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RE: The middle joint in picado
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Fitz63
Posts: 104
Joined: May 16 2016
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RE: The middle joint in picado (in reply to Ricardo)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Ricardo 1. You have good musicality and have no fears about just going for it. THAt is good, but unfortunately you end up with tons of slop and very little clarity in the fast runs, and even many of the medium speed runs, ligados, etc. Simply put, you need to practice in a way that you make every note count. Probably have to slow things down quite a bit. You need to tighten up the rhythm too, don't loosey goosey your way on top of the rhythm track, really feel the exact placement of each note and space in time. 2. If you are copying PDL and others you can observe your big joint knuckle that attaches fingers to your hand. You have a significant bend there, and thusly fairly straight middle joints. Try to flatten that Big knuckle so that it alighns straight with your hand and wrist and you will be closer to what it feels like to do this thing we are discussing. Hope that helps. Ricardo Thanks for that Ricardo, I really appreciate it. I will definitely look at those issues, thanks
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Date Mar. 30 2017 12:21:33
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hamia
Posts: 403
Joined: Jun. 25 2004
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RE: The middle joint in picado (in reply to Ricardo)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Ricardo quote:
5) it is surprising the number of pretty good players who dismiss the MK method, saying that this type of 'clawing' at the strings is wrong. They are wrong. Or YOU are wrong perhaps? Once again I think people who believe MJ is pulling at the string are simply confused by the way the fingers look at certain angles. From the side angles, MJ is fixed as the finger is driven through the string. Upon resetting the MJ sometimes straightens or bends depending on which string you are crossing to, assuming the entire hand isn't moving. A reach over and subsequent bending of the MJ might seem like the power of drive comes from that bend, but it doesn't. The string is pushed downward toward top. Perhaps the resistence of stiffening the MJ against the downward push of BJ makes some players believe both joints are working to attack the string, but if you truly relax the BJ and only use MJ to attack then you are only pulling on the string sideways. Very different mechanic. In the slow black and white vid above of PDL, it is important to notice his entire arm is moving down toward the floor. Because it is an ascending scale, each string cross requires the MJ to reach over (straighten a bit) to reset and plant. The plant occurs thanks to the bending of MJ, but the actual attack of the string, or push through, is done by BJ and MJ and TJ remain fixed. TJ bends only enough to allow for the opposite finger to cross to the next string down after having played the upper string previously. Ricardo I don't think it's possible to look at videos and easily work out through which joint the player is directing the force, either BJ or MJ. But when I play I definitely can feel that I am directing the force mainly through the MJ. I studied physics for over 6 years so you are going to have to give me credit for knowing what my fingers are doing! The BJ is involved in lifting and positioning the finger, and also does contribute to the plucking force. When I play (after a warm up) my right hand looks to me pretty much the same as Paco. Now, I can remember when I started back around 2002. There wasn't much on the internet then and for some reason I thought Paco played with very straight fingers, so that's what I tried. And then about a year later I moved to the GM method and it was absolute torture - took months and months before it was even half comfortable. I'm not saying I'm Paco but I can now see that someone using this MJ technique and willing to put in the 3 or 4 hours/day on solid scales for 4 or so years could be in the same league as the maestro. On a good day I sometimes think even I am getting close. Re your comment about the sideways motion: yes, this is the key to the MJ movement. It imparts a sideways 'snap' to the plucking motion. Very powerful and fast. The BJ helps to get the finger in the right position and can give the string some downward force but the powerful follow through is mainly from the MJ. You can feel this when playing - it's like the fingers are constantly gripping the strings - almost not letting go.
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Date Mar. 30 2017 17:59:54
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ToddK
Posts: 2961
Joined: Dec. 6 2004
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RE: The middle joint in picado (in reply to Fitz63)
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think less about anatomy and physics, and spend more time working on your balance and coordination with the metronome at a super conservative tempo. I like to set the metronome at half time. It feels less hurried. Stay down around 120/60bpm and play staccato, going for as much dead space between notes as possible. Its a balance with staccato though, because you can build up alot of tension, so be mindful of that. Try a guitar support and practice on the left leg. It gets the right hand/arm in a position where you can square up with the strings without straining the shoulder. Mix up techniques together. Dont just practice picado by itself cause you'll never play it that way in the real world. It will always be preceded by rasgeo, arps, etc.. It has to feel connected with the other techniques, or you will always struggle when you have to do a run within a tune, and not just isolated in a practice session. I have students that do great in an isolated run in practice, but when playing a tune, the staccato goes away and they struggle. You wanna build power, but you dont want the speed to be dependant on playing hard. You should be able to play fast, yet softly too. You should have control over the power. Picado should have some fire in it. Nothing worse than coming out of a loud rasgeo section and then into a weak and quiet picado. The picado should be dynamically even with a strong rasgeo. If you cant do that slowly and cleanly, then... well, you get the idea. I see alot of weak a$$ picado on youtube. Speed is useless if you have no power and are not clean. It totally defeats the purpose. Better to take the speed down, and work on playing clean with power. A run played super staccato and clean at 140 will have a greater impact than a run played sloppily and weak at 160. As usual Ricardo is posting plenty of great stuff to consider.
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Date Mar. 31 2017 16:10:28
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Fitz63
Posts: 104
Joined: May 16 2016
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RE: The middle joint in picado (in reply to ToddK)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: ToddK think less about anatomy and physics, and spend more time working on your balance and coordination with the metronome at a super conservative tempo. I like to set the metronome at half time. It feels less hurried. Stay down around 120/60bpm and play staccato, going for as much dead space between notes as possible. Its a balance with staccato though, because you can build up alot of tension, so be mindful of that. Try a guitar support and practice on the left leg. It gets the right hand/arm in a position where you can square up with the strings without straining the shoulder. Mix up techniques together. Dont just practice picado by itself cause you'll never play it that way in the real world. It will always be preceded by rasgeo, arps, etc.. It has to feel connected with the other techniques, or you will always struggle when you have to do a run within a tune, and not just isolated in a practice session. I have students that do great in an isolated run in practice, but when playing a tune, the staccato goes away and they struggle. You wanna build power, but you dont want the speed to be dependant on playing hard. You should be able to play fast, yet softly too. You should have control over the power. Picado should have some fire in it. Nothing worse than coming out of a loud rasgeo section and then into a weak and quiet picado. The picado should be dynamically even with a strong rasgeo. If you cant do that slowly and cleanly, then... well, you get the idea. I see alot of weak a$$ picado on youtube. Speed is useless if you have no power and are not clean. It totally defeats the purpose. Better to take the speed down, and work on playing clean with power. A run played super staccato and clean at 140 will have a greater impact than a run played sloppily and weak at 160. As usual Ricardo is posting plenty of great stuff to consider. That all sounds like great advice. Thanks for that.
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Date Mar. 31 2017 22:36:17
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