----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Wednesday, May 2, 2007 5:25 pm Subject: [LUTE] Re: Another beginner's question
> What does every > single beginner need to be reminded of? "Don't plant > your pinky on the front of the guitar." I've said > this _thousands_of_times_ in lessons I've given over > the years. I have never once had a complete beginner > who didn't want to plant the pinky and I've found that > almost all beginnners need to be reminded of this > EVERY LESSON for months before they become comfortable > playing without the support. Even then, they are > likely to put the ol' pinky (or even more fingers) > back down again when they are nervous or sight-reading > until its totally ingrained not to do it. > > Beginners also need to be constantly reminded to > extend their thumbs so that its not inside their > hands, under the fingers. Pinky on the top; thumb > under the fingers. Reminds me of something... It's not my intent to to be argumentative, and I can't speak for anybody who is not me...and I might just be relatively freaky in the grand scheme of things, but I never planted my pinkie or attempted thumb-under strokes on the classical guitar. Classical guitar was the first instrument on which I attempted any fingerstyle technique, but I didn't take it up until I was 20. I suppose my age and experiences elsewhere may have contributed. Proper modern guitar technique (assuming that it does not incorporate the dread Segovia wrist) has always seemed intuitive to me...or at least as intuitive as anything so anthropogenic as music making can be. Again, my personal experiences shouldn't be considered any more than my personal experiences. Best, Eugene To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
