Is there a list of 2-finger pickers vs 3-finger pickers (top bassists?)

[NickCormier]

Im just curious, Is there a list anywhere of the top bassists who use 2 fingers or 3 fingers or etc??

Like, Apparently Bunny Brunel uses 2 fingers only.. but most of the more metal bassists like Billy Sheehan, John Myung, etc use 3 fingers..

Anyone know a list? Ones im curious about mainly, all the well known ones, Jaco, Wooten, Miller, etc.. I'd love to know what Tetsuo Sakurai does too, his videos are misleading, sometimes its 2 sometimes it looks like 4 even..

[cynical-rabbit]

Maybe Tetsu sometimes uses 2 and sometimes uses 4.

[NickCormier]

uh. probably EVERY bassist uses a combination of things at times, but theres a certain style that every bassist has, like obviously Miller and Wooten use thumb/slapping 90% of the time.

My point is, im wondering if 2 finger is fast enough for every genre (from smooth jazz to death metal), and how many people are successfully pulling off 2 finger at crazy high speeds..

[GrindYourMind]

Playing with only 2 fingers would be at best a significant hinderance at high speeds and at worst, it'd be impossible to pull off some of the music.

I mean, good luck trying to play all this 250BPM insane chromatic Tech Death Metal that's out there nowadays with just 2 fingers.

[AndyLES]

Steve Harris plays with two fingers...

[metalbass777]

Cliff Burton plays with two fingers...
John Alderete plays with two fingers...

[kesslari]

Jaco played with two. Rocco plays with 2. Gary Willis plays with 3.

[eddievanbassman]

Vic plays with 2

[boomtisk]

I play with 3 (Started doing it when I was younger and thought speed was everything but stuck with it when I noticed it helped my note articulation) but I've found that there are some lines that can be easier with 2 fingers so I sometimes switch between the two, especially for recording. Ooops, wait, I'm not a "top bassist", sorry.

[kr0n]

When you need 3, use 3. When you need 2, use 2. When you need just the one finger, you're probably doing it right anyways.

[GrindYourMind]

Originally Posted by eddievanbassman

Vic plays with 2

Nope, he plays Thumb(down/up) Index Middle..so that's 3 fingers and 4 strokes.

[CoffeeJanitor]

Originally Posted by GrindYourMind

Nope, he plays Thumb(down/up) Index Middle..so that's 3 fingers and 4 strokes.

He's also a bassist.

[eddievanbassman]

Originally Posted by GrindYourMind

Nope, he plays Thumb(down/up) Index Middle..so that's 3 fingers and 4 strokes.

Well he asked fingers and your thumb is not a finger it's a "thumb" it's a digit but not a finger.

[Mr wiggl3s]

Originally Posted by AndyLES

Steve Harris plays with two fingers...

This

Originally Posted by kesslari

Jaco played with two. Rocco plays with 2. Gary Willis plays with 3.

Originally Posted by metalbass777

Cliff Burton plays with two fingers...
John Alderete plays with two fingers...

Jaco and Cliff both played with 3/4 at times.

[Gopher Bob]

<Billy sheehan plays R-M-I-R-M-I-R-M-I-R-M-I-R-M-I-R (3 fingers)

<steve digiorgio plays with three (I forget which pattern he uses)

<steve bailey plays with three but uses his middle finger twice as much as the method mentioned above

I think it was about 4-5 years ago I started working on three finger technique and only now am i starting to be able to use it fluidly without thinking and deviating from the R-M-I-R pattern.

Took a lot of work personally for me to break out of the triplet sound and make it sound very smooth. I feel it is worth it for me personally and I am glad I struggled with it. For me it does two things 1) gives a slight speed boost and 2) If I play 90 notes in a song using 2 fingers each finger plays 45 notes but using RMIR each finger plays 30. Not a huge deal but it does decrease effort by 1/3 of each finger.

I personally do not believe there is much that can't be played using fingers. The pick gives a different tone and if that's what your after go for it. I have always loved the sound fingers make and have felt that you get what you give. I also don't like buying picks (I would rather buy some nachos).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CAGinmT9Po << billy

[jmattbassplaya]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isFPCMAcPZM

John Alderete - Two fingers of fury.

He`s basically the reason I said that I don`t need to bother learning the three finger technique, and I was right.

[nysbob]

Originally Posted by kr0n

When you need 3, use 3. When you need 2, use 2. When you need just the one finger, you're probably doing it right anyways.

Word.

[Jim Nazium]

Someone has to say it:
James Jamerson played with his index finger only.

[metalbass777]

Originally Posted by jmattbassplaya

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isFPCMAcPZM

John Alderete - Two fingers of fury.

He`s basically the reason I said that I don`t need to bother learning the three finger technique, and I was right.

I agree 100%!

[ga_edwards]

Originally Posted by AndyLES

Steve Harris plays with two fingers...

+1. He's quite incredible. Some of his lines are very difficult to keep up with at such relentless pace, with 2 or even 3 fingers.