Actually I fear Mantanya's comments should be taken "cum grano salis".
I think there is enough evidence that the technique was used. There are also enough evidence that quite early objections against the use of a "glued" pinky existed. I personally am trained classical guitarist and learned to play the guitar the "segovia way". But after long years of exclusivly playing lutes I recently bought a Biedermeier-guitar. If dealing with this instrument after a long time playing low tension instruments Í prefer low tension an the instrument which simply sounds better being played in a different, lute-orientated manner. I'm sure this directly relates to the terms "Tension" and "String-Material" (at the moment I'm plaing Nylgut). This surely is not a strong argument, just a personal experience. Best wishes Thomas -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Von: Krzysztof Komarnicki [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Gesendet: Sonntag, 16. Oktober 2005 23:40 An: rob Cc: 'Matanya Ophee'; early-guitar Betreff: [EARLY-GUIT] Odp: Re: Little finger, RH I think we were able to stablish some three reasons for placing little finger on the belly (bridge or whenever suitable): 1. to fix position of the hand (Sor and Aguado) 2. to fix position of the guitar (Aguado) 3. as an "innocent" technique unrelated to tradition (Bill) And, correct me if I'm wrong, we have following reservations against the practice: 1. that it dumps the soundbard and affects the sound (? - I was told that by Bill) 2. that it creates muscle tention (your truly) 3. that it is not necessary for anything (Sor and Aguado) I wonder if there are opinions in support of the practice? I mean strong support, just like Sor would write: what to do and what for? BTW from personal communications with Matanya Ophee I get to know that Renoir did not paint actual model (it was so good a theory...) but copied another painting. I was offered with no details, alas. Best regards Krzysztof ---------------------------------------------------- Masz telefon na karte? A czy wiesz, ¿e MOZESZ DO£ADOWAÆ GO DOWOLN¡ KWOT¡!? - koniec sztywnych stawek - zobacz na: http://klik.wp.pl/?adr=http%3A%2F%2Fdoladowania.wp.pl&sid=536 To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
