How many fingers do you use on your right hand?

[octatoan]

I'm not a bassist, but I'm really curious. I may buy a bass in future, so I'd like to know. It seems four fingers might be usable.

Does anyone play with all four fingers? Three? Why (not)?

 

[punisher911]

I use two to hold my pick.... I'm typically a pick player.. Outside of that.. If I use fingers, it varies depending on what I'm trying to do. I will play a triplet with my thumb going down and two fingers coming up... Billy Sheehan uses three fingers and plays pretty fast. No "right or wrong" way, just what you're comfortable doing.

 

[Konfyouzd]

2

But I sometimes use my thumb and I have used my 3rd finger for tapping on occasion.

 

[octatoan]

Interesting. Most extreme metal players (Lapointe etc.) use three fingers (imr). I'm very comfortable with my thumb (because fingerstyle).

Are there any players who use four / five fingers?

 

[Dana]

3 finger ownership

 

[Necris]

4, rarely 5 (my pinky is too short to use much).

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

2 usually, occasionally 3 with finger style. I think the Cannibal Corpse (Alex?) guy has developed a technique using at least 3, if not 4 fingers for fast quarternote type bass lines. I've tried to use it, hard to keep as solid time as I'd like without the gobs of practice he's probably put in...dude's a beast on the bass.

 

[octatoan]

When you say 3, do you mean thumb or ring?

 

[LordCashew]

I'm mainly a 2-finger player but I will use my thumb and other fingers if advantageous.

My general philosophy is the fewer fingers you use, the easier it will be to play with controlled, uniform attack. If a line is slow enough, I may use only my index finger ala Geddy or only my thumb if I want to palm-mute. But for most lines, I use standard 2-finger alternating technique and may occasionally incorporate my ring finger or thumb to facilitate an awkward string-crossing.

I feel like techniques using any more than two fingers are best suited for specific applications. Fast triplet figures are intuitive and articulate well with ring, middle, index, or some other permutation of the three.

Four finger techniques including either the thumb or pinky can sound really good for fast runs, but with that many fingers going, there are a ton of possible string crossings to master. I have had good results using those techniques to play tremolo-like figures.

There are guys like Alex Webster and John Myung who use three fingers with strict alternation to play fast rhythms grouped in four. The challenge there is that the downbeat constantly shifts from finger to finger, making clean articulation difficult. It can be done, though...

 

[GenghisCoyne]

ring middle index in that order for picking. thumb middle index for chordal ambient type stuff. can almost double thump which would be thumb down thumb up ring middle, but i dont practice enough.

 

[cjms1997]

I'll typically use my index and middle finger. I use my thumb for slapping/thumping and sometimes use my ring finger if I can't get going fast enough with my index and middle finger. I typically only play jazz on bass though, so don't go very fast very often.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

I use five sometimes

 

[Roland777]

Making the switch from two to three on all things metal or rock, à la Webster. Trying to incorporate my thumb for lines with string skipping. Funk fingerstyle still sees two fingers for the most part though. I make no effort trying to use the pinky - way too short in relation to the rest of my fingers to get any consistency.

 

[TheEmptyCell]

Slower lines I use 1 finger. String skipping or quicker stuff, 2. Triplets a la Iron Maiden, 3. If I want to get crazy, add the thumb plus two fingers for finger picked guitar style playing. Also, the thumb for slapping. Working on double popping currently. My pinky is too small to bother training it for plucking.

 

[Primitive Guitarist]

Have worked my way up to 3, especially for those iron maiden style triplets.
Can't get my pinky in there sounding as constant as the others.

 

[Radau]

Three because John Myung

 

[Fretless]

Dear lord. Read the thread title out of context and we could be talking about many a different thing lol.

It all depends on the song. Anywhere from 1-5. (if we're counting thumbs as fingers) I do occasionally fingerpick in a classical style on bass. DON'T JUDGE ME!!!! I have my own unique style that works.

 

[oracles]

3 mostly. I typically pick in a 3,2,1,2,3,2,1,2,3 pattern (ring, middle, index respectively). I find it easier than trying to integrate four, and I get more power out of it than using my pinky.

 

[Dayn]

Five. Less depending on the pattern and rhythm.

 

[Grand Moff Tim]

I started out using three most of the time, but as my skills improved, I actually started using two more often. As my speed and stamina built up, I found I could play with two what would have previously required three. I do still occasionally throw in the third for faster runs or if it makes string skipping easier.

I used to use pim for some chording, since I was still fresh off guitar, but that eventually turned into ima, and now i only really use my thumb if I'm trying to go for that old motown muted sound, but don't want to stuff a bunch of foam under my strings so I palm mute.

Gary Willis uses is thumb alot, and as much as I try to emulate his technique, I just can't nail that down. It's too awkward for me.