Sergio Assad's right hand

[Dan Mozell]

Last weekend I went to a wonderful concert of Sergio Assad, Clarice Assad and the Third Coast Percussion Ensemble. Our seats were front row center, close enough to see Sergio's hand quite clearly. I could swear that Sergio's right ring finger was often resting on the B or E strings, something I've never seen a classical guitarist do? Anyone know anything about this?

[Jerry Willard]

I do it all the time - it seems natural to me keeping the fingers close to the strings and providing stability

Jerry

[tom g]

Post by Jerry Willard
I do it all the time - it seems natural to me keeping the fingers close to the strings and providing stability
Jerry

The very excellent Lorenzo Micheli goes further and rests his little finger (pinkie) on the top of the guitar. Nothing new there.

[Gerry]

Post by tom g

Post by Jerry Willard
I do it all the time - it seems natural to me keeping the fingers close
to the strings and providing stability
Jerry

The very excellent Lorenzo Micheli goes further and rests his little
finger (pinkie) on the top of the guitar. Nothing new there.

How about resting the thumb at the end of the fretboard when using i-m
low/middle strings? I know it's a *very* old habit from playing
precision bass in the 70's, I'd park my thumb and pivot my wrist to
play i-m. I don't really park, per se, on guitar but wonder if I get a
pass on it anyway.

[Gerry]

Post by Gerry

Post by tom g

Post by Jerry Willard
I do it all the time - it seems natural to me keeping the fingers close
to the strings and providing stability
Jerry

The very excellent Lorenzo Micheli goes further and rests his little
finger (pinkie) on the top of the guitar. Nothing new there.

How about resting the thumb at the end of the fretboard when using i-m
low/middle strings? I know it's a *very* old habit from playing
precision bass in the 70's, I'd park my thumb and pivot my wrist to
play i-m. I don't really park, per se, on guitar but wonder if I get a
pass on it anyway.

Continuing in the "not worthy of comment" category, I realize I also
park my thumb on the E string during extended periods of
scales/arpeggios with i-m. Well yes sirree isn't that an interesting?
It doesn't seem a decided liability, so I guess I'll carry on it proves
itself a liability. And so on and so forth.

[tom g]

Post by Gerry

Post by Gerry

Post by tom g

Post by Jerry Willard
I do it all the time - it seems natural to me keeping the fingers close
to the strings and providing stability
Jerry

The very excellent Lorenzo Micheli goes further and rests his little
finger (pinkie) on the top of the guitar. Nothing new there.

How about resting the thumb at the end of the fretboard when using i-m
low/middle strings? I know it's a *very* old habit from playing
precision bass in the 70's, I'd park my thumb and pivot my wrist to
play i-m. I don't really park, per se, on guitar but wonder if I get a
pass on it anyway.

Continuing in the "not worthy of comment" category, I realize I also
park my thumb on the E string during extended periods of
scales/arpeggios with i-m. Well yes sirree isn't that an interesting?
It doesn't seem a decided liability, so I guess I'll carry on it proves
itself a liability. And so on and so forth.

Well, you know, it's a can of worms because the way you rest your thumb depends on how you understand the task of the wrist, the thumb and the alternation of the fingers, in your case all influenced by your days of playing the electric bass. The best way to observe alternation is to watch the flamenco guitarists. Here is a good example from the fenomenal Russian, Grisha Goryachev:

Of course these are flamenco scales. Classical scales are not so percussive.

[Gerry]

Post by tom g

Post by Jerry Willard
I do it all the time - it seems natural to me keeping the fingers
close> >>> to the strings and providing stability
Jerry

The very excellent Lorenzo Micheli goes further and rests his little>

Post by Jerry Willard

Post by tom g
finger (pinkie) on the top of the guitar. Nothing new there.

How about resting the thumb at the end of the fretboard when using i-m>

low/middle strings? I know it's a *very* old habit from playing> >

precision bass in the 70's, I'd park my thumb and pivot my wrist to> >
play i-m. I don't really park, per se, on guitar but wonder if I get
a> > pass on it anyway.

Continuing in the "not worthy of comment" category, I realize I also>
park my thumb on the E string during extended periods of>
scales/arpeggios with i-m. Well yes sirree isn't that an interesting?
It doesn't seem a decided liability, so I guess I'll carry on [until]
it proves> itself a liability. And so on and so forth.

Well, you know, it's a can of worms because the way you rest your thumb
depends on how you understand the task of the wrist, the thumb and the
alternation of the fingers, in your case all influenced by your days of
playing the electric bass. The best way to observe alternation is to
watch the flamenco guitarists. Here is a good example from the
fenomenal Russian, Grisha
http://youtu.be/4Vcf9K5BTNk
Of course these are flamenco scales. Classical scales are not so percussive.

