Dear David, It may be that your finger tip really is too narrow, but there might be some mileage in turning the angle of your hand, as violinists do, so that there is a wider surface area to hold down both courses. Pointing the left-hand fingers toward the bridge, is something we try to prevent pupils doing, but this "bad habit" can have its uses.
I have a small vihuela discante, with a fairly tight spacing, and I often find it useful to cover two courses with a single un-barréd finger. My fingertips are podgy enough for that, but then I struggle to stop a single course while playing the two open courses either side. Sometimes I use my little finger, when really I should use one of the other fingers, but my little finger is thinner than the others, and causes less damage snagging up adjacent strings. Holding down two courses with one unflattened finger can present problems. At first one should aim to be satisfied with getting just two strings to ring - the lower of the upper course, and the upper of the lower course - and simply dampen the outside strings of each pair. Eventually, with time and practice, one finds one is covering all four strings, and they all ring on. I think it is important not to try too hard, but be content at first with just an approximation. If you don't think about it too much, your fingers will find a way to do it on their own. Another possible use of two courses stopped by a single finger is in this common example: _1c___3d___4f___1c___ _2d________________|_ _2d________________|_ __a________________|_ ___________________|_ ___________________|_ I wouldn't always finger those notes that way, but I have it up my sleeve for when it seems the best option. Best wishes, Stewart McCoy. -----Original Message----- From: David Tayler [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 20 June 2008 22:50 To: lute-cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [LUTE] Re: New piece of the month for June >Gee what an annoying chord that is. I have seen people play all four strings, that is two courses, with the tip of one finger. My finger is not wide enough. I accept this as more or less unchangeable, unless I go to a really narrow spacing. Thanks for the lovely edition. dt To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
