For me, alternating plucking does not have to be necessarilly a “strict” alternating pattern, it can (must) be adapted to what you’re playing. What’s important in my opinion is that you use two fingers, but not always in a strict I/M/I/M form.
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Right? Perfect example
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@JoshFossgreen is the ultimate authority on this. He mentions in the B2B course that plucking is line-relative, i.e., whatever finger start or subsequent sequence of finger plucking is dependent on what makes playing the line the easiest.
For example, sometimes he suggests starting with the M instead of the I. Sometimes he suggests repeating the use of a particular starting finger when doing string jumps. So, yeah, it really comes down to what finger plucking pattern is most efficient in a given bass line. Hope this helps.
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I wouldn’t worry about it unless it’s gonna be on the exam. You can do it with all index or in your case your middle finger. When you can try to out in some finger exercises. When your plugging gets too fast or too complicated for one finger the other will automatically kicks in subconsciously.
This is the way.
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The longer I play the less I tend to follow a strict pattern.
Funnily enough after watching one of @John_E great recent covers and seeing how he adapted the plucking pattern I felt a lot less guilty about it
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Most definitely @terb
I would be contributing but even after @John_E and @PamPurrs excellent how to video I still cannot get my stupid head around it
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Finger plugging is like a golf swing it means nothing if it doesn’t produce good results.
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It’s a brain issue more than anything @terb
I stupidly cannot comprehend which cable connects where!
Which leads to frustration and me “spitting my dummy out of my pram”
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This…. Learn to use alternative plucking so that when you play on your own, you can use what “best” works for you…. Timing and tone are what matters…. How you get it is up to you…. Learn the basics and develop you own “personalized” style of play.
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Thanks for the replies everyone! Feeling a lot better about my playing now…I was always worried I was doing something “wrong” but tended to tell myself “who cares as long as it sounds good?”
I guess playing the bass is like eating a Reese’s
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You can’t eat just one.
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I used to worry about this as well, but at the end of the day its whatever works for you. There are no strict rules. Occasionally I do think about it but it doesnt concern me like it used to.
Right now I can feel callouses on both my M and I fingers and they both feel the same, which means without me thinking about it I must be using both fingers somewhat equally!.
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I haven’t seen it mentioned, so I’ll say my two cents:
If you want control, you should go really slowly go through a pattern like a scale, choosing each finger and note combo consciously (and repeating it!).
You can do unevenly numbered patterns so you switch fingers, string raking and lots more to mix it up.
Of course it doesn’t matter if you can play what you want to play, but when you run into a wall, go back to technique and control drills. 
Cheers,
Antonio
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For those early on in this journey, I’d recommend maybe looking at 3-finger plucking. I’ve been using it for a few months, and by now it feels as organic as using just 2 fingers used to. I typically go ring->middle->index, varying when it seems beneficial as discussed above.
I have experimented with three finger plucks but it still feels unnatural to me, especially since my ring finger is primarily used for muting. I can see how it would be useful for triplets but I guess I will just need some more practice!
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Hey everyone, I just got a bit demoralized by Module 4, Lesson 2 “With Or Without You”, just trying to maintain alternate picking at the slow workout.
The issue I’m having is that at a random point in the exercise, one of my fingers will not respond, then I lose the beat while I try to get my other finger to try to jump back in.
So, sometimes I’m getting I/M/I/M/I/M//skip/skip/skip/I/I/I/I/I/M/I/ M/I/M/M/M/ until there’s a rest break and I can reset. It doesn’t seem to be a predictable pattern either; it’s like a short circuit somewhere.
Does this make any sense at all?
Just went back and watched the video, maybe it would help if you could explain where you’re getting tripped up? Is it during the transition between the A & E strings or earlier in the riff?
If you are struggling to maintain I/M/I/M while on the A string then my guess is you’re focusing too much on the fretting hand.
I would just practice alternating on any open string until you don’t even think about it, then adding the fretting hand while maintaining the pattern
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I’m not consistently getting tripped up in any one specific spot. Sometimes I’ll lose one of my alternating fingers while cruising along on the A string, sometimes it’ll happen in the middle of the G on the E string, and if I’m really lucky, I can do a single loop without losing my plucking.
The note transitions with my left hand are relatively smooth, forgiving a weak pinky finger, but that’s just practice and development to fix.
I was thinking something similar with going back to an open string, so I reviewed M4-L1 “Chugging”, and I seem to be losing a finger now and again at the slow workout on the open E string too.
This is most vexing.