I have recently been breaking down my LH technique into a few main components. It started when I got fed up with how uncooperative my first finger is. So the first thing I realized is that I have to keep each finger in mind individually. I cannot let one finger’s propensities bias all the others. They are really coming at the string from different places, at different angles, from different parts of the hand, from different lengths, etc.

On the other hand, the fingers are indeed unified in a lot of ways. I cannot forget that. The trick of course is to have that unified sensation combined with the above-mentioned autonomy. But that seems to be the trick with a lot of things. Permitting contrasting and even contradictory guidelines to all come into play seems to be a helpful approach. In other words, even if there is a unified theory of everything, I better not approach my craft as if there is. That is something which just happens. On a good day. When things align. Not when I perform some sort of fancy computations.

The other two facets of the left side which have been useful are the arm – neck connection and the variability of the arm height. Keeping in mind that neck tension has a direct affect on the upper arm on down to the hand has a great effect on my posture and symmetry. And utilizing a bouncing and releasing elbow helps to bypass a lot of irrelevant convolutions I go through in my vibrato and hand position.

originally published on 10/4/10