Sixteenth Notes finger style

[FrizzelFry]

Hi
How do play sixteenth notes - with 2 or 3 fingers? I can't figure out if it is worth the effort to get the 3th finger in the game.

And by the way - any tips to get the speed up ?

/Peter

 

[Russell L]

For 16ths, I use two fingers. If they're triplets, I still use two fingers, although that might be a good time to start using three, depending on the tempo.

As for speed, work as slow as it takes to keep going in time. Then, try to speed it up once you're good at a certain speed.

 

[Skitch it!]

I tend to use three fingers for triplets for the consistency of flow. For sixteenths, using two has a better dynamic consistency and sounds a lot more even for me, using three feels/sounds a little uneven. One thing I would say is that strict alternation is a really nice thing to get control over speed in string crossing sixteenths, my 2 cents.

 

[john grey]

Hat is off to you for using three. Very difficult for me. Had seen it done and I think some folks have a wonderful feel for adding that.

 

[jabsys]

I use 2 fingers for 16ths, 3 for triplets, for me 2 fingers sound better for 8ths & 16ths.

 

[lokikallas]

Alex Webster has a killer YouTube video demo of his three finger speed technique. I can't pull it off but I'm damn fast with two.

 

[kesslari]

I use 2 fingers. More solid and even for me. I worked on 3 fingers a while back, but 2 is better (for me) and I have no trouble with 16th note fingerfunk grooves.

 

[lowfreq33]

I used to use 3 a lot, but I've kind of let that technique slide the last few years. I feel like thinking about the articulation screws up my groove a little. These days for fast passages I just try to not dig in too hard. There's a tendency to tense up and dig in when playing fast, which is actually the opposite of what you want.