Zowie!! Just mention, in passing that one of the sacred cows is somehow not the best idea, and the floodgates open! In all of this justification for using the pinky on the face, I have heard nothing by way of explaining why it's necessary. Oh yeah, the old guys did it, so it must be the right thing to do - exactly why so many guitarists after Segovia bent their wrists.
Just my $.02 Joseph Mayes ________________________________________ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bruno Correia [[email protected]] Sent: Monday, July 28, 2014 1:54 PM To: List LUTELIST Subject: [LUTE] Re: Bare spot on soundboard. Dear Tobiah, You should check jazz guitarist Martin Taylor, he always rests his pinky on the soundboard or the tap plate many archtop guitars have. He plays very difficult polyphonic jazz arrangements. Regards. A A 2014-07-28 14:44 GMT-03:00 Tobiah <[1][email protected]>: On 07/28/2014 10:33 AM, Tobiah wrote: On 07/28/2014 10:23 AM, David Rastall wrote: We-ell, not exactly. A The pinkie-on-the-soundboard thing is legitimate renaissance lute technique. A It's described in treatises dating all the way back to the 16th century. A I once had an opportunity to play Jakob Lindberg's Rauolf lute that dates back to 1590, and sure enough, there was the mark on the soundboard that bears the imprint of 400 years worth of pinkies! A You'll also notice that some early 19th-century guitars have a resting place glued on to the top for the player's pinkie. A Plus, I certainly wouldn't say that Merle Travis finger style playing was developed by players with inadequate right hand techniques. A Not to mention bluegrass banjo playersa| Fair enough. A I retract my comment! I still want to retain my evaluation of this usage of the pinky as a crutch, however popular it may have been throughout the centuries. A I used it as a youth and outgrew it, and having been on both sides of the fence, and experiencing the benefits and freedoms of having shed it, in that way I stand behind my original statement. Tobiah To get on or off this list see list information at [2]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- Bruno Figueiredo A Pesquisador autA'nomo da prA!tica e interpretaAS:A-L-o historicamente informada no alaA-ode e teorba. Doutor em PrA!ticas InterpretativasA pela Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. -- References 1. mailto:[email protected] 2. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
