Is three finger plucking (index middle ring) worth it to learn early? Haven’t quite completed the course yet. I really like thrash metal and metal in general, and songs go by pretty fast. Would three finger plucking improve stamina and/or speed once I get the basics down?
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I’ve not spent time practicing it, but find I do it naturally on occasion. I find it is helpful on triplets or 3-note patterns, but doesn’t really provide benefit beyond that. I would not be able to chug evenly with three fingers.
I’d practice using a pick instead if I wanted to be able to get that kind of consistent speed.
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You asking about 3 finger style made me think of Unleash the Archers … a Canadian Power Metal group from Vancouver …
Watch the bassist’s ( Zahk Hedstrom ) technique … its crazy … and fast… thumb, finger, finger …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqUPGa15Oto
If you haven’t seen this before … I share it to show another possible option to speed without a pick… though I think his style is kind of unique.
Cheers!
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I used to play three finger picking on guitar but, strangely, have never been inclined to do so on bass. Mind you, I think it’s a different technique; with guitar you have your hand at more of an angle so the fingers tend to naturally each fall on different strings. I don’t find that the case with the hand position on bass so I’ve never done it. However there are some top bassists that do.
I never worked on this one.
I think that if you’re into playing, writing and performing music where it’s either this or a pick, it might be worth learning?
Anything is worth learning when the interest is there.
Wish I had better tips, but this is not in my arsenal.
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Thumb-index-middle seems to be more used than index-middle-ring.
It can be used both for faster playing, but also for palm muting styles.
I am not sure how prevalent it is among metal players; I know groove- and jazz-oriented players use it quite often (Damian Erskine, Janek Gwizdala, Henrik Linder, Dominique Di Piazza, Hadrien Feraud, …) They can play pretty freaking fast 
(Note: the ramp (between the pickups) here is essential!!)
I’ll point you to an Alex Webster interview and his book:
I’m working on getting the accents to sound good and speed up my 3 finger technique now.
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My son plays with index, middle, ring. He says it’s just the way he’s always played. I’ve tried it and it’s not easy for me. I have trouble even getting just two to do what I want them to do…
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If you are new and want to learn technique early then consider Gary Willis. It’s very effective there are a bunch of them on Youtube. I took his course of ScottBass and he went in depth with it and it solves many problem in one go, muting, cross string and speed.
check it out
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Same here. I don’t know that I’ve ever used all three fingers playing fingerstyle. Sometimes I do the Jamerson thing and find I’m only using one. For anything beyond what my fingers can do while still keeping perfect timing I use a pick.
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I play with middle and ring finger sometimes. It started as an exercise then I had some injuries on my index finger (more common than you think) I felt right at home, that said… playing all 3 fingers require some extra finger Kung Fu skills.
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Welcome to the forum 
I haven’t tried it yet myself, but when looking for videos on my bass (Schecter Riot 4), YouTuber Rodney McG uses it and was getting some pretty gnarly riffs going. I think it might be covered in a metal bass course I bought, but I haven’t gone through much of it yet.
Here we have the perfect meme of what my fingers are like when I try 3-finger plucking:
Of course, from left to right, that’s first finger, middle finger, ring finger.
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BWAHAHA!! Yup … that meme is perfect 
