I would not say that the tip of the finger controls the tone so much as that if the tip curls in at the wrong moment it will ruin the tone. If the tip merely follows the fingers and remains flexible, the tone has a much better center. The tone does not start with tip, I think. The wrist is also very important for the tone, as well as the slight dome shape to the inside of the palm. The two most common problems that I see are that the wrist is locked--I think it is almost impossible to draw the sound out in this case. Then there is the last minute curling of the finger tips, affactionately known as "the claw".
The "next step" (aka "the next level") is now becoming an interesting pedagogical device. Teachers find that it is a good way to encourage people, as opposed to to an approach based on "square one" or "fundamentals." A lot of teachers are using it; a lot are discussing it. Teachers use it as a way of safely critiquing other teacher's work indirectly a well. The idea of square one is frumpy, old fashioned and unattractive. The question it raises is whether the method effectively avoids addressing the core skills, jury is out on that one. To put a number on it, I have never seen someone who worked reasonably hard fail to acquire the core skill set in two to three years. Good enough to start professional work. Every morning I wake up on square one, no question; I don't know if I'm walking or treading water. I try not to think about the third option. Perhaps there is another way. dt At 08:50 PM 7/16/2008, you wrote: >On Jul 16, 2008, at 9:15 PM, Herbert Ward wrote: > > > Sorry for not being clear. I meant to ask about right-hand > > technique. Is the extra flexibility of significant help in > > the right hand? > >Dear Herbert, > >I would say yes, definitely. I had a couple of sessions with Richard >Stone in May and June, and we talked about this quite a bit. I'm >trying to make the changeover from 35 years of renaissance lute thumb- >under, to some form of Baroque lute thumb out, or at least thumb- >middle. It's a difficult thing to jump into. One of the points that >Richard bought out as being the next step in my right-hand progress, >was to tell me to play with a lot of flexibility in my right hand >fingertips. > >You can also get some advice on this subject, from Ronn MacFarlane's >web site: http://www.ronnmcfarlane.com/lute/btb/BTB_11_Tone_Control.pdf > >Ronn sees that last joint on your right hand as your "tone Control." > >Best wishes > >David R >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > >-- > >To get on or off this list see list information at >http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
