Dear Martin, I agree with everything you have noted here. Yes, Nigel is an absolute master, and he really gets marvelous sounds and effects. Very colorful indeed.
One might make a comparison of this "colorful" sound to the other fine arts. After restoration of many period paintings and frescos, it is apparent that in the renaissance, the colors were much brighter and vivid than previously imagined. I think the same hold in music... that is, we need to make our sounds colorful as well. I find it can get pretty boring when one holds his/her right hand in one position only, with no variation. Last summer in Cleveland, Toyohiko Satoh demonstrated how he can get a rich variety of sounds from his baroque lute. You are also correct in that when playing thumb out, one needs to play with relaxation, in order to obtain a round, warm sound. ed At 09:22 PM 7/16/2007 +0100, Martin Shepherd wrote: >Dear All, > >I have followed this thread with interest. It was good to see NN >playing on utube, where many people who are not lute specialists will >see and hear it. The playing is (as usual with NN) marvellous, and I >want it to be understood that the following comments are not intended to >be a criticism of his playing: > >1. He moves his right hand a lot, but if you look closely you will see >that it is nearly always not associated with playing different notes in >different places. Typically, he plays a note, moves his hand towards >the neck, moves it back again, and plays another note in the same place >as the first! I have seen him do this so many times, I can only >conclude that it is just a habit, perhaps a reassurance of relaxation, I >don't know. He certainly seems relaxed and in control. > >2. Bruno talks about bending the last joint. I know different people do >things differently, but I have always been told (and it seems to work) >that the last joint should not be part of the plucking action. In fact >the normal state for this joint would be one of relaxation, only >introducing a little tension for special effect. Whether all this >changes with "thumb out" I don't know, but to me it seems even more >important in this technique because the fingers are already in danger of >hooking up the string from underneath. > >3. So few people in modern times seem to have had any success with >"thumb out" yet Nigel seems to have cracked it. I am really interested >in how it works. I think it is fair to say, though, that his hand >position is not as extreme as that shown in most 17th C paintings, >either in terms of how far the thumb is ahead of the fingers or in terms >of how close the plucking point is to the bridge. > >4. One of the problems I have had when trying to play thumb-out is >tension - because it's an unfamiliar hand position - yet it seems the >solution is to relax as much as possible. I suppose after twenty years >or so (in Nigel's case) it begins to seem normal... > >Best wishes, > >Martin > > > > >To get on or off this list see list information at >http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > >-- >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG Free Edition. >Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.6/902 - Release Date: 7/15/2007 >2:21 PM Edward Martin 2817 East 2nd Street Duluth, Minnesota 55812 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] voice: (218) 728-1202
