RE: "a Worshipful Company of Left-Handed Standard Lute Players," perhaps there should be!
RE: plectrum play, I've simply been at it so long, I can't remember the specific mechanics of my youthful struggles. I started playing/strumming old-time, American folk music with my Grandfather around 38 years ago. I came to classical music and punteado more than a decade later. Some of my most pleasurable moments with music is modern "classical" (i.e., post-1880) music for mandolin. Of course, plectrum play (tortoise or synthetics) dominates there. For period plectra, where quill is appropriate, I've taken to fabricating them of clear Bic pens. I like real quill better (harder, thinner, etc.), but it's inconsistent, and only about half of them turn out to my liking. Here's one of my synthetic quill efforts: https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/t31.0-8/p417x417/132099_1612644309706_623553_o.jpg Best, Eugene ________________________________________ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] on behalf of WALSH STUART [[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, June 07, 2014 5:06 AM To: Braig, Eugene; lutelist Net Subject: [LUTE] Re: 15th century duo (left-handers playing right-handedly) On 06/06/2014 23:06, Braig, Eugene wrote: > > Groovy! What plectrum did you use here? I use several incarnations of > plectrum depending on era of music and instrument at hand. . . . And, in > spite of my sinistral tendencies, my plectrum, punteado, and occasional > rasgueado efforts are always executed with the right hand. Eugene I had forgotten that you are left-handed but play (in your preferred usage) standard instruments. Is there also a Worshipful Company of Left-Handed Standard Lute Players (i.e. playing right-handedly), I wonder? For a plectrum I'm using a length of guitar string with a bit of masking tape. I gleaned this from a discussion on this list some time. I've tried many kinds of plectrum but me the main issue is plectrum playing itself, rather than the plectrum. How do you get on with playing with a plectrum in your right hand when you are left handed? You have noted that both hands equally are involved in complex tasks in playing a plucked instrument. But.... Usually in music, if I have realistic goals, I can fairly well come to be able to play things (e.g. quite difficult passages) with careful, slow practice. But this doesn't happen ever with plectrum issues. I can practice a troublesome passage countless times over a period of time, pick up the instrument and plectrum and I'll be just as likely to bungle it... or get it right. It's fascinating in an annoying way, really. Stuart > > While Jean-Paul certainly plays it faster, the effect is no more > entertaining. Cheers! > > Best, > Eugene > > --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
