Vance, You have opened up a question from me. A number of the members of the list have made off list suggestions as to my learning process, and by now you should know that I'll soon have that evil thing - a flat back instrument that claims to be a lute (seven courses, six doubled and a chanterelle). And that I'm working with the only book I have, the Ronn McFarlane Scottish Lute that shows me some incovenient uses of my little finger that never got used on the guitar (but I'm getting used to it by practicing on the retuned guitar). But it says nothing of the right hand (and Nancy Carlin has kindly suggested some sources).
So as long as you have opened the "can of worms" of the right hand let me ask you about it. How do you use it? I'm used to finger pickin' with thumb and three, with the little finger sometimes set to the soundboard and sometimes with a free arm. I am used to playing quick progressions (sixteenths, or whatever) with a hammer on or pick off - but the sound I hear on Ronn's companion CD appears to be an individual pluck for each note. And the chording is mainly rolled. Harp chords are done the same way, rolling the individual picks (except glissando, and that is only done for the movies or orchestras). But on the guitar one may often roll a chord with a thumb or finger brush (no good unless the strings are contiguous). Also, the movement between strings when playing a melody line. Does one set the right hand fingers to the appropriate strings? Or does on continue with the particular finger and reserve the rest. As I read the history of the lute it was played with a pick (sorry, plectrum) in the early days, and it was about the time of the Renaissance lute you all espouse that the harmonys were added. So is the right hand used by following the melody with a particular finger, the rest reserved for harmony - or does on simply move the pattern of the four active fingers across the string pattern. (And when there is a rapid repeat, does one roll the several fingers across the string or try to quickly repeat the one finger). As to the latter question there is a stroke on the harp called a "triple" (contrasted to a musical triplet). It is a roll of all fingers on a single string (I think the guitar term is a "rasquillado" - spelling not guaranteed). What kind of strikes are appropriate to the lute? Best, Jon ----- Original Message ----- From: "Vance Wood" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "lute list" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 11:48 PM Subject: Re: right arm motion - thumb under > I agree with Ariel, thumb out, thumb under makes no real difference if you > insist on gluing your little finger to the sound board. The real problem as > I understand it from my experience is the angle of attack the fingers and > thumb are able to execute on the individual courses. I have found that the > best sound is produced when the fingers move the strings from directly > above. This produces a clear and resonant sound especially using thumb out. > Moving the arm is not so much a matter of gaining speed in diminutions but > in allowing the hand to function in the correct position to produce a > beautiful, and clean tone. For me it is impossible to get my hand in this > position over the basses and keep the little finger anchored to the sound > board. > > The relaxed first joint is ideal but, in order for the first joint to > actually activate the doubled strings the digit must come at the string from > almost a right angle in relation to the sound board. Any angle that favors a > direction toward the floor will cause the digit to either miss the string > altogether or to pluck it upward. This is what causes rattle and nail bite > regardless of how short you cut the nails on the right hand,--- been there > done that and agonized over correcting it. If you dogmatically adhere to > the concept of anchoring the little finger to the sound board this angle of > attack is impossible over the total range of the instrument's register, > anything lower than fourth course is going to suffer if your little finger > is as short as mine. > > I therefore float the finger. I anchor it for the three upper courses and > bring it up for the lower courses. If I don't do this I start missing notes > and the sound is unclear, I then have a tendency to rotate my wrist out away > from the Lute in order to utilize the index finger. This in turn causes my > thumb to fly away from the sound board. In the end, if I carry this problem > to extremes, it makes the right hand look more like some one drumming on a > bongo. This works OK if you are playing slowly but speed is an impossibility > with this issue as it increases with the tempo. > > Sorry for the rambling on about the right hand but I have spent the last > five years trying to figure out just exactly how it works, why it works and > why it does not work. I have tried every possible way of playing the right > hand, and every way of striking the strings. > > Vance Wood. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "arielabramovich" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2003 9:27 AM > Subject: Re: right arm motion - thumb under > > > > Dear Christopher, > > besides any historical consideration, you'll > see > > two very good and very different modern players using right arm motion > while > > playing divisions: Paul O' Dette, and Hoppy. > > The reason why I do it and would recommend it > is > > that, even willing to use just the fingers to pluck, you would have to > move > > your arm to lead them to the right place (course). There's no way you can > > play some very difficult pieces (fast runs from the 1st to 6th course) > > without moving your arm... at least if you play thumb under. > > Also, after a bit of work, using the arm allows > us > > to obtain a much more lighter and "vocal" diminutions, and a wide dynamic > > range, which is harder to obtain only using the fingers (the sound tends > to > > be tight in my experience, even when you have the tip joints relaxed-which > > is great). > > Best, > > Ariel. > > > > > > > > > >
