Mertz is a case in point. But having a 19th century guitar in hands
(think Gibson LP neck) it's no wonder.
16th century 6-course in hand with U-shaped neck, again, no wonder.
Makes sense. Comfortable, even.
David
*******************************
David van Ooijen
[1]davidvanooi...@gmail.com
[2]www.davidvanooijen.nl
*******************************
On 1 October 2015 at 22:43, G. C. <[3]kalei...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hey Chris, that's really interesting. So the 19th century
repertoire is
replete with this technique? I'm surprized and feel there is much
to
this matter, which hasn't been thoroughly analyzed yet. :) G.
On Thu, Oct 1, 2015 at 6:28 PM, Christopher Wilke
<[1][4]chriswi...@cs.dartmouth.edu> wrote:
The technique was common in 19th century guitar playing,
where it
was
often marked with a "^". It does have some advantages and
there
are
spots where it facilitates fewer chord shape changes. In
that
repertoire, I haven't encountered any pieces that I
absolutely
couldn't
finger without the thumb over the neck. (I did, however,
perform
one
contemporary piece in which the only way I could figure out
how
to get
a particular combination of notes was to use the left hand
thumb.
This
was not due to cleverness on the composer's part, but rather
because he
wasn't a guitarist at all.)
I suspect that some lute players did this and some avoided
it.
There
might be the odd piece that absolutely requires it. There
also
might be
some performance practice insights one could gain from
experimenting
with it, but due to the risk of wrist injury, I'd be
hesitant to
make a
regular practice of using it all the time. Even in the 19th
century, it
wasn't universal. Sor, for one, disapproved of it.
Chris
[1]Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
On Oct 1, 2015, 12:01:01 PM, G. C. wrote:
One obscure feature of plucking which has always fascinated
but
eluded
me is the technique of using also the thumb to play on the
lower
strings. Supposedly mainly feasible on 6 course instruments
and a
narrow neck, it has apparently been in vogue and an open
"secret"
for
the initiated since the days of Francesco at least (see
famous
painting
by Giulio Campi on the cover of Doug's History of the Lute
if it
indeed
depicts such a practice). I know that it is very common in
Rock,
(where
its so widespread, that it has to be meaningful somehow). To
me,
(classically trained), it looks bizarre, and more like
someone
has
learned to play the wrong way. But it has to have at least
some
advantages, as it seems to be so popular (at least among the
rock
music
pluckers). Not only for barrA", particularly chords where
the
index
presses on a fret in front of the fret that the thumb is
stopping
look
bewildering. Might there be an ergonomic/finger mechanical
reason?
(Concert playing for hours so thereby avoiding carpal tunnel
syndrome?)
Is there someone here who could explain the inner workings
and/or
advantages of this technique in a simple way or point to a
website, are
there any uses for it in lute-playing (skewed barrA"?), and
does
the
practice have a consensus name?
Best regards
G
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