5 “Levels” Of 3-Finger Plucking Hand Technique On Bass

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►► FREE: Get the tabs, notation and practice tracks for all the 3-finger plucking technique exercises and bass lines in this bass lesson → becomeabassist.com/3-finger-p...
I remember the very first time I was gobsmacked by someone’s bass playing. I was still a skinny teenager and somehow got my hands on the G3: Live In Tokyo DVD. (Yes, I had the physical DVD - does that make me old? Lol)
During Steve Vai’s set, the absolute MONSTER of a bass player - Billy Sheehan - takes an absolutely ripping bass solo, full of huge bends, technical acrobatics and blistering speed.
My jaw was glued to the floor.
I’d been playing bass for a while, but I’d never seen anyone play like him before. Just ridiculously fast, dripping with attitude and all done in skin tight shiny red pants. What a freakin’ rockstar.
I must have played that DVD hundreds of times, and it never got old. But the closer I looked, I noticed that he wasn’t just using 2 fingers in his plucking hand like a ‘normal’ bassist.
He was playing with three plucking fingers.
That was part of the reason he was able to play those scorching solo lines. So, wanting to emulate my new hero, I decided to try and learn how to do it for myself.
I imagined it would be months or even years before I could even begin to get comfortable using my ‘ring’ finger on my plucking hand.
► But I was wrong…
To get started was relatively easy. That first day, I found myself using 3 plucking fingers, just like Billy (although nowhere near the level he was at). Sure - learning to cross strings and actually play something musical took a bit longer, but I was amazed at how natural it felt once I got the hang of it.
So today, I want to show you how you can get started using this technique. I’ve got 5 Levels of Exercises for you (plus a sneaky song that you can learn with this technique).
In the ‘lower’ levels, it’s relatively easy to build up some super impressive speed, although if you want to get serious with this technique, then the higher levels will definitely give you a challenge.
Is this 3-finger technique something you’ll need to use in your day-to-day playing? Unless you’re Billy Sheehan, probably not, but it’s brilliant fun to work this technique up to speed and really master that gallop.
And when you can do it with real songs, like I show in the video, then that’s even better!
If you want all the backing tracks, plus the tabs and notation for everything you see in the video, I’m giving it all away for free. Just go to this page:
becomeabassist.com/3-finger-p...
Fill out the form on that page and I’ll send it your way so you can actually practice this stuff and work it into your playing.
Good luck with the lesson and happy playing!
Cheers,
Luke
P.S. To the get tabs, tracks and notation for *free*, just head to the site:
becomeabassist.com/3-finger-p...
P.P.S. If you want to check out the song that dropped my jaw, you can watch it here:
• G3 2005 Steve Vai & Bi...
It’s definitely not for everyone, but for teenaged Luke, I couldn’t get enough.
[Chapters]
0:00 Intro
0:57 How Three Finger Picking Technique Works For Bass Guitar
3:08 Three Finger Bass Technique - Level 1
5:31 Three Finger Bass Technique - Level 2
7:51 Three Finger Bass Technique - Level 3
10:37 Three Finger Bass Technique - Level 4
13:41 Three Finger Bass Technique - Level 5
#basstechnique #basslesson

Пікірлер: 55

  • @davidcraig1930
    @davidcraig19303 жыл бұрын

    “There are three basic options”... made me chuckle ;)

  • @privateerburrows
    @privateerburrows3 жыл бұрын

    I switched from 2-finger to 3-finger a few years ago, and never looked back. Glad I'm not alone. There are songs that positively can't be played with 2 fingers; one such is Steve Wonder's Do I Do. Well, I'm sure someone can, but I tried to play that bass line with 2 fingers for a couple of years and was getting nowhere; but then I tried 3 fingers and it flowed like molten butter.

  • @liys540

    @liys540

    Жыл бұрын

    Me too

  • @pleidhciocht1138

    @pleidhciocht1138

    9 ай бұрын

    I think one of Stevie Wonder's bassists used 3 fingers on basslines so that might be why

  • @privateerburrows

    @privateerburrows

    9 ай бұрын

    @@pleidhciocht1138 Yes, exactly, Nathan Watts. When I read about him, that was when I decided to try 3-fingers, and Bingo!

