Hi guys,
I´ve noticed that Al di Meola does not leave his first finger of the left hand down.
Check out the REH video at 37 mins in:
I assume he does that to always give his brain one motion for each hand at the same time to aid synchronisation? (as opposed to getting three movements in the picking hand and only two movements in the fretting hand when the first finger stays down).
What´s your take on this?
I think this is a habit of playing a lot of alternate picking (a not so much legato) over several strings. It feels to me more economical and versatile since each finger is ready to go wherever you want and not unnecessarily down on a string when you want to use it somewhere else. At least this was how I explained it to myself why I do it that way as well.
I also noticed that you can make the notes sound a bit more staccato like this, so it may be a sound choice.
Your explanation sounds also plausible to me, though, and maybe my point of “versatility” explained from a different direction?!
Troy Stetina’s “Speed Mechanics” recommends lifting the previous finger when the next finger frets for smoother string and position changes. It helps syncing because you’re using the same mechanics with every note. Your brain learns to send out a consistent message - when a note is being picked get a finger down! Took me about a week to get used to lifting my index finger and my syncing got way better real quick.
Also it makes swiping really easy. When the pick is gliding across the string being swiped the finger fretting the next note is on the string barely applying pressure to it so you can’t hear the swipe.
Thanks for your input on this Jazzy Jay. I think it´s still a pretty uncommon thing to do and I´d assume most players leave their first finger down when they can. I have been experimenting with this and it helped my sync a lot.
Thank you Ian - I have also experienced an improvement in syncing the two hands and I attribute it to the brain having an easier time - one finger and one pick stroke. Was not aware that this is mentioned in Troy Stetina´s book, thanks for pointing that out.
A possible downfall might be this - the hand is not operating from a stable base (as it is when a finger stays down) and more free flowing, which might be more challenging to coordinate.
Ah, guitar playing - sometimes I wonder that we play music at all now and not get lost into all those elements that need to be considered LOL
I bought the “Stylus pick” ages ago, and from what I recall, the accompanying booklet of exercises makes the same recommendation. I believe Troy Stetina says there are times when it will make more sense to keep fingers down, but he recommends starting out with developing the habit of always lifting (but only the minimum amount required), and then later choosing when to lift and when not to.