8,720
edits
Changes
m
→Stetches
On the other hand, you can play the -5-7-9- on the e string without actually shifting (moving the placement of your thumb on the back of the neck). You just stretch your index finger back.
=== Using Position Intelligently ===
It's technically possible to play a single note passage using only your index finger, shifting positions for every note. Or to play the same passage in one position, even if it means some nasty stretches or awkward transitions between fingers. In rare cases, manic position changes are desired for their tonal aspects, but normally they are reserved to make playing easier.
* Position Shifts Difficulties
** Length of the Position Shift (1st position to 15th position is more difficult than 1st to 2nd)
** Frequency of Position Shifts (Shifting every note is more difficult than shifting every 5 notes)
* Fretboard Fingering Difficulties
** Non-repetitive Patterns
** Frequent Stretching
** String-Skipping
** Differences in the number of notes on one string to the next
Let's look at some examples of difficult fingerings and how positional shifts can help:
fig 4
-----------------1-2-6-2-1------------------
---------------2-----------2----------------
-------------3---------------3--------------
---------3-4-------------------4-3----------
-----1-4---------------------------4-1------
-1-2-----------------------------------2-1--
i m i p r p r m i m p m i m r p r p i m i
fig 5
---------------------6----------------------
-----------------6-7---7-6-----------------
-------------3-6-----------6-3--------------
---------3-4-------------------4-3----------
-----1-4---------------------------4-1------
-1-2-----------------------------------2-1--
i m i p i m i p i m i m i p i m i p i m i
1 3 6 3 1
Figures 4 and 5 have the same notes. Notice the difficulty we face trying to play it all in first position in Figure 4. Playing it, we have no repeating pattern; some strings have 2 notes, some have 1, and one has 3; and we have a particularly nasty stretch on the highest note. Also notice we are using all of our fingers with some ring-pinky transitions, which can be difficult.
Compare this to Figure 5 which shifts positions from 1st to 3rd to 6th then back. We only have 4 shifts, and they only span 2 or 3 frets. Each position has at least 4 notes, so we are not shifting too frequently. In return, we alleviate all the difficulties mentioned above: we have a repeating finger pattern each shift, almost every string has 2 consecutive notes, and there are no awkward stretches.
So there's always some balance between tone and difficulty, with difficulty having balance between fingering difficulty vs. position-shifting difficulty.
== Open Position ==