The Anchored Baby Finger
Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2013 2:03 pm
Thursday - April 17th, 2013
Right Hand Technique
I've come to realize the importance of the anchored baby finger. You see Chet anchoring his baby all the time and so do most other Chet players. Usually I don't think about it and then I find myself not stretching out the baby and purposely using it as an anchor. I've also found that not only stretching out the baby finger into a straight position helps but it helps even more when it actually touches the guitar body. To add to this, it seems like an even better practice to apply a little pressure to baby finger as it touches the guitar body in a straightened position.
I've been trying my best at that tune 'A Man and A Woman', particularly the way that Claes Neeb plays it at the link at the bottom. I've found tab for it on the net and have also purchased John's Volume 7 Number 3 Issue #27 where he has the tune tabbed out and has done an awesome job. Claes plays it just a little differently where he uses his 'I' and 'M' fingers at the same time during those quick 16th notes during the verses. We'll, Claes plays the tune at around 180 bpm cut-time and playing those two fingers together like that and also doing a clean job of it is a pretty hard task - especially for a beginner like me. I've found, especially in this tune, that using the right hand baby finger anchored as discussed above, really helps in landing those doubled-fingered 16th notes clean and at that rate of speed.
I think I should start paying closer attention to my baby finger and how it's anchored, it really helps with the right hand technique. Do you agree?
I've posted this youtube video here before but for the sake of explaining this post, here's Claes playing 'A Man and a Woman'. Watch his baby finger: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHM2wGlCrNg
Right Hand Technique
I've come to realize the importance of the anchored baby finger. You see Chet anchoring his baby all the time and so do most other Chet players. Usually I don't think about it and then I find myself not stretching out the baby and purposely using it as an anchor. I've also found that not only stretching out the baby finger into a straight position helps but it helps even more when it actually touches the guitar body. To add to this, it seems like an even better practice to apply a little pressure to baby finger as it touches the guitar body in a straightened position.
I've been trying my best at that tune 'A Man and A Woman', particularly the way that Claes Neeb plays it at the link at the bottom. I've found tab for it on the net and have also purchased John's Volume 7 Number 3 Issue #27 where he has the tune tabbed out and has done an awesome job. Claes plays it just a little differently where he uses his 'I' and 'M' fingers at the same time during those quick 16th notes during the verses. We'll, Claes plays the tune at around 180 bpm cut-time and playing those two fingers together like that and also doing a clean job of it is a pretty hard task - especially for a beginner like me. I've found, especially in this tune, that using the right hand baby finger anchored as discussed above, really helps in landing those doubled-fingered 16th notes clean and at that rate of speed.
I think I should start paying closer attention to my baby finger and how it's anchored, it really helps with the right hand technique. Do you agree?
I've posted this youtube video here before but for the sake of explaining this post, here's Claes playing 'A Man and a Woman'. Watch his baby finger: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHM2wGlCrNg