Really fast death metal finger style

[Metal_prophet83]

I'm curious what techniques andbody has saw useful for playing high tempo 16th notes (ok doesn't have to be death metal)?
I've seen the 3 finger technique. I use three fingers for slayer type of gallons (1eand 2eand 3eand.....) and short burst like 1 e and a 2 .... 3 e and a 4 type of patterns.
Using this technique for long sustain straight 16th notes though is hard for me to keep steady because of trying to pulse 4 but using 3 fingers.
I was wondering if there is any tips for getting this steadier and cleaner or maybe some other finger techniques you guys use? Has anybody been successful with playing that fast with 2 fingers?

As far as using a pick for it I can do that. I've been a metal guitar player for 20 years and always used a pick to track bass before. I really want yo be able to match my picking with fingers though.
Mainly just so I can do both because of the different tones they produce.

 

[FNHScar17s]

This is an excerpt on the technique I use for four finger plucking that I've posTed in a few spots on talkbass for those inquiring metal finger picking. I will emphasize floating thumb if you decide to go with 3 or 4 fingers makes your speed cleaner. Any ways here is a repost for you guys originally posTed in the demystifying metal thread

I play six string fretless and I use four fingers to pluck on the right hand and have for years. It take time and practice but yes I have a short pinky and have to slight angle my wrist to get the pinky in there. I posted this in a metal thread as I play mostly technical death metal and jazz lol. Some of the description pertains to getting a good tone for metal as well someone said you can never hear the bass, well not in the band I'm in!

with four fingers. I play metal specifically technical death metal and this is almost necessary with how fast things get now a days and trying to keep up with the double kicks. I start with the pinky the ring middle index and flick outward with the pinky then ring, middle index. The end result is a continuous picking that with enough practice of your outward flick the attack and sound will match and sound like a normal finger style attack. Word to the wise it took me some serious rudimentary practice, finger independence, and strength training on the outward flick. Granted this is also about getting the tone for the genre and speed but you'll get the point here it is:

get a fretless, crank the mids, and give plenty of highs tastefully, balance the lows adequately not overwhelming or floor shaking (may vary on preference) think forest la pointe of beyond creation, archspire, or obscure. Even a more aggressive jaco sound will cut very well with the right amount of highs and mids. use roundwounds on the fretless will mwah more and push the mids more the lower action helps as well along with getting the right attack. i have been playing technical death metal for about (bass player for about 12 years now) 4 years now and this has worked extremely well to poke through the mix and get an aggressive sound. i have gotten many compliments on my tone at gigs. just my 2 cents. depending on the bass you may want to only use the bridge pickup and dial in the tone described to taste (i was able to achieve the sound i described by defretting an ibanez six string putting rounds on it and installing a bartolini ntmb 3 band eq).

as far as speed and technique i usually play near the bridge pickup (this depends on the sound im going for the other positions are inbetween the two pickups and on the end of the fingerboard) with a four finger plucking technique plucking on the upstroke and flamenco right near the edge of the nail and finger mass on the way out this gives me quite a bit of speed and with practice and time it becomes quite easy and sounds good (may take a few years of rudiment and string skipping practice). this essentially is like a heel toe technique that drummers use for double kick but for finger picking. Your outward flamenco stroke will need to be strong though to balance out. For warm ups i practice a quadruplet string skipping only using the flamenco and alternate patterns once the muscles feel warmed up i bring in the finger picking (think upward fingerpicking stroke pinky first down to index then pinky flamenco out to the index creates a fluid consistent movement of all four fingers, and with practice can be fast enough and consistent to stay with the kicks). switching between picking near the neck and bridge will help during certain passages you need more balls in or more of that rolling off the finger sound strings bouncing off fretboard. be fore warned you will not see good results for atleast a year of consistent practicing as you need to build up the muscles neccessary. practice slow build up speed and before you know it you will be shredding away at awesome speeds. you will also need to practice left hand muting to ensure clean notes. Floating thumb technique will be paramount over time especially during very fast agressive passages.

to recap 4321 4f3f2f1f f=flamenco you can also practice the finger picking for a while before incorporating the flamenco 4321234 and any variation there of will help you want complete control of the right hand which is especially important in this genre of music. create a table and make all the possible configurations starting with each number 4321 4231 4132 4213 etc then move onto 3214 3124 3421 3142 etc then create another table with all the variations for string skipping and create fret pattern on the left hand and right hand to practice finger independence with left hand as well especially helpful with erb basses. These are techniques that i have practiced for years took a lot of work but has paid off in a big way. my band mates always say i am a fast mother shager. lol

 

[knumbskull]

You can learn fast 16ths with 3 fingers thru practice. Check out Alex Webster's instructional videos.

I find it helps to start very slow and focus on exagerrating the 1-beat accent, not thinking about precisely what finger is playing what. Once you can do it slowly, build speed.

(I'm not a whiz kid at this - still learning!)

 

[Metal_prophet83]

Thanks guys! Fnhscar17s i use 4 finger sometimes for short burst of 16ths but never long periods. Ill give this a try and see how i like it compared to 3 finger

 

[FNHScar17s]

No problem bud. Be patient with the four finger technique it took me quite awhile once you build endurance you can go forever lol. It is totally worth it but may not work for everyone. Happy shedding!

 

[bearhart74]

Look at Billy Sheehan and John Entwistle for style/technique.

 

[Clef_de_fa]

I use 2 style of 3 fingers technique.

the first one is : R-M-I where you need to accent every 4 notes, which I find hard to do and keep up at fast speed for to long

the second one is : R-M-I-M or I-M-R-M which put the one on the same finger every time it may feel awkward to do but it is actually not very hard once you can at least do 2 16th 1 8th kind of rythm

 

[Rev J]

You could also look outside of metal a little and try the Hadrien Feraud, Matt Garrison, Dominique Di Piazza method of thumb, index, middle, ring technique. There is a sticky on here about it and numerous YouTube videos on it.

C/S,
Rev J

 

[Metal_prophet83]

You could also look outside of metal a little and try the Hadrien Feraud, Matt Garrison, Dominique Di Piazza method of thumb, index, middle, ring technique. There is a sticky on here about it and numerous YouTube videos on it.

C/S,
Rev J

Thank you very much! I didn't know about this. Never know. It may be what I'm looking for.

 

[Rev J]

You're welcome. I'm of the opinion that sometimes to enhance our genre of choice we should look outside of it. For example I am a Jazz/FUnk bassist but still work on some metal because it is more fun to play that to develop technique than work on technical exercises.

Oh and I hope this helps a little:



C/S,
Rev J