Three fingers: accents and groove?

[maturanesa]

In 20 years of playing i always played with two fingers, and sometimes i wanted to give three fingers a try.

But i find really difficult to handle accents and groove when playing jazz, funk, fusion.
It requires to me so much mental effort and attention to the right hand.
When i get it, the speed is the same or less than my two finger technique, so playing with 3 fingers is less efficient than 2...

In my case, I think 3 fingers would work well with metal (non dynamics and changing accents requred).

But wanna know if some of you can handle 3 fingers for jazz, funk, etc, and how you do it?

[Erick Lam]

Originally Posted by maturanesa

But wanna know if some of you can handle 3 fingers for jazz, funk, etc, and how you do it?

I do it like Gary Willis, or try to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_oBJlE5qNc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md8FCeqNrcM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrLtogzsc6I

[James Judson]

Go Youtube "Doc Watson", look for his finger style arrangements. He's doing that with two fingers (thumb and index). Do you need three, Doc doesn't.

[nysbob]

It's just like any discipline that requires a lot of work before you can fully assimilate it into what you want to do. It's not got as much to do with the style of music as what you want to be able to physically execute. I've been playing 3 finger for so long, it doesn't require any special concentration, it's just how I play.

I would have to do a ton of work to make slap play any significant role in what I do. To me, it's not worth it because I don't like the sound that much. Unless you're frequently dealing with speed or fatigue issues, the three finger shouldn't be that important.