Fingering Suggestions

[vcs700s]

When playing, do you follow the suggested fingerings for the left hand as indicated in the music or do you use your own? I am wondering how crucial this is.

I know that Scott Tennat, in his follow-up book to "Pumping Nylon," says at first to follow the suggested fingerings but then to try others.

Any thoughts?

[M. Stephenson]

I try the suggested fingering, but I also will explore other alternatives.

This often involves reworking passages from scratch. This is especially true in dealing with pieces that have both tab and notation - the tab typically has room for improvement.

As my instructor says, a transcription is only as good as the technique of the transcriber. So, when learning a piece and following the transcription you are, in a sense, studying the transcribers technique.

My instructor only uses transcriptions from top guitarists as he feels that the average transcription is, well, average and that it does not take advantage of the tips and tricks used by advanced guitarists. I am a bit more daring and I am also quick to change the way a passage is played if I feel that there is a better way.

How does one know if there is a better way? Endless experimentation.

[bruno]

I usually try to work out alternatives when I'm not happy with the original fingering. It's not always possible to find a better way of doing things, of course, but you do learn a lot about the fretboard along the way.

The basic common-sense principle, I think, is to strive for the best musical result with the least expense of energy and the greatest possible comfort. It is interesting that many great guitarrists very often seem to be playing even the most dificult passages quite effortlessly. This is due in part to expert fingering, I think.

Now, probably different fingerings will be preferred by different players, depending on the shape and size of their hands, their guitars and their conception of the music.

[M. Stephenson]

I should have added this link to my previous reply.

It gives a very good idea of some of the left hand techniques that can be used when searching for new fingerings - or maybe even for understanding the written fingerings:

http://www.frankkoonce.com/articles/bago_tricks/bago_tricks_part1.php

[Libre]

I view all fingerings as suggestions, to be used or ignored, at my discretion. Unlike the note value itself, a fingering is not iron-clad. I never work a piece without a pencil, an eraser, and a bottle of white-out by my side. The fingering solutions you come up with will reflect your own playing style, your natural predilictions, and the way you interpret the music. Sometimes I've found a fingering for a passage to be difficult in the extreme, while another fingering is far more playable. Some fingerings just fall naturally under the fingers, while others are cumbersome. Open strings vs. stopped strings is alse a big consideration, affecting the sound and playability of the music.
Of course, if you have little experience arranging and playing, you should stick to the printed arrangement, as Tennat says, unless a better solution is obvious to you. Don't just change a fingering for the sake of changing it. But do experiment - you will learn in doing so.
So I agree wholeheartedly with Tennat.

[Sandra]

I never work a piece without a pencil, an eraser, and a bottle of white-out by my side.
Same here. :)

That is also why I usually make photocopies of any pieces I'm working on... so I don't mess up the (often costly) originals.

[rdubb]

I should have added this link to my previous reply.

It gives a very good idea of some of the left hand techniques that can be used when searching for new fingerings - or maybe even for understanding the written fingerings:

http://www.frankkoonce.com/articles/bago_tricks/bago_tricks_part1.php

That's a great article. I've been fortunate to study with a friend and ex student of Koonce, and had a lot of these principles passed along to me in a very similar fasion

In a way fingering really seems a lot like Chess (which im not so good at....), maybe this explains why brilliant guitarits like Williams and Leathwood are also apparently killer chess players. Patterns, structures, where you're coming form, where you're going...subtle alterations having unforseen consequences, economy of movement, etc........

my favorite 'trick' currently is placing fingers down ahead of time on notes that don't get played in order to be in the most advantageous position for a vertical or horizontal position change. I'll then write that note down in the score and place it in parenthesis with arrows. Damn, the possibilties are endless....

[Libre]

My former teacher Jerry Willard was trying to get me to do that (pre positioning of fingers) and I do, to an extent. More often, I find it easier to stop the string just before I'm about to pluck it - except in special situations where I have a real hard time nailing the note with the LH. He (Jerry) would advise me to put the whole chord down with the left, no matter how many or few of the notes in the chord I'm playing - this accomplishes the ideal of minimum motion with the left, and also reinforces the chordal aspect of even single line music. Works for him, not for me. When Jerrry playes, his left hand looks like he is playing rhythm guitar - not an intricate solo piece of classical. It hardly moves. It moves up and down the neck, but the individual fingers are barely moving. My fingers, in contrast do move about. I tried his idea, as I said, and found it took more concentration to do it than not to do it. I told him, when you need to catch a bus, does it matter if you get there a minute before the bus arrives, or 10 minutes - as long as you catch it?
He agreed with my example, but still advised me to try his idea, which as I said I do sometimes.