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Page 67 - One Coordinated Gesture
Notes -
A reader asks:
Question -
" The thumb is not squeezing but does it act like a lever ? If so, the thumb itself is somewhat
relaxed but there is a pressure/support on the neck that comes from the back/upper arm. Is that correct ? "
Answer -
That's right, generally the pressure to contain the strings comes from the expansion of the back, transmitted
via the arms. Nothing is absolute, however, of course the Left Hand will need to grip from time to time.
What we are exploring here is "how much can we minimise the gripping of the left hand?"
And the answer is for a lot of people - "quite a lot!".
Also, using the bigger back and arm muscles to produce pressure on the strings allows the fingers a lot
more freedom of movement than is the case when "gripping".
Question -
"
The movement I'm doing now, from what I understood, is
that if I play a chord the whole hand, wrist, arm,
back is involved. That way there is not need to
squeeze thumb and fingers. But if I want to change
chords, when releasing from the previous chord do I
bring the whole gesture back - so there is no movement
from the fingers itself - in order to release the
strings ?
"
Answer -
To change chords you can often go through a "neutral" position, where the hand and fingers are
totally relaxed, which I think is what you are describing. Players with a lot of "stamina" - or the ability to
play long pieces, have found hundreds of places to momentarily rest the hand and fingers within the music.
EXAMPLE - BLUE MOON VIDEO
If you relax, the hand will fall away from the strings easily, due to gravity.
Question -
"
Also, I'd like to clarify how this "One Coordinated
Gesture" works when playing a melody/scale. Is there
a jerky forth-and-back movement from one note to the
other ? I'm not quite sure how the gesture would work
with continuous notes.
"
Answer -
Jerky movements are generally not going to produce a good sound. The notes have to sound "connected" and
that means you have to find a way to connect the movements. This is why I advise doing a lot of melodies on one
string before introducing the complications of string changes.
Back to "Guitar Playing and how it works"
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