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left hand technique question
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Erik van Goch
Posts: 1787
Joined: Jul. 17 2012
From: Netherlands
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 RE: left hand technique question (in reply to callemunicion)
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quote:
Just asking myself if it's technically better to (always) lift the finger from the string after you play a note or are there expectations?
Quite the opposite actually. One of the very first things i had to "unlearn" when i entered conservatory was my habit to lift my fingers as soon as other fingers took over control of that string. For instance when i had to play
--0-1-3-1-0-----
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i tended to lift the first finger when (or even before) fretting the 3th finger after which it had to be re-placed when going back from 3 to 1.
Obviously this is a waste of energy (and even a loss of sound if the finger is lifted to hastily) and it is way better to keep that 1-th finger posed until the moment it has to be lifted in order to be able to play to play the open string again.
In general melodies tend to go up and down (using the same notes/fingers/frettings in both up and downwards direction) so if there is no direct need to lift a finger the general strategy is to keep them posted/fretted as long as possible, even if they will not be played again.
For instance when playing
-1-2-3-4-/1---
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i leave all fingers on string (ending up with all 4 fingers lined up together) after which i lift finger [2,3,4] simultaneously in order to return to finger 1 (which remains fretted all the time).
This even happens when the lifting is combined with positional movement of the hand to other positions.
when playing
1-th pos./5-th position
-1-2-3-4/-5-6-7-8-
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the 5,6,7,8 part is played with the same fingers as the 1234 part, the only difference is that in order to fret 5,6,7,8 your hand has to be moved to/positioned at 5-th position.
Now as an amateur when moving my hand from 1-th position to 5-th position (in above situation) i tended to lift all 4 fingers, then made a "huge jump" in the air (hoping) to reach the 5-th position were i had to re-fret the 1st finger and balance the hand again.
Quite often i lost "sight" of where i was during that "quantum leap".
At conservatory i learned there is a way smarter way to make that "jump" from 1-th position to 5-th position and that actually there is no real difference between playing 1,2,3,4/1,2,3,4 and playing 1,2,3,4/5,6,7,8 in the sense of "finger management". As far as finger management is concerned you preferably have to play the guitar LIKE THERE IS 1 POSITION ONLY (additional/simultaneous hand moves will bring the fingers to the required position).
Now what i want you to do is play 1,2,3,4 a couple of times on a row in the way i explained above>>>>> after being played each and every finger stays were it is, ending up with all 4 fingers lined up in a row up to the moment were you lift [2,3,4] simultaneously in order to return ro finger 1.
1....2.....3.....4.../.1...2....3.......4../1
.....put.down.and/lift.put.down.and/lift
During the "lift" part you simultaneously lift finger [2,3,4} which automatically brings you back to finger/fret 1 WHICH REMAINS FRETTED ALL THE TIME.
Now what i want you to do is play that 1234 gripping pattern tree times in a row but when doing it the 3-th time simultaneously move your hand up to the 5-th position WHILE REMAINING THE FEELING YOU JUST RETURN FROM 4 TO 1 THE VERY SAME WAY YOU DID THE FIST 2 ROUNDS.
1....2.....3.....4.../.1...2....3.......4../ 5
.....put.down.and/lift.put.down.and/lift
Now in order to end up in 5-th position all you have to do is move your hand to the 5-th position DURING THE LIFT PART. Note that in your mind finger 1 keeps posted like in the previous rounds so despite the hand being moved from 1th to 5-th position the first finger REMAINS IN CONTACT WITH THE STRING. All i do is release pressure in such a way i don't end up plying glissando (i guess the pressure applied is comparable with playing flageolet) and while that hand moves the index simply glides/skates over the string from 1 position to the 5-th fret wile muting the string). Once the first finger reaches the 5-th fret pressure is added again in order to fret it properly.
"Lifting" the 1-th finger, moving it while keeping contact with the string, and re-fretting it at 5-th position all happens during the part were you lift the other 3 fingers in order to return to the 1-th finger. Other advantage is that playing it like that it no longer feels like making a huge jump to the new position because it hardly feels like a change of position at all. Just before making the "jump" your eyes or mind makes contact with the intended new fret making that finger ending up there very easy and natural and again not feeling like a jump at all.
In general my left hand management is done "like everything occurs in the same position", additional hand moves to bring that setup to different positions of the guitar (like the gliding proces mentioned above) are added on top of that with little or no disturbance of the normal finger actions. I use similar strategies for the right hand when playing pulgar, arpeggio, picado were the finger action just continues like everything occurs on the same strings while additional hand movement brings the action to other string selections.
Sometimes i even place fingers on strings i don't actually plug for instance because they are part of the chord or to ease the other finger actions one way o the other (on top that unplugged but well chosen note might produce vital overtones/resonance vibrations that enrich the sound and even allows one to lift/kill the note that started it's resonance without loosing the note it covered).
Good reasons to keep fingers posted
* it can be played again effortless
* limited/concentrated actions.
* sound issues
* to ease the other finger actions (one way or the other)
Good reasons to lift a finger are:
* it is needed elsewhere
* to return to other fingers waiting their turn on that string
* sound issues
* having negative influence on other finger actions
Sometimes i choose to lift and place again for technical or sound issues but my general strategy is to keep fingers posted as long as needed/possible.
_____________________________
The smaller the object of your focus the bigger the result.
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jul. 22 2017 22:03:45
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Miguel de Maria
Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ
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RE: left hand technique question (in reply to callemunicion)
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This is a deeper question than it appears IMO. You said if it was technically better, but sometimes it is a musical thing. For example, in classical music, there is a concept that the endings of notes are just as important as the beginning. Much of the art of CG is muting basses that are ringing and shouldn't be. Also, often you can easily recognize the underlying chord pattern ("grip") but you _shouldn't_ play it as a grip, but put the fingers down as they are needed. This helps keep the voices distinct, conserves energy, and helps legato.
In technical terms, I have never really felt leaving fingers down helped me. For example, if I were playing a chromatic lick 1234, I don't really like to hold down and keep down each note, I tend to lift the notes as the next note is played.
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Arizona Wedding Music Guitar
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jul. 30 2017 21:40:07
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). Still, the 4th-finger-on-1st-string-for-every-note approach never worked well for me. 
