Why don't classical guitarists use their little fingers?
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- Опубликовано: 21 окт 2024
- People sometimes ask me why classical guitarists don't typically play with the little finger on their right hand. These are some of my thoughts on why.
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This question just entered my head today. And here it is. The answer.
Great video as always but what I really need to know now is, what guitar is this ?
That's my concert guitar.
zebulonturrentine.com/no26
@@alexrockwellmusic Thank you !
Alex, though it’s a bit off topic, this piece suggests another reason for my trying to learn tremolo technique. After hearing Recuerdas de la Alahambra a few too many times, and not hearing tremolo used very often overall, I figured it wasn’t worth learning, especially given the difficulty.
Campanas del Alba changed my mind. And I figured I could eventually incorporate it on some pieces where it wasn’t formally called for.
I feel that way about tremolo technique too. It's a very challenging technique to execute well, and the payoff is maybe, like, ten pieces in the guitar repertoire. But on the other hand, by working on it, the results of your efforts bleed over into all aspects of your playing.
And I'm right there with you. Campanas del Alba > Recuerdos
What about resting the pinky on the soundboard/pick guard? I know it's common, and I've gotten fairly used to it myself, but sometimes I feel the hand is a bit stiff and wonder whether it would feel "freer" if I just got better at fingerpicking with a floating hand. Cheers.
Terrible! Your observation that it's stiff is correct. It requires actively extending your pinky, which introduces tension in the hand. And because it's anchored it heavily limits the freedom of movement in the other fingers.
But like I said, maybe you can make it work. Merle Travis anchored his middle, ring, and little fingers flat on the pickguard, and look what he was able to do.
@@alexrockwellmusic I thought as much.
For some reason it seems prevalent among lutenists and some classical guitarists. I don't know if it is an archaism that people felt was "correct" to adopt for the performance of early music, or a more modern equivocation.
To be fair it did seem easier to pick precisely while anchored when I was starting out. But that is certainly subjective, and now the degrees of tension and lack of freedom become noticeable.
I've been trying to get better at it lately but then usually fall back due to habit and laziness. Time to unlearn this for good.
Thank you!
Didn’t Mayer also do a thumb index technique? I thought I made up a new claw technique (that’s what I called it anyway) and someone told me about Mayer (or whoever).
Yes he does. But I'm pretty sure he even acknowledges that it's not the most proper or efficient; it's just what he does and he doesn't necessarily recommend it to others.
Great video! Loved the fact you mentioned the way Merle plays Cannonball Rag and compared him with Chet!
So there's an interesting thing here where two finger style banjo and (Merle) Travis style were on the scene at the same time
When Scruggs three finger style banjo was new... people also started doing Travis Pickin' with 3-4 fingers... food for thought 🤔
My understanding is that Travis's thumb and index technique is straight out of Western Kentucky country blues tradition, tracing back to Arnold Schultz. I know less about the history of banjo techniques, but I imagine there are parallels like you're suggesting, since the guitar and banjo both played heavy rolls in the history of Kentucky bluegrass.
1:28 Arirang? Usual choice, but nice.
Why do you say that?