Trying to move to two fingers

[s_wood]

Yeah that's all. I'll look more closely during practice tonight to see if the nail is too long. I

I've been playing with three plucking fingers for years (index, middle and ring). About a year ago, I noticed the same problem you've described: my middle finger tone was much brighter than my index finger tone. For me, evening out the tone was accomplished by making sure my finger. aims were the same length. Longer nail = brighter tone, and 1/8" difference in length was a lot.

 

[Engle]

I have to keep those nails trimmed short. I carry clippers in my bag o stuff.

 

[bassplayer2014]

Time for old school techniques.

Jam along to a simple YouTube drum beat. At first play only one note using two fingers. Play in rhythm with the the drums. Play this one note for five or more minutes straight, every day for one month. After you get comfortable with playing one note easily then add a second, third, fourth, etc note in rhythm with the drum beat. In one year's time your two finger playing technique will be greatly improved.

Hard work and determination wins.

 

[el murdoque]

It simply is a matter of practice.
If you're able to play fast, even notes - you're already halfway there.

 

[smeet]

Always remember, a lot of your uneven and noisy technique will not be heard when playing with other people. You can fix a lot of things with good technique, but your plucking fingers will always sound a bit different from each other. Try to even it out, but also use it to your advantage. Use the middle finger when you want a brighter sound.

Play a passage with your index finger only. First make it as thumpy and round sounding as you can. Then make it as bright and tight sounding as you can. Then do both those things using only your middle finger. After a while, you'll start to feel how you make tonal differences with subtle shifts in the angle and direction in which you pluck. Also, practice a line alternating starting with the index finger, then start it with the middle.

The difference may not be as much as you think. Record yourself playing and see how it sounds when you listen to the recording.

 

[Robert Sperling]

My guess is the angle of attack you are using is too flat, a very difficult thing to explain but easy to show.
Basically as though your hand and fingers are to horizontal with the strings where they should be more
upright, so that the pad of your fingers touch the strings. Longish nails should not get in the way unless
you are trying to make an upstroke (ala 16th note) with your fingernails. It's a matter of technique, and
like most techniques some will be easy for some to master and difficult for others, and vice versa. Just
keep at it. BTW it's not only about speed but about range of notes you can cover compared to the 1 finger pluck
as well. But if you can play most passages then it matters very little how it was accomplished.

 

[Hounddog409]

Hey guys. I currently play fingerstyle using only 1 finger (index). I can use 2, but when I use the 2nd (middle finger), the tone is so much different (it has much more attack and sounds brighter). I like the more mellow tone of the index finger and want the 2nd to sound that way, but I can't seem to get it to.

1. Is it okay to just use one finger? Is there any limitation other than speed?
2. Is this normal and just needs practice to develop, or do some peoples' anatomy just result in this type of problem?
3. Is there any exercise you can recommend to try to even out the tones? Even when I go very slow it seems to happen.

Thanks!

Use what ever works for you. One finger or three.

Geddy Lee uses one finger the majorly for the time. Sure there are others.

And I keep my nails as short as possible for the plucking ones. Keeps the tone more consistent

 

[CapnSev]

One other problem I notice is that I anchor my thumb on the pickup or sometimes the end of the neck, and when I try to reach for the high G string I can barely make it. But it causes me to hit it too hard because I'm reaching so far. I like the anchor on bass, though. I play finger style guitar and don't like to anchor with that, but on bass it feels right.

That's not an uncommon problem, I have pretty long fingers and even I can't reach the G comfortably with my thumb rested on the pickup. The easiest solution is to move your thumb anchor point to the E string when playing the G. It takes practice, but your right hand will thank you later.

 

[Pirate Captain]

One of the greatest bass lines ever played (EVER) was played by one finger

 

[JGbassman]

You do you. If you want to branch out and use two fingers, you will get it over time. We all start at the same place, it's your goals and drive that propels you.

There are actually a wide array of different sounds you can get from your fingers. The pads, tips, fingernail scrape, fingernail/pinch harmonics, picking ala the fingernails are all very cool and useful sounds you can get using just your fingers. I can play very uniform, light, get the pads in for a great dub sound, dig in for a great growl, and also use the tip to play in a brushing or back and forth in a very light manner, and get some great speed going that way. Iron maiden speed is played with just the tips for me, kind of like the very tip of a pick for speed.

I'd definitely add it to your arsenal and then start experimenting with different sounds.

 

[Fender_Bender]

I have to keep my nails really short or I get intermittent clicking going on and I've spent too much time getting extraneous noises out to live with that. I pluck with three fingers going ring,middle,then index. You practice anything enough it eventually becomes muscle memory.
When doing something like octaves you'll want to not follow the rules and keep plucking the lower string solely with your middle finger because it is longer.
You can invent exercises,particularly with string crossing and octaves to improve.
My big thing with using three fingers is to spread the load out and to minimize any possibility of a repetitive stress injury. I really don't believe in moving your thumb down to the A string but it works for some people.
To throw another wrench into things, you should rest your pinky on the A string when playing on the G string to mute sympathetic vibrations. It will actually make those notes clearer. Again it eventually becomes muscle memory.

