Right arm movement

[MikeS]

I have been looking at both Scott Tennant's "Pumping Nylon (w/CD) and Jamey Andreas' "The Principles of correct Practice for the Guitar. With regard to the right arm, Tennant suggests a tone-arm approach in moving from the first to the sixth string and keeping a straight wrist. Andreas opts for swinging accross the strings, pivoting from the elbow and an arched wrist.

I would appreciate what the forum members think about these two quite different approaches.

I have purposely omitted much detail as it seems most guitarists are familiar with these training aides.

[Tomas-Lobos]

My teacher and I discussed this very issue. His advice was to use the technique that works best for you. That was his advice for all technique questions that arose unless of course there some strain or pain involved. I find that my natural approach is the Segovia method. If I try the Tennant method for some reason I start missing strings with my 'i' finger and the sound is sometimes tinny.

[rdubb]

I have read and studied both books.

I think it is somewhat of an incorrect assumption that many are familiar with Jamey Andreas's book, though I am well aware of it (found it on the internet one day just trolling aimlessly, and ordered).

For those that don't know about this book, go to www.guitarprinicples.com

A lot of food for thought on that site, and in the book. The site and the book are fascinating; very earnest and from the heart.

In response to your question, I think Tennant's approach is more sound biomechanically and physics-wise. It seems like Andreas is advocating the old-school Pujol right hand method, which is odd, considering that much of his book is fairly forward-looking technically. You get a better tone with a straight wrist, more control, and less suceptibility to certain hand problems.

[rdubb]

My teacher and I discussed this very issue. His advice was to use the technique that works best for you. That was his advice for all technique questions that arose unless of course there some strain or pain involved. I find that my natural approach is the Segovia method. If I try the Tennant method for some reason I start missing strings with my 'i' finger and the sound is sometimes tinny.

ah this is interesting, in direct contradiction to what i justsaid :)

generally one will get a fatter sound coming at the stings at an angle, but as we are all well aware nail and hand shapes vary drastically.

I used to have the same problem you describe, with a weak i finger and missing the string. The solution was to vary the rotation of the hand slightly, but still maintaining the straight wrist, if that makes any sense....

[M. Stephenson]

I play single notes and tremolo with the the fingers perpendiculer to the strings.

I play arpegios with the fingers at an angle to the strings.

If I play notes with my finger at an angle, I get a scratchy sound on the wound strings.

Sometimes I play arpegios with the fingers perpendiculer to the strings if there are a lot of bass notes involved.

My wrist angle and elbow angle are subserviant to these hand motions - there is no thought or tension in them.

I know that is not a direct answer, but I think that it has value as these positions have arisen naturally from lots of practice under a good instructor. The movements are efficient and they do not tire my right hand.

[DFL]

I went from bent wrist, perpendicular attack to straight wrist, angled attack and really can't say enough good things about it. You have significantly less risk of injuring yourself this way. You can also achieve a much rounder, thicker tone, but only with correctly shaped nails (Pumping Nylon is a good general guide for this, but it requires experimentation.)

Check out this David Russell video for some visual help. http://www.xente.mundo-r.com/russell-videos/

Read this Ricardo Iznaola article (once the site is back up) for an extensive breakdown of the issues.
http://www.egtaguitarforum.org/ExtraArticles/RestandFree.html

You might have to occasional employ a bent wrist for things like wound string plucking, but for the sake of your wrist's longevity and economy of motion I would minimize this.

[Todd]

I also vote for straight wrist.

Definatly easier to get clean, round tone, without
nail noise. Better longevity.

The wound strings can be a pain, but you just
have to work with them, and your nails/ nailshape..

Some basses are scratchier than others. :)

Saverez Alliances are the scratchiest!!! :lol:

Hey! getting great classical tone aint easy!
If it was, we might not even be here. :wink:

Best of luck!
TK

[M. Stephenson]

Something else to consider is the height of the wrist from the guitar.

Experimenting this morning I found that the lower the wrist, the harder it is to play perpendiculer to the strings. The higher the wrist, the more natural it was to play perpendiculer to the strings.

The height of the wrist also affects the attack from the thumgb - the higher the wrist the more the top of the thumb and the more thumb nail, the lower the more the side of the thumb. Makes a big difference in tone.

When I play lap-steel guitar, my wrist is low and I play at an angle. My thumb is also on the side, so it lacks the punch of playing on the tip - I guess that is why a lot of lap-steel players wear thumb picks.

As a teenager I was taught perpendiculer hand position and it was a real bear to learn, but now it is second nature. For me the height of the wrist form the guitar is what makes this position easy or hard.

All in all, I do not think that there is a right answer as there are so many variables. It is good to practice the range of hand positions, however, so that you can find what you like and maybe even get to the point where you use different hand positions for different tones.

[classguitar24]

My guitar teacher told me to actually use a variation of both. On the treble strings he advocated the use of a straight wrist for a fat tone but as you move to the wound strings, to turn the wrist (just slightly) to a more perpendicular position to get rid of the scratch. For arpeggios i use the same idea. If its mostly one the trebles i use the straight wrist, and when it is more on the bass strings, i use a more perpendicular wrist.

I do agree however that one of the most important factors in wrist position is nail length, angle, and (less known) how the nail leaves the tip of the finger. Does that make sense?