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Originally Posted by Calvin Marks  I'm also curious about this! Good question Kirsten!
I know that Rabbath plays with the collapsed first finger and usually plays with flat hands in thumb position, correct?
It seems that you can vibrate better like this and it's more comfortable to play. For me I found it a bit tricky to stay really in tune like that especially because my teacher advocates the Petracchi technique, lots of diatonic hand positions, and a collapsed first finger proves to be slightly less agile IMO.
But I would definitely like to hear Prof. Neher's comments.
Oh Kirsten, I have larg hands but short fingers (weird to look at!) Do you use the crab/pivot technique? It helps in thumb position! I sometimes pivot with a diatonic hand structure; depending on the passage of course. |
I rarely advocate "collapsing" of knuckles or using "straight" fingers playing the bass. There are times, but in general rounded form is the strongest and most efficient for transfer of your natural body weight and for transfer of squeeze-energy (same is true for having lots of variety in vibrato). What you see in Rabbath is the collapse of the first knuckle only. He also has truly large hands, this necessitates some adjustment to the rounded "rule." This IS also often necessary to reach "over finger" positions and certain "crab" technique. Generally, do not collapse first (closest to the palm) knuckle, second knuckle (the one in the middle of the finger), and rarely unless needed the third knuckle (one closest to the tip of the finger). Many people have trouble with the middle knuckle collapsing on the third finger in thumb position, due to the angle change of the arm-to-fingerboard. But rounded will always be more efficient. You will "press" with less muscle, you will use your weight, and you will have a focused sound. Flat fingers are useful though for certain things and I am not saying NEVER use flat fingers. Only that, the basic form should be rounded for efficiency. This is true for electric and guitar playing also.
Cheers!
Patrick
