Re: 7th fret: 3rd or 4th fingers?
Slight variation on the original question. Just recently, I realized that when I'm playing in flat keys, I will ALWAYS finger Eb on the A string and Ab on the D string with my fourth finger. When I am playing sharp keys, I ALWAYS finger G# on the D string and D# on the A string with my third finger. I do this very consistently. I'm mostly self taught, so no teacher told me to do this. My thought is on flat keys, the left hand fingers favor being closer to the nut for Eb, Bb, and F and C natural, thus favoring the fourth finger versus a stretched third finger. Likewise for sharp keys the fingers are slightly away from the nut for F#, C#, G#, and E and B natural, thus allowing the third finger to more easily reach the 7th fret.
Is there any generally accepted preference for fingering related to sharp or flat keys, or do people routinely finger G# with the fourth finger and Ab with the third? I'd have to go back to my 70's copy of Bluegrass Mandolin by Jack Tottle to see if he mentioned it, as that was my guide to teaching myself mandolin.
I had been wondering if occasionally swapping to a third finger Ab and Eb might make Natalie MacMaster's Eb Medley any easier. I'm guessing probably not.
Rob Ross
Apple Valley, Minne-SOH-tah
1996 Flatiron A5-Performer, 1915 Gibson F-2 (loaned to me by a friend), 2008 Kentucky Master KM-505 A-Model
1925 Bacon Peerless tenor banjo (Irish tuning), 1985 Lloyd Laplant F-5, 2021 Ibanez PFT2 Tenor Guitar (GDAE)
and of course, the 1970 Suzuki-Violin-Sha Bowl Back Taterbug
Bookmarks