Why do old guys watch their left hand? Do they go: "that's no way to do a manicure", or something?
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Old guys watching their left hands
- Thread starter BigLakeBass
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Who actually started all this nonsense ? Why would you not look at your left hand while playing ? Must you avert your eyes so as to appear righteous ? Does it make me less of a player ? And check out my avatar . Playing the saraswati veena and it appears I am actually looking at my left hand
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What was Scott (the percussionist) thinking?
R.I.P., John.
R.I.P., John.
I always figured the face dots are so the guitarist and I can quickly see what the other's playing during open jams.
Random thought... do you think anyone ever says to:
- a mechanic: Don't look at your hands when you change that gearbox,
- a builder: You have to hammer in that nail without looking,
- an electrician: You've seen plenty of 3-pin grounded power plugs, so you wire this one up without looking,
- a surgeon: You must make eye contact with the anesthetist the whole time you're removing this gall bladder,
- etc.
I once had a friend ask me what those big boxes were in front of a band on stage. I explained they were monitors, so that the band members could better hear what they were doing. Her response was, "that's cheating!"
I wish I'd had the presence of mind to ask her if she thought typing on a computer without a screen was also cheating.
A more apt comparison is a dancer looking at their feet: sure, one could do it constantly, but it would detract from the performance somewhat, wouldn't it?
Of course, in our case, there are other considerations, most importantly the sideperson vs. frontperson distinction. And this is coming from a technically limited player (yours truly) who needs to take *very* frequent peeks (so I just do, even though I'm often the lead singer in the sitch). But still. I think of it as a matter of connection with the audience rather than an abstract tribute to some god of musicianship, or a way to appease cheerleadery peers.
I have seen examples of framing, even fine finish work, where it looked just like that was exactly the case.
Well, when I was in a band, I had to play the regular bass player's bass. Since he was right handed - and I'm not? Yeah, I did look at my left hand - a lot... Still, I used to try and look up once in a while; even look at the audience. But, after remembering what the teacher told us in "Speaking in Public" class, to try to overcome stage fright; "If you're nervous, picture the audience naked"? I settled for the stage fright. The mental image of all those naked, drunk GIs was a lot scarier. So, I looked at my feet - or my left hand - instead. I guess I got used to staring at my fretting hand - left or right - cause I'm still doing it, 50 years later. Even when there's no naked people in my living room to avoid looking at...
Zappa was a fairly serious conductor when I saw him. I can't recall whether his band had charts or not. When Zappa wasn't looking at his fingerboard, he was conducting and watching his employees.
I think, when reading sheet music you have to look at the music on the page and not your hands. That being said, I stand at an angle so I can read the music and kind of see where I'm at on the fretboard. I'm ok not looking at all until I get above about the 9th fret. Sometimes if there's a big jump, I need to glance or I may miss the note.
Thanks to this stoopid thread...I was much more aware of my playing last night. Good but not good...
I'm embarrassed to admit that I ALWAYS frak up my bass playing during Wagon wheel. I'm singing but that's no excuse. I try to not watch my hand and glissando a half a step too high at least once per performance.
Unless I watch my hand incessantly.
My left hand clearly can't be trusted.
Unless I watch my hand incessantly.
My left hand clearly can't be trusted.
I have no issue with players who look at their hands. I think the real issue is players that are motionless and/or make zero connection with the crowd. Staring at their hands isn't the problem, lack of stagemanship is the problem.
A player that looks at his hands a lot is Slash, but if you watch him he's developed all sorts of cool stage moves that enable him to look at his hands while being entertaining, and he hides his focal point with sunglasses, so he can look like he's facing the crowd while looking at his hands.
Where there's a will, there's a way.
A player that looks at his hands a lot is Slash, but if you watch him he's developed all sorts of cool stage moves that enable him to look at his hands while being entertaining, and he hides his focal point with sunglasses, so he can look like he's facing the crowd while looking at his hands.
Where there's a will, there's a way.
