Ring Finger enters dance!!

[UniTap]

Last Tuesday, my guitar player sent me a midi version of his latest composition and I am actually very excited about it; very cool stuff. I started writing the bassline to it until I came upon a very fast rythm guitar lick which he wanted me to follow him note for note... It's like 220 bpm with a lot of quarter notes. I can go pretty fast with just 2 fingers but that was way over my skills. Since I believe practice makes everything possible I decided to start using my ring finger to attack the strings and aquire more speed. 5 hrs later, I can play it tight and clean . But my ring finger has now a big bloody blister on it, reminds me of my beginnings . Anyone had a similar experience lately?

 

[Mayers]

I now can play with 3 fingers but I didn't learn it in one day and to the point to have blisters. I worked on it everyday for some time , I have caluses on it. Fun technic that I discovers after I saw John Myung and Les Claypool use it.

 

[patobrujo]

sometimes i use my ring finger but it's mostly when i have to do fast triplets, not that i play with 3 fingers.

And yes, those bloody blisters are part of the road to perfection. Luckly mostly in the beggining of the road, but i must say that after some gigs they still reappear

 

[Kirby]

Love the 3 finger gallop. Got into it years ago when I was doing some Steve Harris stuff. I found it much easier to do with 3 fingers, however, it did take a while to get it down. Congrats on nailing the part!

 

[Basspro]

Yeah you just gotta break in that third finger. Great for speed, and also plucking out chords. And a must if your gonna slap-pop or strum.

 

[rhythmCity944]

When I'm not playing with a pick, I'm all about the 3 finger playing. With my hand it just feels right. I used to get blisters but I would just glue them up and keep playing...now I can't feel my finger tips with the hard skin...

 

[pete1000]

Love the 3 finger gallop. Got into it years ago when I was doing some Steve Harris stuff. I found it much easier to do with 3 fingers, however, it did take a while to get it down. Congrats on nailing the part!

I played in a Maiden inspired band many years ago and even had to enlist the service of finger No.4 for the really fast 32nd bits.
Couldn't do that for extended periods of time as the right hand position was compromised and cramp was the ultimate result!
Could have just used a pick.....but I couldnt pick fast enough!
Now it's a case of 'less is more' and three fingers is plenty enough!

-Pete.

 

[oli@bass]

Congratulations on nailing that part after only 5 hours by use of a new technique. I wish I was as good as that...

 

[five7]

How about your thumb? Going up and down like you had a pick on it will go just as fast.

 

[phatduckk]

ive spent around 20 minutes / day for months getting my ring finger into the mix. i dont play with my fingers much but a few minutes/day for a few years has gotten my finger playing pretty decent

 

[UniTap]

How about your thumb? Going up and down like you had a pick on it will go just as fast.

Wow, wish i could do that...

 

[gafman]

Billy Sheehan is an exponent of the 3 finger technique, and man is he quick. There is most likely an extract from one of his instructional video's on Youtube. Worth a look if anyone wants to explore how he approachs it.
here's a link I just found. Very 80's.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okBPsjjvAz0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okBPsjjvAz0[/ame]