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Time to let go 3 finger?

I've been practicing 3 finger for about 5-6 years. I can make steady even sound until 150 bpm but after that speed, it was always difficult for me to avoid that galloping or fast triplet sound. Maybe my brain rejected recognizing 3 finger into 16 beat. I uploaded one of my cover below. I practiced that song for years and years but still not very satisfied with the result. IIRC, that song's bpm is 175.



After that song, I tried other patterns too. My basic pattern is 3213-2132-1321 but I also practiced 3212-3212 and 3121-3121 to find my best pattern. Hmm.. all those patterns were not comfortable for me. It saves my stamina but it is really hard for me to keep accuracy.

Currently, I am practicing Iron Maiden's Run to The Hills and I found playing that tune with 2 finger can be more comfortable than 3 finger. Galloping with 2 finger is confusing but I think I can manage that. Also 2 finger's tone is much consistent than 3. So I tried other bpms like 140, 150, and there were some stamina and accuracy problems but 2 finger definitely lessened my brain's stress.

I am on the verge of letting 3 finger go. It may need much time for me to achieve high speed with much stamina. But it will help me play any line I want especially when improvising or soloing. One thing that holds me back is getting speed more than 200 bpm... but because 3 finger couldn't achieve that speed, that will be no reason for me to choose 3 finger.

So one thing I learned from this 6 years.. is that 3 finger does not guarantee faster speed. If there are some metal/jazz bassists who use 2 finger in super high speed, please let me know. My goal became playing bass solo of Dream Theater's The Dance of Eternity with two finger.



I agree with everyone that there’s nothing overly limiting about 2 finger; indeed it simplifies things in a number of ways

from a technical perspective, I think that three finger technique, etc. works best with a floating thumb, which tends to include the plucking fingers being curled/bent- The reason I bring this up, and you basically play like me, is that with an anchored thumb (and the relatively straight plucking fingers), you will always be fighting the fact that your middle finger is longer than the others… If you just look closely at the video, you will see that your middle finger looks like it’s barely moving, why you seem to almost have to do this weeble-wobble thing thing to give the other fingers contact access. Not only does it make it more difficult to play fast notes and long passages, but the consistency in the sound will be something you battle and really have to take a focused approach to, including a physical audit, and some conscious decisions about how you want to solve the problems physically. with two finger technique, fast players simply angle their hand to where the vertical position of the first and second fingers are level/even, but of course you can’t do that with three fingers with the longest finger in the middle, creating almost a pivot point. It’s not impossible, but it will take a focused rework.

I would argue for the kind of music you seem to be interested in playing, that you don’t gain much by having a three finger technique, and if you did, then you would probably want to do more of a Gary Willis floating thumb thing, while also taking advantage of the thumb as a plucking digit. but this kind of stuff really helps a lot more with a jazz approach, where free access to arpeggios and very vertical runs is made easier by this technique… But if you’re playing music written by guys using two fingers, or a pick, then it doesn’t really inherently necessitate a more-than-two-finger approach anyway. I will say that the syncopated accent thing that the three finger seems to be bringing out, is actually a pretty cool effect; I’m not sure offhand if that’s very intentional per the song, but it certainly worth keeping in your back pocket, I do something fairly similar if I’m going to be chugging triplets etc.

all that being said, I don’t know that I thought that recording sounded overly bad in any way… There are some evenness problems, maybe, but you’re also playing a very clean sound, on a very clean pickup setup, playing in the foreground over the music- every little flab, rub, and outlier is going to stick out. A little dirt would even out the attack a bit- I almost never suggest pedes or compression as a solution to a physical issue, but this is one of those cases where it’s really more of a stylistic thing, which happens to smooth out the inconsistencies while doing it. And again I wince at the idea of using a compressor to even out attack, but this seems like a slam dunk scenario for the style of music, the style of playing, and the fact that you were 90% there anyway.


I’ll look back over my comment later for grammar issues, I’m doing voice to text and have to go now :p
 
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Maybe try standing or having the bass lower so there isn't so much of a bend at the wrist of the right hand.
That also might help eliminate the inefficient "rocking" back and forth of the plucking hand during the fast passages. Does sound pretty darn good though.
 
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But my point is that with every technique you have to find a way that works for YOU, not for someone else. If it turns out that after an extensive period of practicing you can only take it so far with a certain technique you have to find other ways to do it or move on.
I've been working on three finger style for all of 2 months now. But I'll post this anyway because I think I'm going about it a little differently.

First I practised playing in fours all on one note. Easy enough but it's hardly a goal in itself. So I tried playing scales but the 321 went out the window. Next was four notes then walking up to the 5th, 4 notes and walk back down. Hmmnn. Think I'm doing it right but hard to tell for sure..

So now I play scales 123, 234, 345, 456 etc. Now if I get out of whack, I'm instantly aware of the fact. And slowly the constant 321 is becoming ingrained. At this stage the metronome would just be a distraction. The plan is 15 keys of that pattern then try for 1234, 2345, 3456. If that doesn't work we go to another triplet exercise and stay there until that one is completely nailed

Etc

I'm not doing it for speed. I never play fast anyway. Instead I try to expand my comfort zone to include the tempos of pieces I might want to play. Great way to avoid tensing up.

Got to say in these early stages, changing up my attack to work specifically on the problem bits is working so much better than I expected. Part of me saw this as an exercise in avoiding Alzheimer's. Now I'm imagining something usable in a couple of years.

Sorry if I'm stating the obvious.
 
Work on your thumb techniques, and there's your 4's.
Or you can do a left hand hammer for one of the notes to get you to 4.

Unless you're playing in 3 or triplet feel, 3 fingers will always be tough especially the faster you go.

Good luck,
Dirk
 
Your middle finger is longer than your index and ring fingers - if you use 3 fingers, you set up with all 3 fingers coming in perpendicular to the strings, and your middle finger has to curl more than the other 2 strings - it’s like walking with one leg bent - it’s awkward for a lot of people.

With 2 fingers, you can angle your hand so that your index and middle fingers both end up with the same amount of curl - to me, it’s more natural, I play more consistently. 2 it is.
 
Billy Shehan uses the p-m-i (3-2-1)
method. He bends the plucking fingers at the second digit to negate the differential finger length issue.

3-2-1 is definitely workable but you've hit a snag. At this point your faith in the approach is wavering and wondering if you should abandon it.

I am with the camp that says, keep at the system in which you have invested years of study, because it demonstrably works. OP, you probably need to take a step back and enjoy and more importantly appreciate your accomplishment. You'll realize that you are on the right track and will blow past any impediments if you renew your efforts.

Please, follow up with future posts on your journey.

 
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