Necessity of pinky on top is not the answer to why it's there. On R-lute, if you hold your hand in such a manner that the thumb has a good angle of striking both strings of a pair, and do likewise with your index finger, all relaxed, thumb-inside, hand a little cupped, fingers like slightly bend bananas, your pinky is bound to touch the top, unless you'd stick it out to prevent it touching. It's not the top of the pinky that rests like a crutch on the top, but the last digit that gently slides along as the hand moves up and down in alternating thumb-index stroke. David
******************************* David van Ooijen [1][email protected] [2]www.davidvanooijen.nl ******************************* On 29 July 2014 06:34, howard posner <[3][email protected]> wrote: On Jul 28, 2014, at 8:16 PM, Mayes, Joseph <[4][email protected]> wrote: > Zowie!! Just mention, in passing that one of the sacred cows is somehow not the best idea, and the floodgates open! Well, the writer said (and not in passing a it was the sole subject of his post) that resting the little finger on the top was a "crutch" and "undeveloped right-hand technique," because he didn't understand that it was a considered and common part of lute technique; a little like telling a horn player to get his hand out of the bell because it might affect the sound, or telling an electric guitar player "it's insane to stick electrical wires in a guitar! Unplug that damn thing before you get electrocuted, you fool!." A The writer lacked basic information, and it's a function of this group to disseminate information. A So I don't think you've got much cause to be zowieing. > In all of this justification for using the pinky on the face, I have heard nothing by way of explaining why it's necessary. Not surprising, since nobody in this thread has asked why it's necessary, which in turn is probably because nobody has said it's necessary. To get on or off this list see list information at [5]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- References 1. mailto:[email protected] 2. http://www.davidvanooijen.nl/ 3. mailto:[email protected] 4. mailto:[email protected] 5. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
