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| Guitarists and most instrumentalists
in general, think hands when they consider their playing ability.
This is as wrong a conception as if we thought wheels when thinking
of an automobile's ability to move. The hand contains 27 bones, the
largest number of bones for a single part of the human body. When the guitarist
looks beyond the hand, he discovers that a whole group of bones, muscles,
tendons and nerves are the real mechanisms responsible for the correct
working of the fingers, which ought to be seen as the final part of the
playing apparatus. The fingers do the fine work but it is the wrist,
forearm elbow and shoulder that allow for the heavy work and, ultimately,
the correct functioning of the fingers. |
| The forearm is the the place where
the main muscles and tendons responsible for the fingers' contraction-extension
ability are located. The tendons and blood vessels pass to the hand through
a bracelet kind of belt that is located in
the wrist area. |
| Close observation of these images
tells us a lot more about our hands than a thousand words can try to describe.
One thing is certain, applying too much stress for too long and in the
wrong manner, will certainly drain out the energy from these minute and
delicate parts. We must allow for the stronger muscles in the arm to help
the left hand fingers find their position on the strings. |
| This complex system of bones in
the wrist area must be used extensively by the guitarist with the cooperation
of the arm and shoulder to guide and "present" the left hand fingers on
the fret strings. |
| The thumb is the only finger with
2 instead of 3 phalanxes. Its work in opposition to the other fingers
is responsible not only of our ability to play an instrument, but of the
physical explanation of human intelligence at work. We are the only
creatures with an opposing thumb |
| The nervous system is the equivalent
of the electrical wiring in a home. It sends the electrical impulses to
the muscles directly from the brain. That in itself is a pretty good reason
to why we must think of every finger movement when we attempt to build
out guitar technique during the study process. No movement should be left
to chance in this stage of musical preparation. Letting go and let the
miracle happen is for performance.
The spinal cord is the main highway
for the distribution of all the impulses coming from the base of the brain,
and that is the reason that we must find a sitting position that applies
very little stress to the lumbar area which is the place where the spinal
chord ends. Tension in this area is passed by "the highway" to the whole
motor system. |
 
| Hearing
Sound from a guitar starts when a
players fingers set a string in motion. The body of the guitar helps the
air vibrate at a certain pitch and make it louder- amplification process-.
Sound is actually air that vibrates, or changes pressure very quickly (20
to 20,000 times a second), and travels as a sound wave. |
| The outer ear (Pinna) catches the
sound wave and directs it into the inner ear, where the ear drum (Tympanic
Membrane) is. The ear drum vibrates the Ossicles (three bones called the
Hammer, Anvil, and Stirrup). They act as a lever which push against the
Vestibule and moves the fluid inside to the Cochlea. The tiny hairs in
the cochlea turn this pressure into electrical signals, which is then sent
to the brain, using the cochlear nerve. The brain accepts the electrical
signals and recognizes that it is a guitar. |
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