Mike, The person demonstrating the "standard" guitar position, in the picture link you provide, has his wrist bent way too much. This is not correct and is extremely limiting. The wrist should be as straight as possible. Take a look at this Robert Barto video on you tube. Notice how straight his wrist is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV2AsQwcwZc Ken -----Original Message----- From: Mike Coleman [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2008 9:21 PM To: howard posner Cc: LuteNet list Subject: [LUTE] Re: pre-newbie question I played with this a little more tonight, and it seems that the key for me is to bring the neck of the guitar near to vertical. It's reasonably comfortable, for example, if I'm sighting exactly along the third fret, with my nose about three inches from the near end of it. I doesn't seem like many people play that way, but I did run across some pictures of a classical guitarist named Paul Galbraith (http://www.paul-galbraith.com/fotos/), who appears to have started out with a pretty steep incline and later decided to go vertical, like a cello. This, on the other hand, I simply cannot do with my left hand. It feels like a pain-compliance hold. http://www.guitarprinciples.com/Guitar_Technique/Classical.jpg Mike On Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 2:08 PM, Mike Coleman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > No doubt my knowledge is lacking, but here is an example of what I > meant: if I imagine where the nut/first fret of a guitar would be > located in space, put my hand there, palm open, and then turn it > counter-clockwise (as if turning a doorknob), it becomes uncomfortable > to turn it more than about 30 degrees beyond vertical. By "turning > over" my hand, I mean holding it out palm horizontal, as if doing the > "Macarena", for example. The main result, at least when I was toying > with an electric bass, is that it's difficult to get my pinky onto the > fretboard when fretting a low-pitched string with my first finger (esp > near the nut). Hopefully this is a problem I'll be able to work out. > > On Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 1:27 PM, howard posner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >> On Sep 18, 2008, at 10:59 AM, Ed Durbrow wrote: >> >>> When you say it is difficult for you to turn your left hand >>> completely over, I don't understand what you mean, >> >> Nor I, but it reminds me of The Exorcist. >> >>> but if you mean it is difficult to reach around and touch the >>> frets, you are probably doing something not quite right. You >>> shouldn't have to bend the wrist excessively. I think you would do >>> well to get some lessons in the beginning stage when habits are >>> formed. >> >> No lie. But in the meantime, relax your left arm and let it drop. >> Then raise it to about shoulder height so you're looking at your palm >> and the fingers are in a relaxed curve. The second knuckles of the >> fourth, third and second fingers should describe something like a >> rising diagonal line. When the neck of the instrument is between >> your thumb and fingers, it should be roughly at that height and >> roughly parallel with that line. Keep your left thumb low enough on >> the back of the neck so your palm doesn't touch the neck >> >> >> -- >> >> To get on or off this list see list information at >> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >> > No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.169 / Virus Database: 270.7.0/1680 - Release Date: 9/19/2008 8:25 AM
