Developing Three Fingers

armywalaby · #1 07-19-2008, 09:47 PM

Any tips on how to build up three finger skill?

ErebusBass · #2 07-19-2008, 10:08 PM

I'm trying to develop this technique as well, and the best advice I can give you is that it's just like learning to use your pinky when you fret, you just have to use it more. Play very simple lines with just the new third finger to build strength, then incorporate it with a finger next to it, and finally start to work with all three. It will feel unnatural at first, but keep at it and keep trying to make progress.

armywalaby · #3 07-19-2008, 11:48 PM

Well, I saw a video of this guy instructing how, and he was saying to use them on the open strings with a metronome passively while you watch tv or something for like 20m per string. I can do this, but I've found that when I try to incorporate it into the playing, it's like my middle finger on my left hand doesn't want to work with this technique. It tells me it gets confused, if you know what I mean. Any other tips?

wizay · #4 07-20-2008, 02:26 PM

Just practice _real_ slow :] No other way to learn it. Try with a metronome, to get it as solit as possible

Jim Carr · #5 07-21-2008, 10:24 AM

Playing a single note repeatedly at a modest tempo alternating 3-2-1 is a good start.
Go for totally even volume and identical tone from each finger. Play slowly, and build up speed.

lomo · #6 07-23-2008, 06:26 AM

As has been said, practice slowly. Try playing slow 16th notes on 1 string so that the run of 4 begins on a new finger each time. Strive for consistency of tone. Eventually do this but go from string to string. Stick with it. I've been working on it for a year and am finally feeling quite fluid. It has opened up a lot of rhythmic doors for me and I can play much faster when needed. Complex runs involving string skipping are still a work in progress......

51m0n · #7 07-23-2008, 06:50 AM

I've successfully stopped playing two finger and gone over to three.

It took a very long time to get completely comfortable.

Stick to one method (I strongly suggest 3-2-1).

Practice very very slowly and carefully whilst building up. Eventually the speed wil come.

Work at being even always, its the trickiest part. Remember when playing 2 finger if you exceed your competent speed things breakdown, same happens with 3 fingers, but the breakdown is almost invariably first obvious by a triplet feel coming out. That is a tough nut to crack.

Playing straight 8ths or 16ths is waaaay harder than playing a real groove when playing 3 finger. IME anyway.

One of the hardest things is building and maintaining sufficient callous on teh ring finger to a) keep it balanced tonally and b) prevent too much 'grabbing' of the string you are plucking by the fleshy part of the finger. You are going to have to find your own solution to the callous issue. People try denatured alcolohol/methylated spirits or the Bill Dickens rope to cause callouses amoung other things.

Keep at it.

Oh and I found it to be worthwhile YMMV.

Deacon_Blues · #8 07-23-2008, 09:46 AM

I'm working a little on this as well but I'm by no means fluent at it yet. Maybe next year if I'm practising enough... The hardest thing seems to be to jump smoothly from one string to another without losing the alternating 3-finger pattern (3-2-1-3-2-1). Therefore I've started playing simple major scales (ascending and descending) at really slow tempos to eventually get more fluent at it. I practice playing 8, 4 or 2 repetitions of each note in the scale as my primary goal with incorporating the third finger is to learn to play simple but fast rock lines (straight 8'ths or 16'ths) with better endurance.

Any other practice tips?

And yet about the callous thing - what's the big deal with callouses? I don't have much callouses on any of my plucking fingers and hardly any on my left hand either. I don't really see a reason why I'd need any.