Martyn, -------------------------------------------- On Mon, 8/4/14, Martyn Hodgson <hodgsonmar...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> Moreover, iconography etc also clearly > shows that the lute (and theorbo > etc) were played in a higher (ie up the > stomach) position than the > modern guitar which, after Tarrega, is > commonly nowadays rested low > down in the lap. If such a modern guitar > posture is adopted it does, of > course, make it harder to play with the > historically accurate hand > position and with the little finger close > to the bridge. The high position is not really an argument in favor of pinky-down. Check out this picture of Matteo Carcassi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matteo_Carcassi#mediaviewer/File:Matteo_Carcassi_(1792-1853).jpg Despite the foot stool, Carcassi is holding the lower bout of his guitar considerably closer to the floor than modern classical guitar players, yet obviously has his pinky planted. (Off topic, it is very difficult to use the "a" finger with Carcassi's position. Personally I believe that all of his famous studies are really intended to develop "claw hammer" technique, although they are not used as such by modern guitar teachers.) Also, I know of no modern baroque lute players using anything close to "historically accurate hand position." Chris To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
