"Thumb-under fingerpicking"

[John B]

Reading the first graf of an NYT article, I came across a guitar technique I'm not familiar with:

In the dining room of her cozy home in Washington, D.C., Mary Timony retrieved her lute from an instrument case that, she joked, “looks like a cat coffin.” Timony, 53, has been on a learning kick recently. “Literally all I’m working on is this,” she said, demonstrating how the so-called thumb-under fingerpicking method strays from traditional guitar technique.

A lazy Google search turned up nada. Has anyone heard this term before, and if so, what is it?

[billhammond]

Jun 29, 2024 13:31:11 GMT -5 John B said:

Reading the first graf of an NYT article, I came across a guitar technique I'm not familiar with:

In the dining room of her cozy home in Washington, D.C., Mary Timony retrieved her lute from an instrument case that, she joked, “looks like a cat coffin.” Timony, 53, has been on a learning kick recently. “Literally all I’m working on is this,” she said, demonstrating how the so-called thumb-under fingerpicking method strays from traditional guitar technique.

A lazy Google search turned up nada. Has anyone heard this term before, and if so, what is it?

What is the thumb under technique on a lute?
Thumb under: the hand and the finger are held parallel or nearly parallel to the strings. The thumb is used to pluck the strings behind the fingers in direction to the palm of the hand and the fingers go around and to the outside of the thumb.

[billhammond]

luteshop.co.uk/articles/rhtechnique/

[John B]

Ahh. I should have included "lute" in my search terms. Kind of interesting that an indy-rock musician (more usually playing a Jazzmaster or something similar) is exploring the lute.

[theevan]

Oooooh, thank you for starting this topic!

I went to Lorenzo Micheli on YT to grab an example of him playing guitar with this technique...and found new-to-me-clips.

Much of his guitar work is done with an anchored pinkie...anathema in the classical guitar world.

But I couldn't resist this Celtic ditty on the baroque guitar. Pretty, meditative.

[theevan]

Ah phooey. Can't seem to post a YT Short. Alas.

New to me, very short:

[theevan]

One more, with good views of his right hand.

[theevan]

Here's what it looks like on the lute. The great Nigel North.

[coachdoc]

Why would anybody play in b flat. Capo A fingering on the first fret.

[Dub]

Jun 29, 2024 20:38:24 GMT -5 coachdoc said:

Why would anybody play in b flat. Capo A fingering on the first fret.

I play in Bb without a capo; Eb and Ab too. Travis played on those keys without a capo.

I’ll bet there are a bunch of us here who play in flat keys with no capo.

[coachdoc]

Yeah, Dub. But why? John Hurt played first position forms and it suited him just fine.

[John B]

Jun 29, 2024 20:38:24 GMT -5 coachdoc said:

Why would anybody play in b flat. Capo A fingering on the first fret.

Why would anyone play in any key other than G, for that matter?

[Marty]

Having worked on many lutes of different styles I can understand the under thumb stroke. Only the first 4-6 strings are fingered and the rest are tuned to an open bass note so the player doesn't have to finger that note. Using an thumb upstroke on the lowest tuned open strings would save a lot of hand movement.

[theevan]

Jul 1, 2024 9:45:23 GMT -5 Marty said:

Having worked on many lutes of different styles I can understand the under thumb stroke. Only the first 4-6 strings are fingered and the rest are tuned to an open bass note so the player doesn't have to finger that note. Using an thumb upstroke on the lowest tuned open strings would save a lot of hand movement.

So, how do you change a tied fret on those things?

[Marty]

Jul 1, 2024 10:45:56 GMT -5 theevan said:

Jul 1, 2024 9:45:23 GMT -5 Marty said:

Having worked on many lutes of different styles I can understand the under thumb stroke. Only the first 4-6 strings are fingered and the rest are tuned to an open bass note so the player doesn't have to finger that note. Using an thumb upstroke on the lowest tuned open strings would save a lot of hand movement.

So, how do you change a tied fret on those things?

It a special knot that stays tight and I've forgotten how to do it long ago. Since the fret is gut one could just wax it or, don't tell anyone, superglue it. If the fingerboard shrinks due to dryness the frets get loose so waxed or glued knots aren't a bad idea. If glued carefully.