 

[tpaul]

My first thought was that you probably have a fingernail that's catching the string on the middle finger. Then when I read your post about your middle finger, it confirmed that thought.

You can play with the meat of the fingers or the nails, your choice, but as you've noticed, you want to be consistent about it. If one finger uses the nail and one doesn't it's going to sound very inconsistent.

You should be able to get the nail down low enough on the middle finger so it's out of the way. If you can't, you might try using gloves or tape or fingertip protectors. There are products for bass players who get blisters, and they can be very helpful in getting a consistent tone. You could also try changing your playing style and using nails on both fingers, which will give a brighter attack but at least it will be consistent.

Or, just use one finger. Or use your first and third fingers instead of the first and second. Or use a pick. Or your thumb. Lots of options. Jerry Garcia was missing part of one of his fingers, and Django Reinhardt had two fingers disabled in a fire, but that didn't stop either of them from becoming legends of the guitar, and it won't stop you, either.

 

[ThumbBum]

I often use my thumb in an down and upstroke fashion and use my index and middle for the lower strings. Sounds awesome.

 

[klokker]

Always remember, a lot of your uneven and noisy technique will not be heard when playing with other people. You can fix a lot of things with good technique, but your plucking fingers will always sound a bit different from each other. Try to even it out, but also use it to your advantage. Use the middle finger when you want a brighter sound.

Play a passage with your index finger only. First make it as thumpy and round sounding as you can. Then make it as bright and tight sounding as you can. Then do both those things using only your middle finger. After a while, you'll start to feel how you make tonal differences with subtle shifts in the angle and direction in which you pluck. Also, practice a line alternating starting with the index finger, then start it with the middle.

The difference may not be as much as you think. Record yourself playing and see how it sounds when you listen to the recording.

This is good here. I've worked pretty hard on this myself, but I think to expect all your fingers to sound exactly the same is unrealistic. Yeah work on it. But then you'll discover that notes sound differently string to string, fret to fret etc. You could go crazy if you aren't careful! Work at it. But once your playing, the differences will probably add, not detract from what you're doing.

 

[Guitalia]

Since you're just beginning to work on using two fingers, you might experiment with using your index and ring fingers rather than your index and middle fingers. I can and do use different combinations of thumb plus fingers, but I've used index/ring most of the time for many years. Seems easier to get those two fingers to produce the same sounds compared to index/middle.

Also, consider practicing standing up at least part of the time, since you want to maintain the same hand position practicing that you use when you're performing.

 

[Tdub77]

I didn't read all the posts so forgive me if this has been brought up. I'm guessing the tone issue could be solved by the attack you make with you fingers. The pad of your fingers need to be making basically the same type of contact on the strings. You can work on this. It's actually something I do intentionally to get a tone I want. You might also try the Sting style index/thumb thing to have that thumpy tone. Again you can practice this.

 

[TL23NC]

Hey guys. I currently play fingerstyle using only 1 finger (index). I can use 2, but when I use the 2nd (middle finger), the tone is so much different (it has much more attack and sounds brighter). I like the more mellow tone of the index finger and want the 2nd to sound that way, but I can't seem to get it to.

1. Is it okay to just use one finger? Is there any limitation other than speed?
2. Is this normal and just needs practice to develop, or do some peoples' anatomy just result in this type of problem?
3. Is there any exercise you can recommend to try to even out the tones? Even when I go very slow it seems to happen.

Thanks!

I played with only my middle finger for a very long time (over 30 years) and did alright with it. I was never a very technical player but could play the parts I needed to- mostly jazz and rock. Around two years ago I overdid it at a gig (wasn't playing much at the time) and got a nice blister on it. I had to bring up the second-string (index finger). After that turned out okay I decided to start using two fingers. It took some time to get used to it, but after some practice the sound is the same when plucking with either finger. At this point I wouldn't go back to my single-finger technique. Now there's less wear and tear on each finger and it's definitely allowing me to play faster. Have fun.

 

[Plake]

Had same issue as well, going from 1 to 2 and 2 to 3. Settled in on 2 and played Joy Division's Transmission til my fingers bled to get the feel down. Didnt know wrapping my thumb was a TB no no. Jeez, I like Gibson's too.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

It takes practice and lots of it. Don't give up. Music is HARD.

 

[Rabidhamster]

A lot of times with the difference in length between the two fingers when you're meatin' it with the index, you're playing just the tip with the middle. Practice playing with the meat of only your middle, leave out the index, then go back to it. you can snap your middle finger off the string instead of your index finger, if you can picture that motion. It gets easier with time and eventually you wont even remember working on it.