I agree. I also teach the same exercise. One should play with as little tension as possible, as opposed to use of strength.
ed At 12:21 PM 2/26/2008 +0000, Rob MacKillop wrote: >In my experience, students tend to use ten times the amount of pressure and >energy than required, so when I see talk of finger strengtheners I get >worried. The great classical guitarist, David Russell, taught me an >invaluable lesson in this regard. Put your left hand index finger on any >note, say for example the fifth fret of the first string. Don't press it >down yet, just touch it with the fingertip. Start continuously plucking the >string. Obviously you get a muted note. Now slowly start adding pressure as >you move the string towards the fingerboard. Soon the note will sound well. >At that point, start decreasing the pressure back to where you started. You >are teaching your muscles to apply the minimum pressure needed to fret a >note. My bet it is that it is a LOT less pressure than you are used to >applying. Now try it with other fingers. Then try playing a scale without >open strings with this same technique. Go up and down the scale a few times >from zero pressure to just enough and back again. Do this at the start of >every practice session. Worked for me. > >Your fingers are more than strong enough. Edward Martin 2817 East 2nd Street Duluth, Minnesota 55812 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] voice: (218) 728-1202 To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
