by Thomas Altmann » Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:59 am
... continuing my post to Anita in the News section:
I find that each of those "one-handed" instruments is a killer - if you don't practice it as if it was the only instrument you ever want to play: Pandeiro, Tamborim, Cuica, Berimbao, as well as the Afro-Cuban Güiro, and especially the Dominican Güira. Most things you play on the Güira are Merengues, and they are FAST. I play Güira for one tune, and you can bring me to the hospital.
I don't believe that our body is testing our dedication. What I believe is that, if you don't find a way to RELAX from the first stroke on, you are going to injure yourself. Technique required!
I was taught by a "Pandeiro de Oro" player to really drop the left hand and then lift the forearm with your biceps to bring the instrument in playing position. The weight of the pandeiro is relatively irrelevant, if you do this. What cramps ME up is the tone control with the left middle finger. Sometimes I let my left thumb take over from the top of the drum head. If the band is playing loud enough, you wouldn't hear the difference anyway, and I omit the tone control entirely. You could never do that in a Choro band, of course. (And quite a few Choros are pretty fast, too!)
Also, what happens when my left arm gets tense, I concentrate on my left side while unconsciously transferring the same tension to the right.
There are real full-time pandeiro players among us. THEY should do the job. I don't fool around with tablas, either; there are so many percussion instruments on the earth ...
Thomas