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Dead notes on ring finger (3-finger problem)

LemmyLicious

LemmyLicious

Sep 27, 2010
107
6
#1
I've begun to learn to use the 3-finger technique and have ran into a hellishly annoying problem. The notes I pluck with my ring finger sound cold and dead. I've tried playing further from the bridge and adjusting my palm position on the body and over the strings, but to no avail. High notes ring adequately but the D# and A# strings sound dead. Galloping sounds ok too, but individual notes and rapid long passages sound irregular. Is my ring finger just too unwieldy to even bother with the technique to begin with?
 
#3
No I do not know the answer to this. Never had the same problem with the other two fingers. I'm asking that have other people had this same problem, not really conserning dexterity in the traditional sense. I undestand it takes practice to switch to (cleanly) using the technique, but I'm talking sound, not playing-wise, if you get my point. Just wondering if others have found it just anatomically impossible.
 
#5
That doesn't answer my question. I'd appreciate a reply like "Oh, I had the same problem but I managed to nail it with practice" instead of "La la la laa, what did you say, you can't do it la la la laa, just practice la la la laa" when I'm wondering if some people have found it nigh impossible too.
 
#7
I don't think there could possibly be any concrete, this'll fix it type solution to your problem. 2 of your fingers are attacking the strings with more force than the other. You need to either learn to lighten up on the other 2, or strengthen the finger that's giving you problems. Can't think of anything that will accomplish that other than consistent and patient practice.

One mistake that I think a lot of people make in practicing is that they practice at the speed they'd like to be doing it. Any gains I ever made in bass playing came with very slow practice. Practicing at speeds where you can't accomplish what you want does nothing but frustrate and jam you up. If you practice at a speed where you can get your desired results (ie. ever note sound 100% perfect), you will achieve your goal. If you work with a metronome, which I highly recommend, I'd say set it at a speed where you can use the 3 finger techinique with no problems whatsoever. Play like that for 15 minutes straight. Take a short break. Up the metronome a notch. Do it again. If you're flubbing in the least, and not hitting every note perfectly - go back a notch. Keep doing that and I guarantee you'll fix your problem. But it takes patience. Won't be playing the way you want overnight, but you'll get there a lot faster than by any other means I know of.

Better?

An afterthought, which is probably most important. I've found that mastering just about anything technique related is about muscle memory. Going slow trains the muscles to do what they need to, the way they need to do it, without the energy and thought having to travel from the brain to the fingers. Once the muscles know what to do, whatever it is we're trying to do happens automatically.
 
#8
Practice.







No really, once you get a little bit of a callus and a little extra strength in your ring finger, it will help alot. Also use more fingertip than finger pad.

After alot of practice, you'll also just figure out the touch, perfect hand curvature, angle of attack and all that jazz but you need to
practice,
practice,
practice.
 
#9
It's definitely a matter of strength. If you strike the strings with the same amount of force with each digit, the sound will be the same.

One way to work on this is to just play two finger either R-I or R-M and concentrate on keeping the sound even.

If you don't an equal amount of callous on that ring finger, that's a good indication it's being "favored".
 
#10
Joe Nerve said:
I don't think there could possibly be any concrete, this'll fix it type solution to your problem. 2 of your fingers are attacking the strings with more force than the other. You need to either learn to lighten up on the other 2, or strengthen the finger that's giving you problems. Can't think of anything that will accomplish that other than consistent and patient practice.

One mistake that I think a lot of people make in practicing is that they practice at the speed they'd like to be doing it. Any gains I ever made in bass playing came with very slow practice. Practicing at speeds where you can't accomplish what you want does nothing but frustrate and jam you up. If you practice at a speed where you can get your desired results (ie. ever note sound 100% perfect), you will achieve your goal. If you work with a metronome, which I highly recommend, I'd say set it at a speed where you can use the 3 finger techinique with no problems whatsoever. Play like that for 15 minutes straight. Take a short break. Up the metronome a notch. Do it again. If you're flubbing in the least, and not hitting every note perfectly - go back a notch. Keep doing that and I guarantee you'll fix your problem. But it takes patience. Won't be playing the way you want overnight, but you'll get there a lot faster than by any other means I know of.

Better?

