Slapping with the ring finger?

[Les Fret]

Anyone here slap with the ring finger?

I use this technique a lot with both three fingers or four fingers (thumb, index, middle and ring fingers). It opened up some new doors for me in slapping. In this video I show how to use it with three fingers (thumb, index and ring finger). You could also use the middle finger instead of the ring finger but using the ring finger makes string skipping much easier and faster.

It takes some time getting strength in your ring finger and also to get calluses but it's definitely worth it. What do think, useful for you or not?

 

[bramvdhoeven]

I am excited about trying this out, it definitely seems useful.

 

[Les Fret]

I am excited about trying this out, it definitely seems useful.

Yes it's very useful. I use it in several ways:
-like in the video, using thumb, index, ring for string skipping and big jumps
-playing four finger patterns (thumb, index, middle, ring) across 4 strings. Or more strings if you have a 5 or 6 string.
-playing four finger patterns (thumb, index, middle, ring) across 1 or 2 strings. Fast jumpy octave or other interval patterns for example.
-playing fast slap rolls triplets and 32nd notes (Marcus Miller or Stuart Hamm-style etc.) with four fingers instead of the usual three.
-playing dead note patterns across all strings
-combining it with hammer-ons or percussive thumb strokes for even more variation