Goryachev playing rest strokes, but it's interesting anyway. I've come
to lose my general fear of potential issues because I realize I'm not
really parking so much as simply resting. The scales do not change
their tone, nor does my wrist and hand change it's angle in any way
when my thumb is resting. So I'll just move on to the other score of
issues in my playing...

[tom g]

Post by Gerry

Post by tom g

Post by Jerry Willard
I do it all the time - it seems natural to me keeping the fingers
close> >>> to the strings and providing stability
Jerry

The very excellent Lorenzo Micheli goes further and rests his little>

Post by Jerry Willard

Post by tom g
finger (pinkie) on the top of the guitar. Nothing new there.

How about resting the thumb at the end of the fretboard when using i-m>

low/middle strings? I know it's a *very* old habit from playing> >

precision bass in the 70's, I'd park my thumb and pivot my wrist to> >
play i-m. I don't really park, per se, on guitar but wonder if I get
a> > pass on it anyway.

Continuing in the "not worthy of comment" category, I realize I also>
park my thumb on the E string during extended periods of>
scales/arpeggios with i-m. Well yes sirree isn't that an interesting?
It doesn't seem a decided liability, so I guess I'll carry on [until]
it proves> itself a liability. And so on and so forth.

Well, you know, it's a can of worms because the way you rest your thumb
depends on how you understand the task of the wrist, the thumb and the
alternation of the fingers, in your case all influenced by your days of
playing the electric bass. The best way to observe alternation is to
watch the flamenco guitarists. Here is a good example from the
fenomenal Russian, Grisha
http://youtu.be/4Vcf9K5BTNk
Of course these are flamenco scales. Classical scales are not so percussive.

Goryachev playing rest strokes, but it's interesting anyway. I've come
to lose my general fear of potential issues because I realize I'm not
really parking so much as simply resting. The scales do not change
their tone, nor does my wrist and hand change it's angle in any way
when my thumb is resting. So I'll just move on to the other score of
issues in my playing...

You didn't mention what kind of stroke you were using. You were not very clear when you said that you parked your thumb and *pivoted your wrist*. Presumably you meant in your precision bass days but not now but how could we know that? But let's keep it short: resting the thumb on the edge of the fingerboard is a bad habit. If there is 'another score of issues" in your playing, your best bet is to find a good teacher.

[Gerry]

Post by tom g

Post by Gerry

Post by tom g

Post by Gerry

I do it all the time - it seems natural to me keeping the fingers>

Post by Jerry Willard
close> >>> to the strings and providing stability

Jerry

The very excellent Lorenzo Micheli goes further and rests his little>>

Post by Jerry Willard
finger (pinkie) on the top of the guitar. Nothing new there.

How about resting the thumb at the end of the fretboard when using
i-m>> >>> > low/middle strings? I know it's a *very* old habit from
playing> >> >>> precision bass in the 70's, I'd park my thumb and pivot
my wrist to> >> >>> play i-m. I don't really park, per se, on guitar
but wonder if I get> >>> a> > pass on it anyway.

Continuing in the "not worthy of comment" category, I realize I also>>

Post by Gerry

park my thumb on the E string during extended periods of>> >>

scales/arpeggios with i-m. Well yes sirree isn't that an interesting?>

Post by Gerry

It doesn't seem a decided liability, so I guess I'll carry on

[until]> >> it proves> itself a liability. And so on and so forth.

Well, you know, it's a can of worms because the way you rest your
thumb> > depends on how you understand the task of the wrist, the thumb
and the> > alternation of the fingers, in your case all influenced by
your days of> > playing the electric bass. The best way to observe
alternation is to> > watch the flamenco guitarists. Here is a good
example from the> > fenomenal Russian, Grisha> >
http://youtu.be/4Vcf9K5BTNk
Of course these are flamenco scales. Classical scales are not so percussive.

Goryachev playing rest strokes, but it's interesting anyway. I've
come> to lose my general fear of potential issues because I realize I'm
not> really parking so much as simply resting. The scales do not
change> their tone, nor does my wrist and hand change it's angle in any
way> when my thumb is resting. So I'll just move on to the other score
of> issues in my playing...

You didn't mention what kind of stroke you were using. You were not
very clear when you said that you parked your thumb and *pivoted your
wrist*. Presumably you meant in your precision bass days but not now
but how could we know that? But let's keep it short: resting the thumb
on the edge of the fingerboard is a bad habit. If there is 'another
score of issues" in your playing, your best bet is to find a good
teacher.

Thanks for your input.