An afterthought, which is probably most important. I've found that mastering just about anything technique related is about muscle memory. Going slow trains the muscles to do what they need to, the way they need to do it, without the energy and thought having to travel from the brain to the fingers. Once the muscles know what to do, whatever it is we're trying to do happens automatically.
Click to expand...
+1.

I have watched enough videos & live performances to know that my hands are shaped & move a little different than Alexis Sklarevski, Vic Wooten, Anthony Jackson, Gary Willis <insert your favorite here>

FWIW, I find 2 or 4 finger technique easier than 3. Most of what I play is even numbered groups of notes. I find integrating an odd number of finger strokes with an even number of notes takes too much thinking & like Ornette Coleman, I cannot think & play at the same time.

In the end, they are your hands & you have to experiment to learn to make music with them. It takes time, patience, ingenuity & practice. I can't explain what I am doing. My right hand takes care of business & I have learned to phrase what I play so pauses let me reboot the fingering often. Good luck.
 
#12
Part of the problem, is the ring and little finger are no designed for dexterity. So when you integrate any of them to work with the Thumb, Fore and Middle finger, they will take time to come good, and they will of you stay with it.

There in lies the other part of the problem, why stick with it, when it seems to make things worse? Why do it when I am better with two finger?

Those questions will answer themselves if you stick with it. You cannot comprehend the benefit until you have mastered it.
So many players post about how they tried it and gave up, or it made no difference, or found it pointless. These player cannot give you the full picture because they do not know what the full picture is...they can only imagine or assume what the benefits may be.

Stick with it and what will happen is your tendons and ligaments around the little and ring finger will slacken off. When this happens you will have chance to then develop the dexterity to use it, then the co-ordination and strength to play bass with it. This of course takes time, and that is different for each person, because each person uses their hands in daily life in such a varied and diverse way.
If you practice and develop your hands for 2 hrs a day, life has at least 12 hrs to undo or be counter productive to anything you have done. If you have a job that is hand labour intensive, then 2 hrs a day may actually cause damage unless you warm up and get the hands ready to play, in other words take the strain of the daily use out of them before adding more to them.
If you have a job that requires heavy holding or lifting, then you may never develop any as the job will negate anything you do.
Say as a bricklayer you work 10 hours a day, then you hands are developing to work 10 hours a day to hold a trowel and handling bricks, not to develop touch and skills to play bass.

This does not mean you cannot, it just means you have to understand why your progress is different from others. There are a few great hand stretches that target the little and ring finger ( the Ulnar side of the hand, this is your hands power side, the thumb, fore and middle are the dexterous side of the hand and we call it the Radial side) in as much as they will help loosen the fingers to allow them to start to become dexterous. Once you have it mastered you just have to use it to maintain it.

http://youtu.be/Ab-dtzrAnkg
 
#13
Many thanks for the in-depth input. :D

I am just dumb-founded by the sound difference. If I focus on power the notes are still dead (louder but dead), even if I pluck single notes at a sloooow pace. It has to have something to do with the fact the finger kinda operates as a two-piece instead of the more flexible and dexterous 3-piece like the first 2 fingers. Meaning, when I wiggle my ring finger it tilts down from the lowest joint, while the first 2 tilt from the both joints.
 
#14
LemmyLicious said:
Many thanks for the in-depth input. :D

I am just dumb-founded by the sound difference. If I focus on power the notes are still dead (louder but dead), even if I pluck single notes at a sloooow pace. It has to have something to do with the fact the finger kinda operates as a two-piece instead of the more flexible and dexterous 3-piece like the first 2 fingers. Meaning, when I wiggle my ring finger it tilts down from the lowest joint, while the first 2 tilt from the both joints.
Click to expand...

Hold a coin in the little finger when you practice. It takes a bit of time to heat the hang of it but once done it will pay dividends as you will hear a difference in the tone the ring finger now makes. Simple fact is as the hand tires the coin falls out......time for a rest. Then start again till it falls out again etc etc.
See link for example.

Ceremony - YouTube

Again it takes time to learn, so get it right and you need never bother about it again.
I recommend for players to bend their fingers till the tips are level. This is the ideal starting point for any plucking technique. It allows the fingers to move in the correct motion to pluck the strings with more efficiency to the size of the hand and the length of the fingers of the player.
 

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