Why don't classical guitarists use their little fingers?
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
- 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.
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
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.
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!
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 !
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.
Some pieces have chords that require using the pinky. You should be able to do those.
Such as? I've never come across anything that requires it.
One example: a non strummed x-0-2-2-2-5
On the other hand plenty of good players never pick with their pinky finger (even plant their pinky on the guitar top).
That chord doesn't require the pinky. There is a well-established technique to using just p-i-m-a without strumming or arpeggiating it. You rapidly strike the fifth and fourth strings with a small sweep of the thumb while i-m-a respectively strike the three treble strings. The attack is like making a fist. If done properly, as far as our ears are concerned, the strings all sound simultaneously and there is no discernible delay between the striking of the fifth and fourth strings. It sounds like banging a chord on the piano.
Regardless, the aim of this video was to try and rationalize why the pinky is not included in classical praxis. There are, of course, many players who use it effectively, and many who are just as well off in their playing without it. I would place myself in the latter camp. The pinky on the top thing though... yeah, there are many great players who do that, but I would never teach a student to play that way.
@@alexrockwellmusic With that method try 2-x-2-3-3-2.
True most older traditional classical guitar music is fairly low density simultaneous note wise with harmony under a melody line. Where not so the pinky can be beneficial especially if one is practiced using it.
Left-hand middle finger mutes the 5th string. Still possible.
1:28 Arirang? Usual choice, but nice.
Why do you say that?