Same here, I pop with the middle finger if it's two strings from what I'm hitting with my thumb because that allows me to easily throw in a ghost pop with my index finger if desired.
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Same here, I pop with the middle finger if it's two strings from what I'm hitting with my thumb because that allows me to easily throw in a ghost pop with my index finger if desired.
I took lessons from Ken Smith many years ago. He encouraged alternating fingers. I say slam the thing with a 2x4 if it gets you the sound you want.
I would suggest get comfortable with index finger first. That's the main popping finger. Then later on you can incorporate the middle finger en combine it with the index. But start with index first.
Are there any good videos of three finger slap by the way? I mean index, middle, ring. I don't mean double thumbing! I use the ring finger to slap sometimes but not very often. Would like to use it more and some example videos might help.
I use the middle finger for G-string pops and index finger for D-string pops, which also enables me to do triplet pops combining the two strings using the two fingers.
You can find videos by Bill Dickens and Victor Wooten on YouTube that cover this.
ok thanks. Any direct links that show this? Never seen Victor Wooten use this...I don't mean normal double thumbing combined with index and middle but I mean slapping with ring finger combined with index and middle and thumb.
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I don't have any of the videos book marked but they should be easy enough to find. The videos will cover using index, middle, and ring finger for pull offs.
Victor claims much of his playing is an adaption of Flamenco guitar technique that he was taught by his brother Regi. You can find videos of Regi teaching slap bass as well.
Ultimately I find that different slap styles require different hand shapes and postures. What players like Victor do is learn to seamlessly integrate all the techniques so it looks like one homogeneous style. I am nowhere near his level but I have learned a lot by watching the videos I am referencing. I have some limited ability to move between single thumb, double thumb, and pull offs. I do pull offs with my thumb and index, middle, and ring finger. In order to some of the licks I would need to practice a lot more and build up more strength to stabilize my hand and arm. The Victor Wooten and Budda Dickens videos will cover how to do this. My attention span is to short so I don't ever expect to rise to their level.
Ok thanks. I am curious to which videos you are referring to cause I have never seen Victor Wooten pop with his ring finger. Also have watched some Bill Dickens video but I never saw him using ring finger pops either. So if you could point out some specific videos that show this that would be helpful. Maybe we are not talking about the same thing here.
Also what do you mean by thumb and ring finger pull offs?
Sorry "pull off" is the wrong term.
This video discusses hammer ons and pulls offs.
I meant plucking the strings with thumb, index, middle, and ring finger in a way that produces the pop sound.
This video may be the one I am thinking off. In quickly reviewing the video I am not 100% certain he uses his ring finger. He does mention it at least twice, so I must have misunderstood and developed my own unique approach.
I can't use Victor's technique with double thumb and plucks with the index and middle finger as I never practiced enough to develop sufficient hand stability, but I do use it with single thumb and two pulls with either the index and middle or rind and middle.
I also practice some Steve Bailey style three finger plucking patterns, referenced in the previous vidoe.
Here is one of the Budda Dickens videos I was inspired by.
I reviewed this video also and it does not appear that he is using ring finger either.
All I can say I these Victor Wooten and Bill Dickens videos inspired me and I started using ring finger. I am by no means anywhere near any of the players on a technical level.
Sorry "pull off" is the wrong term.
This video discusses hammer ons and pulls offs.
I meant plucking the strings with thumb, index, middle, and ring finger in a way that produces the pop sound.
This video may be the one I am thinking off. In quickly reviewing the video I am not 100% certain he uses his ring finger. He does mention it at least twice, so I must have misunderstood and developed my own unique approach.
I can't use Victor's technique with double thumb and plucks with the index and middle finger as I never practiced enough to develop sufficient hand stability, but I do use it with single thumb and two pulls with either the index and middle or rind and middle.
I also practice some Steve Bailey style three finger plucking patterns, referenced in the previous vidoe.
Here is one of the Budda Dickens videos I was inspired by.
I reviewed this video also and it does not appear that he is using ring finger either.
All I can say I these Victor Wooten and Bill Dickens videos inspired me and I started using ring finger. I am by no means anywhere near any of the players on a technical level.
Thanks for the videos! Although they are all interesting I think we are not talking about the same thing. I am talking about actually popping the string with the ring finger in the same way that you pop the string with index or middle finger when slapping. None of these players do that as far as I know.
I have to watch that last Bill Dickens video again as to why he uses that rope.
We are talking the same thing, I just need to correct my previous statement...I was inspired to pop with my ring finger from watching those very videos. I guess I didn't watch them close enough as neither Victor Wooten nor Bill Dickens appear to use the ring finger in those video...to my surprise.
Some of what I do is similar to this video.
Part of what I do is similar to this video that you have already seen, except I add the ring finger into the mayhem. I.E. I play a flam with any combination of index, middle, and ring finger. The order of plucking may be reversed as well to ring , middle, index. Also instead of merely use the thumb for single and double slaps, I also use it to pluck and make the same pop sound I would make with my fingers.
Ok thanks again. I play with four fingers finger style as well. And with three fingers slapping. Sometimes I use my ring finger for popping as well. But not so often and mostly for chords. Have to find uses for it. Because I don’t use it as often as my other three fingers I don’t develop a calluse which is needed. It is harder to pop with the ring finger though. But I will try to develop it some more. There are not many people using it, maybe for those reasons.
I don’t like double thumbing and am not very good at it but I can sort of get the same thing with three fingers. The up stroke thumb never felt natural to me so I had to develop a different technique.
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I haven't developed the stability to do a double thumb and then pop(s) with my fingers, but I use double thumb quite a bit and integrate it into my playing with single thumb and also pops made by pulling and releasing the strings with my thumb and three fingers.
We all have different hand shapes, different ways of thinking, and different levels of interest and discipline. It's only natural that we would each develop a unique approach when we are essentially trying to integrate several separate techniques. At least that is the way I think of it.
When I am playing the multiple finger flams, I need to used a lighter touch than if I pop with just one finger. I try to practice alternating patterns. T12, T32 or T123, T321. The mechanics are not really that different from playing finger style with T123, but I strike the string a bit different to create a percussive sound.
IMHO I wouldn't worry too much about not using the ring finger unless not using it is limiting you in some way. We seem to have discovered the Victor Wooten and Bill Dickens are using Thumb12 and they can play some insane stuff that is way beyond what I can do.
I've been popping primarily with my middle finger for over 40 years, it seems to work just fine...but if I were just starting out and didn;t already have 40 years of ingrained muscle memory I would definitely take JimK's advice and try to learn to use both index and middle fingers.
