumb when I'm not thinking about it though.

[Human Bass]

I've tried but not really my thing, sometime i thing it comes to genetics...some people have a more independent ring finger than others.

[Alec W. Conway]

Originally Posted by Human Bass

I've tried but not really my thing, sometime i thing it comes to genetics...some people have a more independent ring finger than others.

I have a technique that uses the pinky instead of the ring finger which might interrest you. I use it along with the ring finger technique I have, I switch depending on what I need to play, or if a certain finger needs a little break.

The pinky technique goes 1-2-1-4-1-2-1-4.... Looks kinda weird at first, but it works great. You just have give your arm a sort of bobbing movement, the elbow and wrist going to and fro, giving more reach to your pinky when your elbow is forward, as that finger is shorter. I can reach 180 pretty easily with that technique, and I haven't been using it for *that* long, maybe a year.

My ring finger technique is 1-2-1-3-1-2-1-3, same movement as with my pinky technique, except that here, I sort of break my wrist in a weird angle over my bridge pup to put my fingers in a straight position, I find one can go much faster when one's fingers are straight. And here, since the ring is long enough, I don't need the bobbing movement I need with my pinky.

The big obstacle with 3 fingers is to gain the coordination to do string skipping. But then, thats only a matter of time and practice, and learning riffs finger by finger, like a guitarist would do with upstroke and downstroke.

[velvetkevorkian]

I play with 3 in a strict 321 pattern and I can't use 2 fingers alone any more. I found it necessary for playing extreme metal, but now I use it for everything.

[Bocete]

I believe the best way to pluck with 3 fingers is a strict 3-2-1-3-2-1. Or a 1-2-3-1-2-3. Becouse this way each finger has most time to get in position to pluck again. Steve Bailey does 1-2-3-2, and is good at it; but isn't he forcing his 2. finger this way? Isn't this the same as 1-2-1-2, I mean, if he can pluck every second note with his second, why not do the same with his first..

Though, the 3-2-1 pattern is natural only when it comes to 3 notes-per-quarter note. Your right hand needs to be a little Mike Portnoy to play 123123123123etc, while hearing and counting 123412341234...

[Amenra]

i practise using three fingers sometimes but it's hard not to go into triplets playing 321321 however it's imo the best way to play with three fingers. But i sometimes wonder if i really need it. it can only come in handy when you play extremely fast, right?

[SirCanealot]

While we're on the topic, I've been practicing 3-finger plucking a little lately, and why do people use 3-2-1 plucking when 2-finger plucking is 1-2-1-2?

I've been practicing with 1-2-3. Is there going to be any disadvantage in the long run? I'm slightly dyslexic with my co-ordination, and attempting 3-2-1 kinda confuses the hell out of me right now :P

[Ye_olde_dragon]

Originally Posted by SirCanealot

While we're on the topic, I've been practicing 3-finger plucking a little lately, and why do people use 3-2-1 plucking when 2-finger plucking is 1-2-1-2?

I've been practicing with 1-2-3. Is there going to be any disadvantage in the long run? I'm slightly dyslexic with my co-ordination, and attempting 3-2-1 kinda confuses the hell out of me right now :P

I don't think it really matters whether it's 3-2-1 or 1-2-3, so long as you're consistent in your pattern. 3-2-1 works best for me, but either way is fine as far as I can tell.

[Ye_olde_dragon]

Originally Posted by Amenra

i practise using three fingers sometimes but it's hard not to go into triplets playing 321321 however it's imo the best way to play with three fingers. But i sometimes wonder if i really need it. it can only come in handy when you play extremely fast, right?

I've found that same problem. Every time I want to go into triplets, I just slow down whatever I'm doing until I can get it back under control and then slowly speed it up as I get better.

[Jazz Ad]

I switched to 3 fingers first because I injured my middle finger a week before a show.
One spare finger is convenient to have.
Then I got used to it and now play 3 fingers pretty much all the time.