  • @troywest
    @troywest Жыл бұрын

    I switched to 3 finger couple years ago and the temptation is to just shred through because I expect to paly with 3 as well as I did with 2, I'm learning to be patient - these exercises are VERY good, thank you .. although it is hard to pay attention when I'm looking at your beautiful bass LOL

  • @JNeedels
    @JNeedels3 жыл бұрын

    Excellent quality vid for beginners/intermediates

  • @adrianlozano2563
    @adrianlozano25633 жыл бұрын

    Awesome video, I had been waiting this for a while!

  • @BecomeABassist

    @BecomeABassist

    3 жыл бұрын

    Glad you like it @doctor salt!

  • @thomasfioriglio
    @thomasfioriglio3 жыл бұрын

    Great lesson Luke. At first, I didn't think this would be something I would be interested in, but like most of your lessons, you teach it so well and with such a great attitude, it makes me want to try it. PS. glad you mentioned consistency in tone with your fingers. One of the issues I keep having is my pointer finger sounds nice and fat but my middle finger just sounds inconsistent and more trebley. I think that is one reason I keep going back to a pick. But I do keep practicing.

  • @carlosvillarroel6665
    @carlosvillarroel66653 жыл бұрын

    this is what i'm talking about in your last survey... excellent video

  • @simonkristofer
    @simonkristofer3 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for your video....your explain is easy to understand...🙂👍👍👍👍👍👍

  • @jdiesel9048
    @jdiesel90482 жыл бұрын

    Very cool video! Thanks for leaving a few mistakes in there so we don't get too frustrated when we make them too. And great suggestion on Iron Maiden The Trooper.

  • @marylewis3311
    @marylewis33112 ай бұрын

    Perfect thanks 🙏❤️🙏

  • @billymanilli
    @billymanilli10 ай бұрын

    I still consider myself a beginner... (Had the bass for about a year, but bought a house, had a custody battle to get my kids, and some other things, so only been able to play here and there until about a month ago), but for the last month, I've been spending about 3hrs in the morning and another 2-3 at night, every single day. I can't believe the progress I've made already! ANYWAY I've been working on the part at 12:10 ever since I started playing the bass, and I'm actually getting pretty good at it. Learned it from watching a random vid of the bassist from Cannibal Corpse... lol (They're not really my "style", but I do LOVE and want to play metal, and he plays fingerstyle FAST!). I seem to have a hard time with a pick... I feel like it might have something to do with me being "lefty", but I play bass and do literally EVERYTHING else righty (I even airbrush righty!!...but put a pencil in my right hand and it looks like a 3 year old's handwriting... lol) Thanks SO MUCH for the lessons!! You're a GREAT teacher, imho. I've tried several channels so far, but you are the best fit for me by FAR, it seems!

  • @rossfinazzo
    @rossfinazzo2 жыл бұрын

    Billy Sheehan brought this to the next level and used this technique for everything, especially 16th. I have always been discouraged to persist as I thought that physical features of fingers (e.g. too much gap between ring and middle) might be a limit for some bassists and make all that practicing useless, but I would be happy to change my mind if someone could prove everyone can use this technique and play fast with enough practice.

  • @BecomeABassist

    @BecomeABassist

    2 жыл бұрын

    Why not try to prove to yourself that you can do it?

  • @rossfinazzo

    @rossfinazzo

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@BecomeABassist yeah, good point, will try not to give up this time !

  • @aidengaming4696
    @aidengaming46962 жыл бұрын

    I have a question, how do u avoid galloping when using the 3 finger technique, like when your just playing 4 8th notes or 4 16th notes, it's hard to get the 3 note gallop out of the mix and just play the regular 4 notes, any tips on how to fix that?

  • @Steviec63
    @Steviec633 жыл бұрын

    For playing a major scale in groups of four notes - ascending is strict alternating. However, when descending I'm finding that, when it comes to moving to the next string down, I'm playing the lower string with the same finger as the last pluck on the higher string. I think this is 'raking' isn't it? Anyway, that feels really natural to me.

