Bass Help

[Warmoose76]

I have been playing alot of bass lately and have been wondering if I should use all my fingers to pluck or just 2, anyways advice would be appreciated.

 

[genocide roach]

do whatever you need really. i generally use two. alot of bass players use three. what are you goals? speed? string jumping? your desired playing style will help determine your fingering style
~gR~

 

[Eligos]

Yeah, it really depends on what sound you're going for. I'll typically use two, but three for parts that are fast and not tremolo-picked (triplets, etc). I pick with my fingers aggressively over my neck pickup, because i like the punch, but occasionally i'll play by the bridge for that extra bit of bark.

 

[Valerie]

I always use three, I guess it's some kind of OCD where I think all my fingers deserve equal playing time But don't worry about not being able to use your pinky effectively, it's too short to reach the strings enough so don't bother with it.

 

[Cul-Kothoth]

I use 2 when i do alot of string skipping and 3 for the gallop feel and when my guitarist is tremolo picking and i need to keep up. And by the way most bassist will tell you that if your pinky hits the string when your picking, your doing something wrong.

By the way LadyValerie pretty nice rogue you got yourself nice crit chance.

 

[xeperu]

Using more than two fingers when playing faster stuff saves a lot of energy. But I found that I am much more accurate doing arpeggios and tremelo with two fingers at the same speed.

 

[Iron Bug]

I use all fingers when I play. well, the little finger is rarely used - I just don't need so many notes at once usually.
using more fingers saves the energy and lets fingers rest a little while other fingers pluck strings. even if very short, such periods of rest are important for playing long. learning to relax finger muscles at every moment when they're not used is the important thing. I can play very fast some hours next - there's no problem with muscle fatigability.

 

[TheInsane]

My main techniques are 2 finger, 3 finger and pick. On rare occations I use my thumb, usually to slap. I say do what the music demands or whatever you feel most comfortable with. Since learning the 3 finger technique it has helped me alot, however some stuff is just suited alot better for two fingers and then I use that.

I mostly prefer using my fingers but I also realize the sound a pick gives often helps me out in the band I play in so I use that as well.