Rubbing Between Fingers

[dosborn]

My index fingers are not perfectly straight. In fact, they are slightly tapered in towards the middle fingers of both hands. Althought this is not a problem for the left, my right hand experiences rubbing at the tips of I & M when I play--mainly caused by the I finger trying to "get past" M after M has played. I was wondering if other guitarists experience a sensation of rubbing between I & M at the fingertips or is it just me and my weird hands? Any advice?

Thanks!

[M. Stephenson]

I read an interview with Steve Hackett and he was talking about the difficulty of doing tremolo. He mentioned one of his tricks when performing live is to have a rag that has talcum powder on it to make it easier for his fingers to slip past each other. The implication is that he experiences friction between his fingers when doing tremolo.

Now that I am reaching into the depths of my memory, it seems that I used to experience some rubbing, but I got used to spreading my "i" finger apart when playing. yes, I remember that my "m" finger used to "trip" over the "i" finger. However, that has not happened in years.

If I move my fingers naturally they do rub. But as I said, I have gotten used to spreading them when playing.

[rdubb]

as M. Stephenson said, my fingers used to rub against themselves more in the RH. As my RH technique developed, and became more accurate and secure, this happened less and less, until it happens very very rarely.

In analysis, I think what is happening is this:

in earlier stages of RH development, the fingers do what they do naturally: stay close in to each other when the hand forms the 'cup' that is the the basic RH position.

Fingers develop a brain of their own as they're trained, and part of that unconscious knowledge is the string spacing. If one is wise, and practices much slow 'over-preparing' (this is talked about in Pumping nylon to some extent), then the fingers naturally 'snap' back into position after a stroke that hovers directly over a particular sting exactly. Or even better, if that string is not ringing and not being used, you can briefly plant that finger ahead of time for its use again on that string. That will of course train the proper spacing of the hand as well.

I think extensive RH arpeggio practice helps tremendously here. It affects the accuracy of IM alteration, because arpeggio practice programs the hand with the correct string spacing, so that when IM alternate more on a horizontal plane like on a single string, they won't trip over each other.

Part of your warm up routine should be _slow_ PIMAMI sextuplet RH arpeggio with FULL planting (look in Pumping Nylon if you don't know what this is). Then with SEQUENTIAL planting. Do both.

[rdubb]

I just remembered another thing.

The muscles in the hand responsible for the fingers to be able to spread horizontally are actually the only muscles IN the hand, the interossi. They are small, and in between the webbing of the tendonds. You can strengthen them by alternately spreading out and in the fingers over and over. Proper form in the left and right hands with the fingers somewhat spread will of course strengthen them as well, but perhaps one can speed up the process with a touch of calisthenics.

I'm so bored at work right now....can anyone tell? 8 page answers to technical questions do make the time go by faster.

[dosborn]

Thank you, rdubb and M. Stephenson, for your helpful insights--they have definitely helped to reduce some anxiety. One thing you both mentioned was time: the ability of the fingers to be free from one another comes with training over time. I can also see where arpeggio practice using sequential planting would be a big help here. I am going to put your suggestions to work. I am guessing that rubbing between the tips of I & M is a fairly common occurence--another hurdle to overcome in striving toward virtuosity. It is interesting (and helpful) to hear how others have dealt with this problem...
Thanks again.