Tom Leoni wrote > Someone told me
Someone? You're listening to Someone? What does Someone know? If this guy's so smart, how come he doesn't even have a real name? > that Kapsberger's preferred 4-note arpeggio pattern was: t4 i2 > m1 t3 :||: (using the first 4 strings as an example). I find this rather > straightforward in spite of the jump of the thumb as it strikes the fourth and > first notes of the pattern - but I got used to it pretty quickly. It becomes > a little harder when the first note of the pattern is one of the lower orders, > although it is still manageable. > > Does anyone know whether I got this right - especially as pertains the music > of Kapsberger? I believe Kapsberger's instructions were to use the index finger on the fourth note, since the last note of the arpeggio is on the third or fourth course, even when it isn't the highest note. There's a discussion of this in the first pages of chapter 10 of Nigel North's continuo book. In general the thumb should stay home as much as possible; it's too easy to get lost if it goes roaming. Then you have to call the police and make a missing thumb report, which, frankly, is really embarrassing and occasionally dangerous. I live in Los Angeles, and the last time I reported my thumb missing, an overzealous police officer attacked it with a flashlight. Howard Posner
