Erik van Goch -> RE: Left Hand (Jan. 2 2014 18:42:39)
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ORIGINAL: Aretium I struggle playing intermediate classical pieces and falsetas that require stretches and quick finger changes. .......What did you guys feel helped your left hand strength, dexterity nad precision? Exercises? My main focus when studying the left hand (exercises or actual music) is becoming aware (and in control) of optimal positioning/use of thump/hand/arm/fingers while applying optimal (minimal) pressure and optimal (maximal) relaxation. Economical use of movements and energy can mean a world of difference. When possible i try to place my hand in such a way the hand/finger unit remains as natural/relaxed as possible (basically the way they are when you walk with a totally relaxed hand).... the more ground you cover with your hand the more natural your fingers can behave and the more flexible they are when they have to be replaced/stretched. It might be hard to reach a certain note when the intended finger is fixed/stretched to much to begin with....... often a better hand position might give a better starting position with a lesser fixed/stretched finger, saving the full stretching potential to reach that far away note. Also the hand and other fingers can help you to cover long distances For maximum stretching put your index tip on a fret and move your hand to the right...if you stretch your pinky as well you'll have a huge area you can cover. It more or less works the same when using the index to cover half barre...does it really have to cover all it's intended strings "all the time" or can it be partly freed for a moment, supporting that other finger to cover that hard to reach melody note wile still giving support to that 1 base note that was actually sounding so far (before falling back in position again to fret the next notes in line) ... Quite often fingers can move more easily when other fingers remained fixed on their frets. Sometimes less experienced players (and even experienced players) treat a set of notes as individual notes played with individual fingers (lifting and re-fretting them all the time) were i simply grab (and hold) the matching chord, keeping every finger fretted for more sound and in case they are needed again...on top they are a great reference/counter balance for the fingers that are lifted/added/replaced. Often really difficult parts can only be played when every trick of the book is used and there is also a limit to what one can do. Accepting/challenging ones limitations is all part of the deal. Some improvements are just a matter of knowing the trick, other skills just need time to develop like good wine. It all begins with awareness of your flaws, tackling 1 thing at the time until it is completely to your liking.... or abandoned for being (still) out of reach. A very important part of the ability to play fluently is to have a good communication between your brain and your fingers. Studying isn't really about training your muscles, it's about biomechanics and training/refining your brain and nerve system. You have to make sure you understand your body and install the right wiring so that your hands do exactly what you tell them to do. Thats why i always favor to study every aspect involved separately and with complete focus. Numerous times i witnessed experienced players repeating a phrase over and over again while making the same mistake over and over again... quite often playing totally wrong flows/accents and not making distinction between melody notes and supportive notes. Seeing their struggle i would ask them "please can you sing that phrase to me... not every single note you play (many notes are supportive and intended to stay on the background) but just the main melody with it's intended flow and accents. Released from their "unwilling" hands they generally were able to produce a pretty fluent line with way better flow and way better accents then produced by their hands. Next i would ask them to sing it again a couple of times and they generally did so with a combination of "yeah ok" and "what's the point of doing this". Still, when after a couple of rounds of singing i tell them "now, play it exactly like that" to their own surprise they generally have no problem playing it correctly in one take.... with a natural flow of the intended music, correct accents and correct balance between melody and added notes. You might be amazed how much difference there can be between what you think you play and what you are actually playing. Only a handful of people have the natural ability to project their emotions into the guitar without the need to translate them to their hands first. But like demonstrated above one can copy it to a certain extent. All you have to do is pick up a piece and compare what comes out of your guitar with your INNER VOICE, phrase by phrase, note by note. Only when your hands tell the same story as you feel inside you can play fluently and with incredible ease, so every time you notice a difference in expression between your inner voice (sing sing sing) and the translation your hands produce alter the last until it is an exact match... phrase by phrase, noter by note. Not only will it raise your level of awareness but on the long term it will totally change the communication between your inner voice and your hands, up to a point were your hands no longer seem to exist. I'm convinced that somewhere in your body there is a blueprint for perfect playing that covers/dictates both interpretation, biomechanics and even choice/use of finger for every possible situation. If you match that blueprint you can perform magic, if you don't you loose flow, power and sound. Every single time i matched my playing to my inner voice (by comparing them phrase by phrase) my flow increased dramatically. In the late 80ties/early 90ties i was able to "play" complete pieces in my head as real as real can be. Every now and then i noticed i favored a different finger in my head then in real life and every time i changed my playing finger for the one suggested by my brain it highly improved my flow and control. Once the finger suggested by my blue print could not be used in real life and that spot remained the only weakness of that piece. In a way studying is like hacking...... you try all plausible and even un-plausible options until you feel "this is it". Obviously this still leaves years of hard work en concentrated studying. Playing fluently means making optimal use of biomechanics and pairing the right thought to the right action.... if you don't like an outcome you have to alter one of those parameters. As far as that inner blueprint for perfect playing is concerned, it might sound idiotic but that does not mean it's not true. Quite recently (25 years after i deducted there is some kind of blue print) i became aware of the existence of focal dystonia and found an expert explaining that in your brain there is a map showing the wiring of your hand and fingers. When you decide to move a finger, your brain performs that operation in it's virtual copy rather as in the finger itself. In case of focal dystonia some parts of this virtual copy somehow are dislocated....obviously when a body part and it's virtual copy don't mach nerve pulses can end up all over the place. I believe there is a similar virtual map/manual showing in detail how you are supposed to play the guitar, according to your brain. I reached my highest levels of playing in periods i intensely connected with my virtual blueprint/manual, copying it in every little detail. Creating/restoring the communication between inner voice and acting hand can mean a world of difference and a couple of minutes of mental visualization (of interpretation and/or technique) can beat hours of actual playing.... obviously this does not replace severe study of how to operate your hands the best possible way and lots of full focused observation/correcting.
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