  • @WhozWolfgang
    @WhozWolfgang Жыл бұрын

    Primus - Toys Go Winding Down is a good three finger triplet exercise

  • @johnfollis2357
    @johnfollis23573 ай бұрын

    When using three fingers, I personally use ring middle index ring middle index ring middle index. Or index ring middle index ring middle index ring middle index. Sometimes when I am going from ring to index, I will come back on the middle finger and wait a split second before hitting with ring again. Sometimes I will go ring middle index middle index and wait a split second before hitting with the ring again. I also use this for playing chords in a hard and rocky way such has hard rock or metal. I will assign a finger per adjacent string. So if I play a power chord, I just use my index and middle fingers at the same time. If it is an extended power chord, I use index, middle and ring all at the same time. And if it is an octave chord, I use the index and ring at the same time.

  • @user-lo3bh3cl4o
    @user-lo3bh3cl4o7 ай бұрын

    I discovered playing with three fingers by accident when performing a bass solo - just got carried away & started doing it. At some point, I also started using my thumb on the E string. It wasn't until about a year & a half ago that I started to figure out using my thumb to slap. Then I saw a video of Victor Wooten in action & realized that three fingers & thumb made perfect sense - just like finger-picking on guitar.

  • @gameurai5701
    @gameurai57015 ай бұрын

    As a guitarist of 21 years, when I got my bass 3 years ago, I instantly started alternate 3-string fingerpicking aka going back and forth.I feel like reseting back to the index or ring finger feels unnatural and odd. This is how I recorded and produced a song too.

  • @user-yx7ii5jg1l
    @user-yx7ii5jg1l5 ай бұрын

    What kind of bass are you playing in this video? It is the best looking bass I've ever seen! PLEASE RESPOND. I must have one.

  • @26Feathers
    @26FeathersАй бұрын

    A question here. 10:24 Would you not rake when coming up the scale?

  • @Apocagen
    @Apocagen Жыл бұрын

    Question: Assuming going index > middle > ring > middle is alright shouldn't Index > Middle > Index > Ring also work?

  • @thenameisbrooks
    @thenameisbrooks3 жыл бұрын

    Banging tone. So what about the little finger? Does the change in strength make too challenge to adopt a consistent 4 finger technique?

  • @BecomeABassist

    @BecomeABassist

    3 жыл бұрын

    I think the biggest challenge for using the pinky would be the length - it's just so much shorter than the other 3. I'm sure you could use it, but you'd likely have to change your technique pretty substantially.

  • @buckycore
    @buckycore3 жыл бұрын

    As a Guitar player, my first inclination is to play three notes per string scales just to get into the mood. Having that said, I find it mission-critical to play with my fingers on my right hand and stop using a stupid pick. (So much more variety and musicality with playing fingers. Guitar players are missing the point when they play with a pick on bass) I find that when I go up a scale, my index leads, and when I go down, my ring leads. This just helps in connecting the two up, as I'm partially dyslexic.

  • @buckycore

    @buckycore

    3 жыл бұрын

    oh, oops. And now you've got us coridinateing our fingers where you start with the Ring going up. EEEK. Ok, fine. I'll accept the challenge.

  • @pickbassguitar2802
    @pickbassguitar28023 жыл бұрын

    That bass tho

  • @BecomeABassist

    @BecomeABassist

    3 жыл бұрын

    She’s a beaut!

  • @Mario_Gillette
    @Mario_Gillette3 жыл бұрын

    Hello Luke, My lady has bought me my very first bass for Christmas. I've never played one, and other than helping my brothers band load in and out their gear, I've never even held a bass. I do play guitar so I know the tuning and the fret board, but other than that, I know nothing of the instrument. Can you suggest some of your videos for beginners?

  • @BecomeABassist

    @BecomeABassist

    3 жыл бұрын

    Your partner sounds pretty amazing, @Mario Gillette! And if you’re a complete beginner on bass, I usually suggest focusing on 3 things to begin with. #1 - Technique (so you can learn to physically play and do it safely and not hurt yourself) #2 - Groove (which is easily your most important purpose as a Bassist) and #3 - Developing your ear (so you don’t have to rely on others or dodgy tan sites to learn songs, plus it’ll mean you can learn just about anything). I have a beginners starter pack that goes through all three areas. It’s a collection of my best free material for beginners. You can check it out right here: becomeabassist.com/bab-beginners-starter-pack And if you have any questions going though it, just shoot me an email! Hope it helps, friend!

