When I was a teenager (back in the '70's) I started playing bass and my Father told me he had once asked Nils Hening-Orsted-Peterson (NHOP) how he approached playing with three fingers. NHOP told him to forget about which finger was the "first" finger - they all become the "first" finger at some point. He said to practice 2 and four note groupings with 3 fingers, placing accents on the 2nd and 4th in whatever grouping you play (especially useful for jazz phrasing). He also said to not always play sequentially with your fingers. After a while you forget which is the first finger and you play with whichever finger is most convenient which makes jumping across strings so much more fluent. Although I haven't played in 30 years, at the time, I never looked back.
Thank you for the insight! It's great to hear from a person who has actually spoken with the one of the "Bass Gods". It is very true what you say, figuring stuff out with the three fingers is an ongoing thing. I just had a break-through with a piece by changing the the fingering, reminds me very much of what NHOP told your father.
You will find that all the technicality. Convenience is the key. Even with two fingers sometimes you will find you aren't doing it perfectly according to technique. I will admit I play a lot with a pick just from the genre I play. I did go from guitar to bass and use up and down strokes aka whatever is convenient to me. Playing guitar I never knew so many "puritan snobs" were out there pertaining to bass. I can play with fingers BTW but play genres where the bassists used picks. But some bassist even with pick insists on down strokes. What "puritans". It's whatever works. And Tabs or even the music in books may not be right. But no one cares how
Hi I am mainly a 2 finger player but have been learning 3 fingers for a few years mainly for triplets. If I tap my fingers naturally I start with my index finger but have learnt starting with the ring finger. I still find it a difficult technique and use it only when 2 fingers is really hard work or impossible for me because of the speed. How long did it take you to master it.
Hi @aubreyapplewhaite, I think it took me two years to get it to gigging level. I had a baby break of a few years and was starting off with a clean slate. Now I can play faster/more accurate/better than before the break.
As I started playing the bass only four months ago I'm a total newbie. Fifty till thirty years ago I played the violin and viola though. After deciding that plucking worked best for me - warmer tone, straight wrist indeed - I quickly started to wonder: why keep the ringy and the pinky unemployed? Also I had some issues with left hand muting; resonance is a b*tch. The straight wrist allows my right hand pinky to mute higher strings by stretching it. It was not hard to learn, especially as I had to play slowly anyway. Plucking with my ringy I use indeed for galloping rhythms and triplets, because I like plucking with my index on the beat. So yes, I do recommend it. But I'm not dogmatic about it; in the end I simply do what feels best. Regularly I use only two fingers for plucking (for long, sustained notes even only my index). What I've noticed is that three finger plucking makes playing double stops easier. This is something I love, as it makes my bass more important for harmony. I haven't tried playing tritones yet. My biggest problem is that I can't focus on two things simultaneously. So plucking can get messed up when I need to pay attention to my left hand. Needless to say that I haven't build up much muscle memory yet. That's on my age quite a challenge anyway. But that's what practising for and it's very satisfactory to get it right at the end. Also it keeps dementia away. PS: in the meantime I learned left hand muting as well - playing staccato is too much fun to skip!
Hi Mark, this sounds great! Basically you put my video in a nutshell :) It is a lot of work, and I agree, it's harder to get it in your brain. I'd be very interested what a young folks could do with this technique if he/she puts his/her mind to it. Until then we hold the fort :)
The mistake you seem to make is approaching it as a replacement iso an addition. Trying to dislearn something is very hard and will set you back indeed. Learning something new is easier. It only requires making new neural networks. Start with rhythms that have groups of three notes, like galloping and triplets. Increase speed gradually.
I've been playing with three since I threw away the pic 15 years ago... Maybe 20 now .. there's just so much more freedom .. especially when you have good command of your two No more raking lol...
