4. Using the Thumb-side Tingertips: are there benefits?



4.1. Plucking Into the Strings and Towards the Belly


I have spent the past three years trying these different approaches where the thumb is stretched away from the index. The explanation by Basset was most intriguing for me because of its rare and detailed explanation of the fingertips, so I decided a year to develop and focus on it. As a result, I came to realize that the instruction by Basset, with the help of tips for finger motions given by Piccinini,38 solves most of the issues of playing Thumb-out that was explained by Damiani. After almost two years, I still continue to apply this technique to my playing.


One of the four issues stated by Damiani was that plucking Thumb-out would cause the fingers to be in the way of each other. In Basset’s technique this problem does not exist. When i, m, and a are equally distanced from the strings, the thumb-side fingertip of i touching the strings, they are able to pluck “pushing towards the belly of the lute,” as suggested by Piccinini. As long as these fingers move towards the belly, there is no way that their movements can hinder or be hindered by the thumb. This is because the thumb has its own space to move, and this area of movement does not overlap with area where the other fingers move. In this way, it becomes easier to pluck both of the strings of a course, and the range of tone colors becomes enriched. In the video example 4 (Cf. https://youtu.be/uozROi1LhJM) I tuned one of the string of the 3rd course a semitone lower than what it was originally, in order to demonstrate that I am plucking both of the strings in a course.


4.2. Clashing Strings and Crossing Fingers


Since i, m, and a slide through the strings diagonally and not laterally, clash of strings in a double-strung course is less likely to happen. The palm of the hand is held more or less parallel to the soundboard, and this enables each finger to reach any of the first to fourth courses without being bumping into other fingers. (Watch video example 5 https://youtu.be/1R7ji-PIzSw.) This eventually enabled me to play m-i faster than I was able to previously.


4.3. Ease for the Body


Another benefit that I personally experienced from Basset’s technique was that it gave more flexibility to the neck of my lute in relation to the way I hold it. Namely, I could either hold it in a way that the neck of the lute would point toward my ears, or toward my elbow. Thumb-in requires the strings to be parallel to the fingers extended. If the angle of the neck has to be kept upwards while trying to have the fingers parallel to the strings (for example, when playing theorbo or other lutes with longer necks), the body naturally responds with bending down the back, or tilting the torso to the right, in order to place the angle of the right hand in the right position. With Basset’s technique, it became easier for me to keep my back straight. Secondly, since I was able to play faster in m-i, I was freed from having to employ p-i for runs and from jumping around the base strings. In order to have this trick of base-jumps succeed, one would need to ensure that the lute is secured and does not move around easily, since bass-jumps involve movements of the whole arm. This would often result in me always sitting as I play, and being very particular with the chairs that I use. Since I am freed from all this I was enabled to play my lute standing as well. 
 
                                                                                                    

 

38 Buetens, 1969, p. 9.