Does anyone else have the same trouble as I do? Being right handed, I seem to have better dexterity, and strength in my right hand and as such I seem to heavily rely on that hand for the vast majority of my ornamentation.
Obviously, this leaves out half of what I SHOULD be able to do, such as simple things like finger vibrato on the B and C#, not to mention cuts, rolls, trills etc. on A, B and C’s. Am I just broken, or is this common???
I’ve been thinking of cutting off my right hand in the mean time to force my left hand to learn this stuff as well as my right, but then figured it might be a bit hard to re-attach after twenty years or so.
You guys have any suggestions? :s
Bri~
[ This Message was edited by: Brian Lee on 2001-12-19 19:44 ]
It will come with lots of practice. Just break the difficult A or B rolls, trills etc. down, do each step of them slowly and repeatedly, and they will get faster. Not magic or glamorous, but it works.
Don’t feel bad, I can’t really do any of that stuff. My brain just doesn’t move that fast. Plus, the heat’s broken in my house and my fingers get a bit stiff due to the fact that it’s cold in here and my fingers are ice cubes. Makes it hard to type, too. grrrr…
shrugs
Eh, who needs ornamentation anyhow? gets all indignant
Hi Brian, I had the same problem. My left hand is still slower than my right but it is much faster than it was this time last year. What I did was to spend time just doing the ornamention with my left hand of the tune I wanted to learn. I made sure no one was around to hear me, as playing 3 or 4 notes ONLY for half an hour at a time would not be appreciated by others. I still do this when the ornamentation does not flow as well as it should.
Stephen
Take up a stringed instrument. The fast fingerwork on the fretboard of a fiddle, guitar, mandolin, Mt.Dulcimer (my favorite) will help your left hand fingers become nimble and work independently. If that’s not possible, there aint nothin’ for it but practice!
I’m pretty ambidextrous, between 60-40 and 70-30 right-left handed. Plus, I’ve been playing lap dulcimer for 25 years, which DanD suggested for left-hand exercised, and I concur 100%, especially if you want to increase your reach. If you want to increase speed, though, try playing it fast-strumming style left-handed, though.
I still have the ornamentation problem, though, though I’m still at the very beginning of ornamenting despite having played for 3 years. I have the most trouble with the ring finger, which is understandable, but given my dexterity I have to think the primary problem is either mental or inexperience/lack fo practice.
Assuming your left hand is at the top, try playing the first part of the “Legacy Jig” which has those three rolls for the left hand right at the beginning. I mean play it over and over till you can’t stand it! You may get to hate the jig but your left hand will end up better than the right! Well, maybe!
But this door to door salesman who sold me my snake oil PROMISED me it’d work! He said:
“Kid, you take a spoonfull of ‘Doc Snozzmongers’ cure-all snake oil, and I GUARRRRRONTEEEEEEEE you’ll be playing like Paddy and Mary and joanie in NO time!!!”
Come to think of it, he was a bit shifty. Had this weird eye twitch, and he kept glancing nervously over his shoulder while muttering something about “viagra”, and his “special food”. Odd little fellow.
Dale something-or-other I think he said his name was. Anyway, all I got was a strange rash, and my eyes sting everytime I open the bottle. Guess I should just toss this stuff and practice my butt off like the rest of you!
This is what I like to do, if I can’t get to sleep. As I lie in bed, I like to drum out rhythms with my fingers on the wall above my pillow. I was always better at it with my right hand than with my left, being an old trumpet player. But long ago I started to do both hands at the same time, trying to get them matched, and to drum exactly together, sounding like one set of fingers. Flams were very difficult, as were very fast three-fingered rolls. Eventually both hands were able to sound as one. Just make sure you go to bed before your spouse does. JP
Brian, from listening to your playing, I think its hysterical that you don’t think your ornamentation is up to par!
Meanwhile, it may have a bit of a learning curve, but maybe less of one than ‘practice practice practice’. . .why don’t you cross hand the whistle? If your right hand is so snappy, and you want the top hand to ornament, play the top with your right!
My left forefinger is reasonably nimble on cuts, but the ring finger isn’t nearly as agile. Legacy Jig, huh?
Legacy is one of my trouble tunes! How’d ya guess! I start with a roll on G and then try a roll on B, and the B just sounds yucky!
A rolls are tough too though, as are trills. Cuts and slides seem about on par with either hand. Guess I’m still intimidated by the masters like Mary, and Paddy. Something to shoot for anyway.
On a whim, I decided to have one last go at the Snake Oil, bit this time, my vision got cloudy, my right ear went completely numb, and I heard what sounded like little chipmunks singing Tony Bennett songs over and over again!
The only thing that cured it, was running around in circles, with my arms spread out while I made airplane noises. My co-workers said I had to stop, so I don’t think I’ll be trying that method again soon!
Brian - regarding your thought about cutting off your right hand - there is a therapy sometimes used for people who have had strokes called “constraint induced therapy.” Mostly, if I understand it right, it involves rendering the better functioning hand temporarily unusable (by placing a mitt on it, or something similar), thus forcing the use of the less skilled hand. Seriously, if you were to do more everyday stuff with your left hand, as well as the already suggested practicing, the skill in your hand will improve. (I’ll have to check myself and see if my left hand lags behind the right, although I do know that my index and middle fingers are quite a bit more agile than the ring or little fingers.) I rather suspect, in any case, that you notice this lack much more than do the folks who listen to your playing.
I’m working on the Legacy as well and I agree that that B roll is tough - still haven’t got it down, but it did improve when I focused on relaxing my hand. I was tensing up in anticipation of messing it up. I now consciously relax my thumb grip and it flows much more smoothly. Maybe it will help you, too.
My left hand middle and ring fingers are off meditating as we speak! Relaxation does seem to help, and when I play at speed, it’s tougher to come by…though not impossible.
