David,
I play all of my instruments with some degree of nail, but I change the
angle of my wrist and the angle of the "finger stroke" for each
instrument. It's not so hard to do once you get used to it.
But, when playing fast 16th century division music I play with no
thumbnail (which I usually keep quite short anyway) and very short
nails on my idex, middle and pinky fingers. On the lute I make contact
mostly with flesh.
Frankly, if I did't enjoy playing theorbo, baroque guitar and 9th cent.
guitar so mush, I might them off...they are a hassle to take care
of...and a baroque lute is much easier to play without them. But...and
here is the blasphemy...lately I have been playing a d minor lute with
no thumbnail and have kept the top 4 strings single at a slightly
higher tension. The advantages of this are 1) the short nails allow
for just a enough of an increase in volume so as to be heard more
clearly in an ensemble 2) using single strings at a slightly higher
tension on strings 1-4 which allows for a slightly harder plucker on
the strings where the melody is most present, and results in a more
projecting sound. Quite frankly, no one has yet to really notice the
difference except that i can be heard more clearly, while using the
same instrument (and the string players love it since they don't have
to play as if walking in egg shells..)
I think that the BIG problem here is that modern guitarists (and many
others that I have seen) have a real problem understanding how to
articulate on a period instrument with nails, they claw, scratch and
opver play...rather than using a lot of flesh and letting the nail
glide over the string, much as Piccininni described it. Clearly he also
enjoyed the sound of a bright metallic nail sound as he describes the
pleasure in a timbre that is "suono Argentina"....he also mentions at
least 3 times playing con "sommità dell' ungna." (with the tip of the
nail...)
Sadly, I also think that we have entered into a world of dogma and
absolutism wherein the appreciation of a diversity of timbre has
replaced by conformity.
RS
-----Original Message-----
From: David Rastall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Sun, 26 Mar 2006 15:48:58 -0500
Subject: Re: [LUTE] Re: Playing With Nails
Richard,
Just curious, as I've had a Lacote copy for a few months now and am
still unsure which is the best RH technique to use with it: do you play
your 19thC guitar music with nails?
> ¥ªí×~öÛôu > õçÎ kSÞ.º.Ö«È*'µéíO*^sémS-«·ö> ¥µêçjدyº.Ö«
I gather you have a low opinion of playing the lute with nails...? ;-)
David Rastall
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.rastallmusic.com
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