This is so cool! Out of interest, what kind of music do you play with it? I hear some cool electronic stuff on your channel. When I play walking bass I sometimes revert to one finger (!), that's all they used back in the day :)
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When I was a teenager (back in the '70's) I started playing bass and my Father told me he had once asked Nils Hening-Orsted-Peterson (NHOP) how he approached playing with three fingers. NHOP told him to forget about which finger was the "first" finger - they all become the "first" finger at some point. He said to practice 2 and four note groupings with 3 fingers, placing accents on the 2nd and 4th in whatever grouping you play (especially useful for jazz phrasing). He also said to not always play sequentially with your fingers. After a while you forget which is the first finger and you play with whichever finger is most convenient which makes jumping across strings so much more fluent. Although I haven't played in 30 years, at the time, I never looked back.
Thank you for the insight! It's great to hear from a person who has actually spoken with the one of the "Bass Gods". It is very true what you say, figuring stuff out with the three fingers is an ongoing thing. I just had a break-through with a piece by changing the the fingering, reminds me very much of what NHOP told your father.
You will find that all the technicality. Convenience is the key. Even with two fingers sometimes you will find you aren't doing it perfectly according to technique.
I will admit I play a lot with a pick just from the genre I play. I did go from guitar to bass and use up and down strokes aka whatever is convenient to me. Playing guitar I never knew so many "puritan snobs" were out there pertaining to bass. I can play with fingers BTW but play genres where the bassists used picks. But some bassist even with pick insists on down strokes. What "puritans". It's whatever works. And Tabs or even the music in books may not be right. But no one cares how
Definitely want to see more.
Stay tuned... Thank you for the feedback!
Hi I am mainly a 2 finger player but have been learning 3 fingers for a few years mainly for triplets. If I tap my fingers naturally I start with my index finger but have learnt starting with the ring finger. I still find it a difficult technique and use it only when 2 fingers is really hard work or impossible for me because of the speed. How long did it take you to master it.
Hi @aubreyapplewhaite, I think it took me two years to get it to gigging level. I had a baby break of a few years and was starting off with a clean slate. Now I can play faster/more accurate/better than before the break.
Thanks I will continue to practice as I am steadily getting better I just need to put in the hours of practice every day.
As I started playing the bass only four months ago I'm a total newbie. Fifty till thirty years ago I played the violin and viola though. After deciding that plucking worked best for me - warmer tone, straight wrist indeed - I quickly started to wonder: why keep the ringy and the pinky unemployed? Also I had some issues with left hand muting; resonance is a b*tch.
The straight wrist allows my right hand pinky to mute higher strings by stretching it. It was not hard to learn, especially as I had to play slowly anyway.
Plucking with my ringy I use indeed for galloping rhythms and triplets, because I like plucking with my index on the beat. So yes, I do recommend it. But I'm not dogmatic about it; in the end I simply do what feels best. Regularly I use only two fingers for plucking (for long, sustained notes even only my index). What I've noticed is that three finger plucking makes playing double stops easier. This is something I love, as it makes my bass more important for harmony. I haven't tried playing tritones yet.
My biggest problem is that I can't focus on two things simultaneously. So plucking can get messed up when I need to pay attention to my left hand. Needless to say that I haven't build up much muscle memory yet. That's on my age quite a challenge anyway. But that's what practising for and it's very satisfactory to get it right at the end. Also it keeps dementia away.
PS: in the meantime I learned left hand muting as well - playing staccato is too much fun to skip!
Hi Mark, this sounds great! Basically you put my video in a nutshell :) It is a lot of work, and I agree, it's harder to get it in your brain. I'd be very interested what a young folks could do with this technique if he/she puts his/her mind to it. Until then we hold the fort :)
You are in a great position to learn this technique.
After 30 years, I think I’d go backwards trying to adjust.
The mistake you seem to make is approaching it as a replacement iso an addition. Trying to dislearn something is very hard and will set you back indeed. Learning something new is easier. It only requires making new neural networks.
Start with rhythms that have groups of three notes, like galloping and triplets. Increase speed gradually.
I've been playing with three since I threw away the pic 15 years ago... Maybe 20 now
.. there's just so much more freedom
.. especially when you have good command of your two
No more raking lol...
This is so cool! Out of interest, what kind of music do you play with it? I hear some cool electronic stuff on your channel. When I play walking bass I sometimes revert to one finger (!), that's all they used back in the day :)