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changing hand positions

Matthias LenzMatthias Lenz Lucklum, GermanyNew
edited May 2009 in Gypsy Picking Posts: 101
I´ve been working with the book for a year now, and until a few days ago stuck with the "completely free hand" method, which I like a lot for it´s mobilty, being able to do large movements even at higher speeds and getting a nice punchy tone.

However, while everything is well and developing naturally, I got kind of stuck when it comes to triplet licks involving the high e-string. (like example 8.2 and 10.1 in the book)
When I let the hand fall through (after playing the high e with a downstroke), as advised, the movement is just too big, and keeping the movement smaller tenses me up.
For these patricular licks I tried uncurling the other fingers, which makes these licks much easier to pull off without any tension involved. (As advised here, I just slightly brush them on the guitar´s top, not anchoring)

Would it be okay to keep using the free hand and just uncurl the other fingers for these special licks ? I´ve tried it, and changing seems no problem...still I kept wondering if it´s alright and finally decided to ask for opinions on this. What do you guys think ?

Comments

  • steven_eiresteven_eire Wicklow✭✭✭✭ Dupont MD50
    Posts: 172
    Would it be okay to keep using the free hand and just uncurl the other fingers for these special licks

    yes. from what i can tell, a lot of players uncurl there fingers to different degrees when playing lead. if you look carefully at his django's right hand in jazz hot, his fingers are somewhat uncurled and appear to be lightly brushing off the top of the guitar. the extreme of this is jimmy rosenberg, who plays with his fingers totally uncurled.

    as long as your wrist is still floated and you don't plant your fingers on the guitar it shouldn't interfere with your gypsy picking.
  • MichaelHorowitzMichaelHorowitz SeattleAdministrator
    Posts: 6,153

    Would it be okay to keep using the free hand and just uncurl the other fingers for these special licks ? I´ve tried it, and changing seems no problem...still I kept wondering if it´s alright and finally decided to ask for opinions on this. What do you guys think ?

    Yes, I think that's fine. Django seems to do this...sometimes it looks like his hand was mostly free of the guitar while other times he was grazing the top.

    The main issue is the effort and realignment necessary to change back and forth. May be a little tricky but I think it's doable.

    'm
  • Matthias LenzMatthias Lenz Lucklum, GermanyNew
    Posts: 101
    thanks for your input ! :)

    I found that the uncurled fingers work fine for me until I go back low to the A or low E string. When I play those, it feels way better to have the hand completely free.

    So I pull the fingers back somewhere on the way down, basically on an upstroke movement. Fortunately it doesn´t feel tricky at all to me, more like a very small and almost unconscious movement that just seems to happen.

    Good to know I wasn´t half-way into training bad habits. Thanks again, guys
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