Steve Harris... 2 or 3 fingers???

I've always been amazed too, I certainly can't play all his stuff with two fingers haha

 

"With how many fingers do you play,and do you have any tips for a young fellow bass player(me)?
Igor
Split, Croatia

Two and only play when you feel like it. Don't force it!"

also of interest-

"Did you play Blood Brothers with a pick? It sure sounds like it
Scott M
Seattle, WA

I never play with a pick."


I'm still confused about the number of fingers-
from watching closeup footage of him playing that signature three-note gallop in "Run to the hills", "the evil that men do" etc. his index and middle fingers just don't seem to be moving fast enough to be doing all the work.

if I ever meet him I'll ask how he does it...

"Howdy steve, What do you do to warm up your fingers before every show and how long are your warm ups...
David Alejandro
U.S.A Weslaco

I don't. Never have."

his action is very low, though...

 

Don't force it - that's important. Mr Harris has been playing a long time and so can pull off feats of speed and stamina that might cripple a less experienced player. If you can't comfortably play his lines just a tad faster than the recordings (to give you some headroom) then choose different songs or work out an easier alternative.

You don't want to cramp halfway through your set!

Wulf

 

I can play any of his lines (that I've tried, anyway) with 2, but stamina is the my problem, I can play the trooper at full speed for about 2/3rds of the song, after that I gotta switch to 3 because I'm slowin down with 2

 

Hi Everybody

I'm new to the forum and this is my first post.

I've seen Steve Harris play live in the early 80's. He does play with two fingers.

I can also play the Steve Harris stuff. The key to developing his technique is a strict alternating finger pattern.

Example
i-m-i / m-i-m

The rhythm that he uses the most is an 1/8 note followed by two 1/16 notes. A total of three notes per beat. This changes the lead finger every beat of the finger pattern. Most bass players that have a problem with playing Maiden uses this finger pattern

Example
i-i-m or m-m-i

It takes a lot of practice but it can be done.

Best,

 

Hello,

I'm a huge fan of Steve and i started playing bass because of him, he uses 2 fingers but the second and the third fingers play at the same time, it can be a litle confusing at first.

What i think is some of the keys tho is speed is:

- the use of the bass low, and because of that the wrist isn't bent and can be more relaxed
- when he plays the also rotates the wrist a little bit from side to side that gives more strenght to the fingers and more speed

My two cents

desmo

 

Doesn't everyone else find that when playing with 2 fingers the 3rd finger sort of follows the 2nd? (Which I believe is because they share a tendon)

I've always been able to pluck very fast (though the accuracy took longer to develop) but the way I attack the bass it's still very difficult to keep up a 16th note flow at 140bpm throughout a song. However, if I lighten up my attack (and Steve Harris definitely plays quite lightly) I can keep up that speed for much longer. Emulating Rocco's hard plucking constant 16th note grooves(which are a bit slower than Steve's) is much more challenging IMO.

Alex

 

Just keep practicing. I can play most songs now, whereas not even a year ago I had trouble with lots of Maiden songs. It just takes experience, people playing for 25 years are naturally faster than beginners. I remember when I couldn't play 2 fingers (the first month or so)!

 

He's always stated adamantly that he only plays with two and that the third finger merely appears to be playing, but is just "slaving". It doesn't actually pluck or play the strings. It merely travels along with the middle finger. I've heard so many people refute this, but I believe Steve. There's no reason for him to lie and I myself (as a terrible novice) can gallop just as fast with two fingers, so...

 

Steve has pushed his fingers to a faster speed than most bassists as a whole out of necessity to play Iron Maiden material, I did the same thing when I started and developed a really fast 2 finger technique.

 

Over the last few years I have changed how I play Iron Maiden.

1/8 note = Middle Finger
1/16 notes = Index back/Index forward

It actually sounds more like what Steve is doing.

 

Wow, interesting conversation here. When I learned to play Maiden 25 years or so ago, I learned to do the triplet gallop with 3 fingers leading with my ring finger. So it would go -
ring - middle - index (rest) ring - middle - index (rest) and so on...
Makes a great evenly spaced triplet gallop.

 

This is an excellent explanation, and I think it nails how to do this on the head.

 

I can do the gallop using two fingers, leading with my middle.

Mim/mim/mim/mim

I haven't played it for many years so I'm sure my stamina is down, but I'm sure I could still do most of it.

 

From a bass player magazine he said he does a lot of :
i-i-m or i-m-m

 

I think you're right. The imi mim gallop doesn't quite get that Harris gallop. I can manage it with a imr gallop.