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The right hand positioning
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Erik van Goch
Posts: 1787
Joined: Jul. 17 2012
From: Netherlands
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RE: The right hand positioning (in reply to Ricardo)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Ricardo It's about finger nails, fingers, hand, and wrist. Forget about the arm now, it will find its way when you get the fingers in the right spot, making the right sound. I agree it is a chain of events were all aspects mentioned above are linked like a well tuned eco system. But i like to emphasize that in my opinion "right spot" and "right sound" are not linked to sound only but often are a compromise between optimal sound and optimal mechanics. I spend many many hours with my teachers studying how to use/position my nails/fingers/wrist/hand/arm and it took us multiple years to find a workable starting position for future investigations (i was quite lazy and didn't practice correct and/or a lot). For months i was only allowed to play open strings with the thump. We started surging for a perfect movement/sound and there was one particular thump position that sounded absolute superior and always put a smile on Paco's face. But i never ever play like that because that particular thump position would either bring my hand/arm in a totally unplayable position or would force me to accept what i feel as mental/physical torture. So i ended up playing a variety of thump techniques that sound less good but pair an acceptable sound to optimal biomechanics. Classical guitar players often end up placing there forearm on the side of the guitar like mentioned on top of this topic. It supports the way they position/use there nails/fingers/hand/wrist/arm. Flamenco players generally aspire a different sound and as a result use different (and additional) techniques. In general flamenco players make much more use of arm/wrist-rotation and (supportive) hand/arm mass and many notes i play are played by arm/wrist-rotation/subtle use of mass only. These techniques are supported the best way when the forearm is completely free to move (wrist rotations as well as going up and down). Although it is possible to execute these techniques with the forearm placed on the guitar (close to the elbow) i believe most players choose to free there forearm completely by placing there upper arm on the side of the guitar in stead, with the elbow just on the outside allowing optimal movement of the forearm (as seen in the avatar of both Ricardo and El Kiko). My biggest breakthrough (after playing a couple of years) was when i started to investigate biomechanics or simply put how do body parts function the most natural/optimal way. How do your nails/fingers react on string interaction, how does it effect the individual phalanges of your fingers...note how minute changes in finger/hand/wrist/arm position can hinder/support the various ways and angles of energy generating/energy transposal in various situations. Once you now how your fingers/hand/wrist/arm function the best possible way you also will now how to position/use them and how to file your nails to support that system. You have to study this from multiple points of view... from nail>shoulder (like mentioned by Ricardo) but also from shoulder to nail.... what sounds optimally? what feels optimally? Sometimes this goes hand in hand but quit often you have to find a compromise between optimal sound and optimal mechanics. In general the best sound is produced by optimally relaxed fingers and the starting point of every investigation has to be a totally relaxed system pairing a natural line up of fingers/hand/wrist/arm with zero or minimal use of muscle power. A perfect example of a natural lineup is what i call the walking hand position, the lineup your fingers/hand/wrist and arm have during walking. When i walk my hands and fingers are completely relaxed so no muscle is active, not the ones closing the hand/fingers nor the ones opening the hand/fingers. I call this the unlocked position. I believe this situation should be the starting point of all your investigations. All you have to do is bring this lineup to the place of the action (scratching your balls and scratching the back of your neck is basically the same and as you will see the natural lineup will automatically adapt to the assumed position). Whenever i study technique (both for left and right hand studying) i always start my investigations by bringing my walking hand lineup as closely to the intended strings/location as possible, without moving a single finger/muscle at first. Note how minute variations in arm wrist and hand position/rotation strongly alter the position and moving direction of your fingers toward the strings. Ones my hand is optimally positioned for the intended action the final adjustment (when needed) is done by the fingers. Obviously when you have done this a million times (re)placing your hand and fingers can be done simultaneously. A very important plus of working with this natural walking hand position in combination with starting all actions from this natural unlocked position (were both the opening and the closing muscles are totally relaxed) is that your fingers tend to fall back in this known position every time you have a very short input...if the muscle input is executed to long or the movement is executed to slow the finger will stay in it's new position and you will need the opposite muscles to bring the finger back again, if on the other hand the muscle input is only executed a split second the finger will fall back in unlocked position automatically, saving you the trouble to bring it back yourself. Your fingers will also automatically fall back in unlocked position (ready to be played again) when you combine hand/thump action with retreating all tension from your fingers. So when playing tremolo or arpeggio your fingers will automatically fall into the known unlocked starting position when you are able to totally relax them when playing the thump. But to end with the main question. Most players position there upper arm on the guitar (directly after the elbow) leaving the elbow and forearm free to rotate and move up/downwards. Note that there is not 1 fixed position for the arm, various players will came to various solutions depending on there personal habits/preferences and various situations demands various arm positions. In general when playing picado and arpeggio the upper arm is lifted completely, bringing the arm and hand in optimal position for those techniques. You can study this in detail when watching both Paco de Lucia and Vicente Amigo. In my prime time i did not do that myself but was able to play all techniques (but picado) from 2 positions that were so close most people were unable to spot the difference (moving my hand a fraction about a mm). I would not worry about the sound hole, again watch how Vicente deals with that "problem" by not seeing it as a problem. Once you are totally familiar with (or have a natural talent for) using your fingers/hand/wrist/arm the most natural way (assuring optimal biomechanics and energy generating/transposal) it is indeed a matter of nails>fingers>wrist>hand>arm>shoulder adapting to the situation automatically.
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Date Oct. 31 2013 22:20:01
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