Re: Salzedo Guru Questions

[unknown-user]

There is a photo of Salzedo playing with his pinkies extended. It makes a good photo, and I don’t think it’s a technical example. I do it if I want the pinky to lead the other fingers in as they close. It’s a tool. As for the wrists being in all the time, that I have only seen in some Chalifoux students. Miss Lawrence did not teach that. Our wrists are only slight creased unless we are playing a trill or such figure that calls for rapidly coming off the strings repeatedly. It is not rigid. It might be an optical illusion, or you are seeing some harpists with fixed position. Exceptions confirm the rule, not form it. I believe Bochsa taught a thumb in a medium-high position, not as low as the other fingers. I’ll have another look at his method. I think Emily Mitchell is a wonderful example of good traditional technique. When Salzedo wrote about stiffness, it was before there was specific awareness of all the different varieties of injury, so far as we know; therefore, I think he would use the word generally to cover everything. Which quotation are you referring to? His article on Modern Harp Technique, which will appear in the American Harp Journal, has some very good advice on the subject.
As for playing patterns of fingering in different combinations, practice them without strain or tension, slowly, until they become natural. 4231 as an arpeggio is not so difficult. You can use the Conditiong Exercises and do more varied fingering patterns than just what is given.