  • @Mario_Gillette

    @Mario_Gillette

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@BecomeABassist Thank you so much for the advice! And yes, she is quite amazing!!🙂🙂

  • @kazerdira4704
    @kazerdira47043 жыл бұрын

    How do we pracrice to get faster , i play for almist 7 years nd i cant get more than 78 bpm for 16th notes

  • @jakslayersyth
    @jakslayersyth Жыл бұрын

    I like how you used Steve Harris's line from run to the hills but he only ever uses two fingers as 90% of people who search for 3 finger bass probably want to play some Maiden, I love a good three-finger bass line as its benefit is throwing in an octave but it isn't faster than even one finger

  • @smolchungus9213
    @smolchungus92139 ай бұрын

    I guess I'm extra weird because I go index, ring, middle but hey it works lol

  • @TRUSTLBLACKMETAL
    @TRUSTLBLACKMETAL2 жыл бұрын

    Should i learn 2 finger style to start then work my way up to 3 finger style?

  • @BecomeABassist

    @BecomeABassist

    2 жыл бұрын

    *Most* people start off learning with 2 fingers, then add a 3rd into the mix when they have a bit of experience, but there's no 'rule' that says that's the only way to do things. If you want to start with 3 fingers, go for it! It may be a little tricky at the start, but if you learn with 3 from the beginning, that's what will become natural to you over time.

  • @ErixSamson
    @ErixSamson3 жыл бұрын

    3 fingers on binary rhythms is challenging to me

  • @rotemharari1565
    @rotemharari15657 ай бұрын

    I play middle pointer ring😐

  • @somethingstrangeastrid
    @somethingstrangeastrid Жыл бұрын

    The tab for the trooper is wrong, he plays 2 eighth notes then 4 groups of 3 16th notes (gallops) not 5 gallops.

  • @dornelli1
    @dornelli111 ай бұрын

    FOR SOME REASON I AWAYS THOUGH WAS EASIER TO USE THREE, CAUSE 2 SLOW ME DOWN ALOT

  • @jimjimx5418
    @jimjimx54183 жыл бұрын

    Iron Maiden, quickly stops because he wants to keep google giving him money....

  • @BecomeABassist

    @BecomeABassist

    3 жыл бұрын

    Watch until the end friend

  • @OlettaLiano
    @OlettaLiano3 жыл бұрын

    Great lesson, but I prefer to use a pick.

  • @BecomeABassist

    @BecomeABassist

    3 жыл бұрын

    Perfect! Last week’s lesson was all about pick playing: kzread.info/dash/bejne/d4ebuNajc7acmJs.html

  • @OlettaLiano

    @OlettaLiano

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@BecomeABassist Cool. I've used a pick for about 25 years. You have a good channel.

  • @thomasfioriglio

    @thomasfioriglio

    3 жыл бұрын

    I'm primarily a pick player as well, but I do keep practicing my finger plucking. I like lessons like these because they take me out of my comfort zone. I may never use it, but its cool to try. Luke does a great job teaching these techniques.

  • @OlettaLiano

    @OlettaLiano

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@thomasfioriglio I use a pick mainly because I'm diabetic and sticking my fingers before and after every meal for my glucose readings. The fingers on my picking hand are just too sore to play with fingers.

  • @MAVIEGUITARS
    @MAVIEGUITARS3 жыл бұрын

    You are playing rest stroke, not free stroke, so technically it's not plucking, is it?

  • @BecomeABassist

    @BecomeABassist

    3 жыл бұрын

    I wouldn’t be able to tell you - I don’t actually know what those terms are! Lol

  • @graemerobertson5160

    @graemerobertson5160

    Жыл бұрын

    The rest stroke is where the plucking finger lands in the next string above. I think doing that inhibits speed. And you can't do it anyway when slapping.

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