Plucking technique

[prosportal]

Every lesson I've seen on slap bass, the player is using their index finger to pluck the string. Being a hybrid picking guitar player, it's very natural for me to use my middle and ring fingers to pluck the strings.

Is this a habit I should break right away, or is using your index finger subjective?

 

[Lee Moses]

There is no right answer to this question. I was taught to use the index finger to pop, but you'll see Victor Wooten and others alternate fingers to be able to pop more rapidly.

Try different techniques, and see what you can do with each of them.

 

[EZ9R]

Brian Bromberg slaps with his thumb and middle finger. He says it feels more balanced. He discusses this in a couple seminars on YouTube.

 

[tbasstreble11]

Brian Bromberg slaps with his thumb and middle finger. He says it feels more balanced. He discusses this in a couple seminars on YouTube.

+1

I favour my middle finger but I find I use both if I'm alternating the strings I'm plucking (or thumbing for that matter) - like a more punctuated version of guitar fingerpicking. I asked the same question of my teacher and he said go for it, use your middle finger if that's more comfortable/natural - I think that is the key thing.