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Doug Fitch
Akahai
USA
80 Posts |
 Posted - 11/02/2011 : 11:25:34 PM
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I use just one finger 'cuz my nostrils aren't very big. please please noone expand too far on this joke ; )
But, for guitar playing I use my thumb and 3 fingers. With some tunings though I use thumb and 2 fingers.
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Doug Fitch
fitchdoug @ yahoo.com
www.dougfitchmusic.com
http://youtube.com/user/dougfitchmusic |
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Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 11/03/2011 : 10:11:59 AM
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quote:
I use just one finger 'cuz my nostrils aren't very big. please please noone expand too far on this joke ; )
You are already expanding on it, so to speak, maybe not past the first joint though, read some earlier posts in the thread 
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Mahope Kākou...
...El Lorenzo de Ondas Sonoras |
Edited by - Lawrence on 11/03/2011 10:12:49 AM |
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sirduke58
`Olu`olu
USA
993 Posts |
Posted - 11/03/2011 : 11:09:48 AM
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For about 25 years I used only the thumb & index & managed to do quite well. In 2000 I ran into my first formal kumu Kale Bannister a haumana of Auntie Alice Namakelua. He told me that in ki ho'alu or any other genre of music if you hit a plateau, 99% of the time it will because of your playing technique. He suggested incorporating more fingers on my plucking hand. Within 2 weeks I was pretty comfortable using my thumb, index & middle fingers. Most times I use this combination but on occasion I'll use my ring finger for pieces like Ozzie's "Ku'u Kika Kahiko"...........BUT......Raymond Kane, Sonny Chillingworth, Ledward (Most times) like to use only the thumb & index fingers.......Here's a youngster TP member Zack Onaga who favors only the index & thumb..............
http://www.youtube.com/user/slackkey808#p/a/u/2/6UnHyNRGUQk |
Hoof Hearted?...Was it you Stu Pedaso? |
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Iakonu
Akahai
USA
57 Posts |
Posted - 11/03/2011 : 12:31:10 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by sirduke58
Within 2 weeks I was pretty comfortable using my thumb, index & middle fingers.
Did you find that you were playing more notes in the songs you traditionally played or did it bring a smoothness to the same notes you played with 2 fingers? Or was it something completely different? |
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sirduke58
`Olu`olu
USA
993 Posts |
Posted - 11/03/2011 : 6:18:14 PM
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I didn't change the songs I had known or added more notes. I played it the same but it seemed to take much less effort to play. Sharing the load between the index & middle fingers lessened the feeling of rushing to play the necessary notes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN5QKYeK3bE
Playing that with thumb, index & middle made it possible to clown around on this video.
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Hoof Hearted?...Was it you Stu Pedaso? |
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Iakonu
Akahai
USA
57 Posts |
Posted - 11/04/2011 : 06:40:29 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by sirduke58
I didn't change the songs I had known or added more notes. I played it the same but it seemed to take much less effort to play. Sharing the load between the index & middle fingers lessened the feeling of rushing to play the necessary notes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN5QKYeK3bE
Playing that with thumb, index & middle made it possible to clown around on this video.
Well done! Your playing of Slack Key Hula got me thinking about how many fingers Gabby used. As best I can tell he used the thumb and index fingers only. It seems like Sonny, Ray and Gabby all played using only the thumb and index finger - is this perhaps the way the slack key was taught before exposure to more complex finger picking styles? Just thinking out-loud on this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10Xir0eEDV4&feature=related |
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Trev
Lokahi
United Kingdom
265 Posts |
Posted - 11/07/2011 : 12:43:43 AM
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I find the subject of how people play in different ways and different techniques to be endlessly fascinating.
In most guitar music that involved fingerpicking, it depends how many notes you need to play at the one time. For the majority of styles, the majority of the time, there’s only one or two notes sounding at once, I was surprised to realise. In slack key it’s very unusual to have more than two notes at once.
So it’s entirely possible to play very intricate sounding music with thumb and one finger. However, it means those two digits have got to move around an awful lot more, and it’s more effort. People who learn to do things a certain way tend to then stick with it, because that’s the normal way for them.
There’s an acoustic guitarist in the UK called Gordon Giltrap. He’s been creating intricate guitar music since the 70s, and for the most part he uses a flat pick and his little finger. It’s very strange to watch.
I started with thumb and one finger. Now I use all of them. How come, I wonder? There must have been something that I wanted to play that I wasn’t good enough to play with one finger so I had to start bringing in the others.
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ongchua
Akahai
USA
92 Posts |
Posted - 11/08/2011 : 3:34:35 PM
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Thumb, index, middle and ring.
I've occasionally used the pinky to pluck but not for any slack-key pieces that I've learned to date. |
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cyril
Lokahi
USA
110 Posts |
Posted - 11/26/2011 : 09:50:37 AM
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| I pick with two fingers(middle and index) and one thumb. |
Cyril Pahinui
cyril.cyrilpahinui.com |
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TerryLiberty
Lokahi
USA
207 Posts |
Posted - 11/29/2011 : 10:39:28 AM
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Cyril:
Jeez! Maybe that's where I'm going wrong. My playing has been described as "all thumbs".
Terry
Olympia, WA |
Terry
Olympia, WA
Forever a haumana |
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darcius1
Aloha
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2012 : 09:43:12 AM
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| Fairly new to this, but working with thumb, index, middle and fourth. I think it will pay off in the end. |
Just Another Slacker |
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TerryLiberty
Lokahi
USA
207 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2012 : 10:52:09 AM
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Darcius:
Me too. PIMA, kinda like the classical folks. It's what I learned. I think Keola plays this way.
Regards and welcome aboard! |
Terry
Olympia, WA
Forever a haumana |
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darcius1
Aloha
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2012 : 5:23:05 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by TerryLiberty
Darcius:
Me too. PIMA, kinda like the classical folks. It's what I learned. I think Keola plays this way.
Regards and welcome aboard!
Thanks Terry! Good to be here. Nice community. |
Just Another Slacker |
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GuitarVlog
Akahai
USA
60 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2012 : 5:42:52 PM
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PIMA for me. That's what I'm used to.
The pinky gets to pluck sometimes but it takes work to make it sound as full as the other fingers. The nail edge short. It frequently gets used for 4-finger strums but that's not something you typically find in ki ho'alu. |
- Keo |
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bsheephead
Aloha
USA
7 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2012 : 7:40:31 PM
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I used to use two fingers in addition to thumb and figure out which to use where in each phrase. Then a teacher of mine pointed out that if you just use three fingers for the top three strings you don't have to worry about it. Now that I'm used to it three fingers seems easier than two. I don't really see a downside to using three. . .
Bill Shepard
Berkeley |
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Topic |
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How many fingers do you pick with?
