You don't want to follow through from the large knuckle joint like that in fact once the string is struck, the finger extends immediately from the large knuckle joint while the middle joint follows through. It's called flex, release and all the good players do it.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment. I completely agree with you. I practice and play with the flex-release movements and I used to start teaching that concept right away. If you watch videos of Segovia or many other great players, you will see the flex-release playing you described. At a slow tempo, each finger flexes and then immediately extends before the next finger flexes. At a fast tempo, the fingers will move as I described in the video because the releases overlap the flexes of the alternating finger. So why do I teach it the other way? I find that beginners have a hard time moving from the knuckle joint. I make them exaggerate the movement to move the fingers from the big knuckle, folding in the middle of the palm. I start with teaching in an artificially slowed-down movement. Once the student internalizes the big knuckle joint feeling, I then work on flex-release, playing through pieces slower. The exceptions are arpeggios and tremolo pima or pami. For those finger movements, the fingers move through a wave. The mistake many beginner players make when the fingers move into the palm is they hold the fingers in the palm instead of letting the fingers immediately release. My approach gets the results I want from my students and works great for me, but I acknowledge that other teachers may start with a flex-release approach with excellent end results.
If I'm playing i-m on the 1st string, and want to transition to the 2nd string then the 3rd string, how should I move my hand? Do I keep my hand and wrist still, and move it up from the elbow as a pivot?
Thank you for your comment. The relationship of the hand and fingers to the strings should always be the same. The exception may be that if you position your hand on the treble strings at a 45-degree angle, you may want to play the bass strings closer to a right angle. This position will prevent the "shhh" sound of the nails against the coils on the bass strings. I used to practice bending my upper arm and hand towards and away from my face like Segovia, with the hand-finger relationship remaining the same on each string. These days, I practice not bending at my elbow or hand towards my face when playing scales. Instead, I roll forward on my lower arm flexors against the upper guitar bout on ascending scales and slide it back over the guitar bout edge on descending scales. I use a guitar sleeve so the movement is smooth. I learned that from Gohar Vardanyan, a great player and teacher. Paco De Lucia moves this way.
@@jonathantrotta9226 Thank you for your explanation. My English is not so good, so I'm not sure I understand exactly. Perhaps you can do a video showing right hand position when moving from treble to bass strings. Thank you so much.
Thank you for the request and challenge. Love Rodrigo and that is a cool piece! I have a few videos I want to make first but I will put it on my project list. May take time to master. : ) I probably won’t do a tutorial on it because the publishers for Rodrigo’s music are very strict. Copyrights can be a pain. I once was planning to do “Fantasia Para un Gentilhombre” with orchestra but the conductor had difficulty getting permission and orchestral parts.
When I teach students, I tailor my teaching to the individual student. Unfortunately, you can't do this with a video. In this video, I imagined a student with many questions and the specific things I encountered in my 35 years of experience teaching arpeggios and tremolo techniques. It is geared toward the beginner. Are you a beginner, intermediate, advanced student, or advanced teacher-player? If you were my student, I might not need to teach you with "too many words." I know what I do works because I have worked with kids as young as 5 and have turned them into players that win competitions, get chosen for master classes, and get accepted into top music colleges. You may be a teacher who gets the same results in fewer words, which is excellent. I can only do what I know works for me. (Yes, I see my response is 'too many words. lol, I am what I am" Anyway, thanks for your feedback.
You don't want to follow through from the large knuckle joint like that in fact once the string is struck, the finger extends immediately from the large knuckle joint while the middle joint follows through. It's called flex, release and all the good players do it.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment. I completely agree with you. I practice and play with the flex-release movements and I used to start teaching that concept right away. If you watch videos of Segovia or many other great players, you will see the flex-release playing you described. At a slow tempo, each finger flexes and then immediately extends before the next finger flexes. At a fast tempo, the fingers will move as I described in the video because the releases overlap the flexes of the alternating finger. So why do I teach it the other way? I find that beginners have a hard time moving from the knuckle joint. I make them exaggerate the movement to move the fingers from the big knuckle, folding in the middle of the palm. I start with teaching in an artificially slowed-down movement. Once the student internalizes the big knuckle joint feeling, I then work on flex-release, playing through pieces slower. The exceptions are arpeggios and tremolo pima or pami. For those finger movements, the fingers move through a wave. The mistake many beginner players make when the fingers move into the palm is they hold the fingers in the palm instead of letting the fingers immediately release. My approach gets the results I want from my students and works great for me, but I acknowledge that other teachers may start with a flex-release approach with excellent end results.
Very nice video
Thank you!
If I'm playing i-m on the 1st string, and want to transition to the 2nd string then the 3rd string, how should I move my hand? Do I keep my hand and wrist still, and move it up from the elbow as a pivot?
Thank you for your comment. The relationship of the hand and fingers to the strings should always be the same. The exception may be that if you position your hand on the treble strings at a 45-degree angle, you may want to play the bass strings closer to a right angle. This position will prevent the "shhh" sound of the nails against the coils on the bass strings. I used to practice bending my upper arm and hand towards and away from my face like Segovia, with the hand-finger relationship remaining the same on each string. These days, I practice not bending at my elbow or hand towards my face when playing scales. Instead, I roll forward on my lower arm flexors against the upper guitar bout on ascending scales and slide it back over the guitar bout edge on descending scales. I use a guitar sleeve so the movement is smooth. I learned that from Gohar Vardanyan, a great player and teacher. Paco De Lucia moves this way.
@@jonathantrotta9226 Thank you for your explanation. My English is not so good, so I'm not sure I understand exactly. Perhaps you can do a video showing right hand position when moving from treble to bass strings. Thank you so much.
Okay. Maybe, I will make a TH-cam short. It helps to see it visually. Thanks for your comment.
Can you make rodrigo taccota, thank you in advance
Thank you for the request and challenge. Love Rodrigo and that is a cool piece! I have a few videos I want to make first but I will put it on my project list. May take time to master. : ) I probably won’t do a tutorial on it because the publishers for Rodrigo’s music are very strict. Copyrights can be a pain. I once was planning to do “Fantasia Para un Gentilhombre” with orchestra but the conductor had difficulty getting permission and orchestral parts.
Too much talk
When I teach students, I tailor my teaching to the individual student. Unfortunately, you can't do this with a video. In this video, I imagined a student with many questions and the specific things I encountered in my 35 years of experience teaching arpeggios and tremolo techniques. It is geared toward the beginner. Are you a beginner, intermediate, advanced student, or advanced teacher-player? If you were my student, I might not need to teach you with "too many words." I know what I do works because I have worked with kids as young as 5 and have turned them into players that win competitions, get chosen for master classes, and get accepted into top music colleges. You may be a teacher who gets the same results in fewer words, which is excellent. I can only do what I know works for me. (Yes, I see my response is 'too many words. lol, I am what I am" Anyway, thanks for your feedback.
@@jonathantrotta9226 Well explained. Great and thorough teaching. Thanks a lot.
@@democafe4864, You're welcome. Thank you.