In an earlier post I was asked to comment on Bernhard Lackner's new book, "Plucking Hand Workout". Since its arrival, I've had a few days to read through the exercises in an attempt to understand what the book is all about. My first step was to purchase Mr. Lackner's 2006 release "Those Days". What is it about his playing technique and style that is common to music and text?
Mr. Lackner writes that "...having good technique helps to get good tone.", and "Having a well developed plucking hand technique is a very good foundation for good overall technique on the instrument." That said, the book was not what I'd expected. Instead of a primmer on the physical aspects of proper plucking, Mr. Lackner's offering is decidedly cerebral...a mental whack upside the head...a new way of thinking about "different rhythmic subdivisions, starting very basic with quarter notes and advancing through sixteenth note triplets and quintuplets."
The "Plucking Hand Workout" gives the reader an alternative approach to counting rhythms and grouping rhythmic combinations. For example, 8 eighth notes might be grouped as 2+4+2, or 2+3+3, where "The higher pitched note always indicates the beginning of a new grouping." Mr. Lackner also incorporates a proprietary use of syllables to better express rhythmic variations. Example: Triplets would be counted...
"Ta-Ki-Ta, Ta-Ki-Ta", and 16th notes expressed as "Ta-Ka-Di-Mi, Ta-Ka-Di-Mi.", which at first blush, beats the old 1-e-and-a-2-e-and....etc. drill.
If you approach this text with the intention of improving right hand percussion and tone, you will not be disappointed. The alternating, two-finger plucking technique, is physically unremarkable. But the thought and clarity required to transmit proper tone and rhythmic support to the music...to drive a bass line that makes someone smile and dance, may be found within these pages, and Bernhard Lackner's music.
Greg
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