Michael Thames wrote: >> Nails give speed? What would the physical principle >involved be? IIRC, >> there is a fairly well-known flamenco player that does >NOT have nails, >> but does have the speed (I'll have to dig around to find >out who this >> was, but I remember David Schramm mentioning him >some time back on >> RMCG). Picado IS possible without nails. > > > I couldn't tell you the physical principles involved. Maybe it has > to do with friction and mass, and the fact they play with rest stroke.
Not saying you are right or wrong, but it just seems that speed is determined by the motion of the fingertip itself (which of course the nail is a part). I think that speed is more a function of how much control one has at the point of contact of the fingertip/string interface and in the whole stroke itself. Try playing reverse rasgeuados on a single string some time and you'll see what I mean regarding speed as a function of control. One way to see control's influence over speed is to look at the control plectrum players have over those who play with fingers. The finer control that a plectrum allows is a big advantage in speed (John McLaughlin makes Paco look slow in this regard). > All I can say is it true!.... The use of the nail as a point of contact against the string may give a slight speed due to targetting the nail point at the fingertip/string interface, but I seriously doubt the nail itself gives a significant increase in speed. > and Paco plays 10 times as fast as any of the guys you mentioned, and > plays with nails... Yes Paco is fast, no doubt, but I think he would be fast nails or no nails. But the logical connection is not there. > I know this because I saw one of his nails ( a fake one ) explode into > the sky above the audience at a concert once. Which is proof that the nail was the cause of the speed increase? Greg-- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
