When playing with 3 fingers....

[Poop-Loops]

Originally Posted by Bryan R. Tyler

You should go tell Steve Bailey- I'm sure he'll stop playing that way because you said so.....

Well, I wasn't aware that the world was full of Steve Baileys. To my knoweldge, there is only one of them. Some people can achieve supperior results with inferior technique. That still doesn't validate the inferior technique.

It's still a very beneficial way to play because you are playing the same amount of notes as you would with two fingers without having to pluck as fast (so it is still more efficient than play IM over and over), and your index finger is also being relieved by the ring taking over half of its notes.

Your index and ring aren't plucking as fast. Middle is still plucking the same speed. That's my whole point.

Playing I-M-R-M-I also can have a more consistent feel, as when playing R-M-I-R-M-I, there is a slight gap of time where your ring finger is still raised after your index plucks that it has to recover from. This is why most players notice that triplet "gallop" when they play this manner. It can be overcome, but playing I-M-R-M-I alleviates this problem for the most part as the middle finger is closer to the string after the index plucks than the ring finger is.

Of course it alleviates the problem. You're going back to playing 2 finger style. You're not really playing 3 finger at that point.

What you're doing is the finger plucking equivalent of saying "I play down-down-up-down-down-up when playing guitar with my pick. Therefore I do alternate picking"

I play in a consecutive pattern of thumb-I-M-R-thumb-I-M-R, but the only reason I can usually avoid a quadruplet "gallop" is because the thumb is hinged downward and doesn't raise up after the consecutive strings are plucked like the ring finger does.

I seriously don't understand the whole gallop pitfall. I snapped out of that REAL fast.

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Originally Posted by Poop-Loops

Well, I wasn't aware that the world was full of Steve Baileys. To my knoweldge, there is only one of them. Some people can achieve supperior results with inferior technique. That still doesn't validate the inferior technique.

It may not be filled with Steve Baileys, but there are a lot of people who play in this manner. I greatly prefer it to playing R-M-I over and over, particularly because it addresses the fact that bassist play in 2s, 4s, and 8s most often rather than in patterns of 3 far better. Calling it "inferior" is an opinion that you're free to express- it lacks any common sense though. By your definitions, playing R-M-I-M-R would still be more efficient than playing two-finger as it has more economy of motion than two-finger. And I can think of more than one player who plucks with two fingers who have managed to "achieve supperior results with inferior technique."

Of course it alleviates the problem. You're going back to playing 2 finger style. You're not really playing 3 finger at that point.

Index...middle...ring...hmm, still adds up to three for me.

What you're doing is the finger plucking equivalent of saying "I play down-down-up-down-down-up when playing guitar with my pick. Therefore I do alternate picking"

That isn't a relevant analogy- playing with three fingers doesn't give any indication of the number of alterations that occur when plucking. It simply states that you play with three fingers. Which is what someone who plays R-M-I-M-R does.

I seriously don't understand the whole gallop pitfall. I snapped out of that REAL fast.

Cool Lots of guys don't. Even some pros don't. Not that that's reason enough to switch to a technique that avoids the issue- as I said, you can overcome most anything if you practice hard enough. It is an inherent physical tendancy of the way the fingers move though.

[Poop-Loops]

Originally Posted by Bryan R. Tyler

It may not be filled with Steve Baileys, but there are a lot of people who play in this manner. I greatly prefer it to playing R-M-I over and over, particularly because it addresses the fact that bassist play in 2s, 4s, and 8s most often rather than in patterns of 3 far better. Calling it "inferior" is an opinion that you're free to express- it lacks any common sense though. By your definitions, playing R-M-I-M-R would still be more efficient than playing two-finger as it has more economy of motion than two-finger. And I can think of more than one player who plucks with two fingers who have managed to "achieve supperior results with inferior technique."

It's inferior because you have to conciously think about using the 3rd finger without getting any benefits from doing so. You might as well stick to going IMIM.

It's not better than 2 finger playing, since your middle finger is used just as much in both. That becomes a limiting factor. Unless your index finger is messed up so it can't keep up, there is no advantage.

For example (I'm giving credit to someone else here on TB (forgot who though). I don't want to plagerize) if you can only pluck 6 times a second with each finger by itself. Going IM, you would pluck 12 times per second. Going IMRMIMR you would STILL pluck 12 times per second. Going IMRIMRIMR you would get 18. Count it for yourself if you don't believe me. You'd get 3 plucks on R and I, and 6 already on M.

Index...middle...ring...hmm, still adds up to three for me.

That isn't a relevant analogy- playing with three fingers doesn't give any indication of the number of alterations that occur when plucking. It simply states that you play with three fingers. Which is what someone who plays R-M-I-M-R does.

How is it not valid? You're not getting any better results by doing it.

Cool Lots of guys don't. Even some pros don't. Not that that's reason enough to switch to a technique that avoids the issue- as I said, you can overcome most anything if you practice hard enough. It is an inherent physical tendancy of the way the fingers move though.

I can't fault someone for having something more hardwired into their brain than I have. Triplets with a pick came pretty easy for me, too. Guess in this case I'm different.

Before (well, too late I guess) we get this totally derailed, let's go back to the basic question:

How does going RMIMRMI make it easier/better than going IMIMIM?

[BrandonBass]

you cant go wrong with r-m-i-r-m-i, billy sheehan does this strictly. and even if you dont like his music at least admit that he has blistering speed.