BTW, does anyone yet know if/when Hopkinson Smith is giving his masterclass at the lsa convention? It's really maddening to not have a schedule posted somewhere, especially for us lsa members! Ok, here are some more thoughts ...
The only quip I would note is that I'm not sure about the difference in speed vs thumb-under/out. I think many people can play fast runs with thumb-under but when you ask them to play with a volume and clarity that is acceptable for the concert stage then they might slow down a bit. I haven't heard anyone play thumb-under faster than top rate classical or flamenco guitarists whose technique is not that different from thumb-out, especially in regards to imim. I do notice that preparing the bass with the thumb before beginning a run gives quite a bit of leverage to allow for some more speed and power with imim. Many flamenco players do this for power and speed. I've also heard many say that thumb-under is more fluid. Again, I'm not sure if that's really true. It just requires more attention to playing legato with the left hand using thumb-out. The only area where I think thumb-under has an advantage is to achieve that "swing" affect with dance pieces. To get that swinging feel out of the 8th notes the arm motion is pretty key. For this reason I still practice thumb-under. I think it's safe to say that thumb-under was generally used for the first 1/3 of the lute era and thumb-out for the last 2/3. So which is really the dominant technique -- or even the technique to be taught? What would Dowland do with his students? I think he makes it clear his intentions that he recommends thumb out. It seems that an emphasis on thumb-out with the ability to thumb-under when really necessary is the most versatile strategy for playing the entire repertoire. I can't see how you can really play Baroque music with thumb under -- jumping from the trebles to the basses could disrupt the flow and also interfere with preparing the bass notes. --- "Mathias Rösel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi Jon, > > the aside remark *notwithstanding HIP* was actually supposed to help > make it out of the academic ghetto. I'm wondering which technical demand > leads to changing the right hand posture. You may call *thumb in* a > misnomer, but I use this name to make sure you can recognize what I'm > talking about. > > Thumb in is the earlier playing technique on the renaissance lute, > dating from medieval times. Around 1600 it came to be generally dropped > in favour of *thumb out*. The change was mentioned and discussed by > teachers like Besard, Dowland et al (even someone as late as Reusner). > > Thumb-in has been explained as having developed from playing with > quills, with the quill dropped but the posture kept, shortly before 1500 > (cf. Joe Baldassare on medieval lute playing). It's good for playing > runs with a steady interchange of heavy and light strokes > (thumb--index). > > Then came a change, thumb out became more popular. This has been > explained with expanded bass-registers which can be more easily reached > that way. Runs were to be played with interchanging forefinger and > middle finger. > > It is undisputed, I assume, that runs can be done much easier and > quicker with thumb-in-technique than with i-m. Vice versa, you'll have > to practice a lot more to achieve the same speed and fluency in playing > runs with thumb out. Moreover, bass courses can be reached with thumb-in > just as easily as with thumb-out (at least, that's my experience). > > To put it short, thumb-out cannot necessarily be called an improvement > in terms of comfortability. Nevertheless, players around 1600 are > generally depicted as dropping old fashioned thumb-in, replacing it by > cute thumb-out-playing. Why was it that they did so? What was the big > deal with that new fashion? Perhaps a new taste in strong, or > preponderant, bass notes? Maybe a new sound ideal? (Thumb-in in the > middle between rose and bridge vs. thumb-out as near the bridge as > possible?) Just guessing... > > Best, > > Mathias > -- > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >
