Wheel finger is one of the most basic and most distinctive techniques in pipa performance. As the name suggests, it refers to the orderly plucking of the strings at the end of the right finger, as freely and evenly as the "wheel" rolling.

Improve the strength of the wheel fingers and solve the problem of weakness

The fingers have considerable strength and endurance, which is the fundamental basis for playing the pipa ring finger well. Since our hands belong to the peripheral nerve parts in the human body structure, they are in a state of micro-force. In addition, the Pipa Wheel Finger requires four fingers to pop out and move with small joints, which increases the difficulty of the Wheel Finger. So how to solve the problem of finger weakness? Practice has proved that,

One is to fix the standard wheel finger type. The hand shape of the wheel finger is the same as that of the bouncing hand. It should form a half-clawed fist. The small joints of the fingers should be bent and isolated. The fingertips of the big finger and the index finger should be pinched together. The tiger's mouth is circular, and the right upper arm is natural. Sagging, the angle of the right forearm and the back of the hand forms a plane with the lute panel, maintaining the natural readiness of the round fingers as a whole.

The second is to slow down the speed of the open string wheel finger practice. Because only slowing down and practicing chakra is the scientific way to solve the fundamental problem. We can start from the index finger, and then the middle finger, ring finger, and little finger pop out in turn; we can also start the plate from the big finger, and then pop out from the index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger in turn. The time between fingers and fingers should be as fast as the sound of the second hand of the clock moving. The correct method requires to hold the fingers halfway, and then rely on the strength of each finger joint to pop out one finger and one finger, that is, jump out one by one. , Do not swipe across the string with four fingers at the same time. In order to control the speed and exercise the intrinsic potential of the fingers, you can use the method of silently reciting numbers to control the time of the fingers, such as: one (big finger) two (index finger) three (middle finger) four (ring finger) five (little finger), five (index finger) four ( Middle finger) Three (name finger), two (little finger) and one (big finger) circular finger practice. The first step forward is to lift the board with the big finger, and the return is to lift the board with the index finger. After each finger has finished playing the string, you should quickly relax and return to the ready state of half fisting from the straighter finger shape.

The third is to create conditions to simulate wheel finger practice. That is to leave the pipa to practice the ring finger, because only on the pipa to practice the ring finger, the time is short and the limitation is large. Therefore, if you want to expand your practice time, you can practice your ring fingers anytime, anywhere. If you are walking, you can use the left edge of the front of the jacket to make the strings, pinch the lower end of the front with your left hand to tighten the front of the shirt, and practice your fingers on the top of the front with your right hand. As a string, practice the right wheel finger without affecting study and dining; then you can use the corner as a string, as long as you pass by the corner, your right hand must practice several times on the corner line without losing the opportunity. Persistently in this way, it will reach the level of going crazy. If you don't practice the wheel finger, your fingers will be itchy. Over time, the inner strength of the five fingers of the right hand and the wheel finger technique will gradually strengthen unconsciously.

Improve the independence of the fingers and solve the problem of interdependence

When the students began to learn the pipa ring finger, the first problem they encountered was that the right fingers could not be separated, and the five fingers were connected together, sticking to each other, and the whole army was wiped out by moving one finger, which even shook their confidence in learning the pipa. So how to solve the problem that fingers depend on each other and cannot be independent? Experience shows that,

One is to practice anti-wheel fingering. The so-called reverse wheel is the wheel finger of the little finger. The order of the wheel fingers is that the little finger is in front, then the ring finger, middle finger, index finger, pop out once, and the big finger is finally picked in. Its hand shape is the same as that of the positive wheel, and the preparation movements are all in the shape of a half-clenched fist. The force (tension) and relaxation of the fingers should be flexibly and alternately converted. The speed is the same as that of the positive wheel mentioned above. It can be 2 3 4 5 in the first position of the key of D (that is, the little finger, the ring finger, the middle finger, and the index finger). Repeatedly. conduct. You can also use the big finger to first pick the empty string inside, and then the little finger, ring finger, middle finger, and index finger on the same string in rounds. This kind of round method is called picking round. This can break the conventional habit of the traditional ring finger, so that each finger can be effectively exercised independently, especially the independent exercise of the ring finger and the little finger can achieve a multiplier effect with half the effort.

The second is to carry out the practice of finger decomposition. It is to change five fingers to play a sound, and to play a sound for one finger. Take the key of D as an example, such as 1 2 3 4 5 in the first position, the index finger picks 1, the middle finger 2, the ring finger 3, the little finger 4, the big finger pick 5; then the big finger pick 5, Then 4 3 2 1 pops up from the little finger, the ring finger, the middle finger and the index finger respectively, which is the reverse wheel form. In succession, the forward and reverse rotations are alternated. This method is the most effective way to exercise the five fingers to operate independently. After practicing the five-finger wheel, the pipa's three-finger wheel, half wheel (ie, four-finger wheel) and full wheel will be self-taught without a teacher, which not only saves time but also improves the wheel finger ability.

The third is to carry out wheel picking exercises. After the above fingerings are practiced to a certain extent (that is, after the pronunciation points reach a uniform line), it is necessary to start practicing the fingering. The specific fingering method is to pick the inner string with the big finger in the front, and then play the string with the index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger. It can be said that the picking wheel fingering is the most difficult fingering to master when playing the pipa. Begin by practicing the slow-paced quarter-note pieces, with the thumb picking the number of times per beat; then practice the faster-paced eighth and sixteenth notes. The effect of picking the wheel at this stage is that the big finger sings the protagonist, and the four fingers of the other round one string become the supporting role. It's just a finger chord on a string. For example, in "Spring Rain", the large-scale pick-up rounds are all picks with sixteenth notes, which are called orchestration and harmony in musicology. In order to achieve this kind of wheel finger ability, it takes three years to practice the piano for 2 or 3 hours a day.

Improve the particle ability of the wheel fingers and solve the problem of blurred pronunciation

The rhythm is neat, the sound is bright, the strength is appropriate, and the pipa ring finger effect is clear and granular, which are the essential characteristics of the pipa playing art. For beginner pipa students, the most annoying thing is that the pronunciation of the wheel fingers is bumpy and straight, the sound is intermittent, the pronunciation is dim and inconsistent, and the fingers are weak and numb. So how to solve these annoying problems? The author thinks:

First of all, it is necessary to practice the ability to pick and roll the five fingers of the right hand like the index finger. The specific method is to break the previous routine of only using the index finger and the big finger, and change to the ability of the middle finger, the ring finger and the little finger to be able to pick. Alternate picking exercises for the little finger, especially the little finger and the ring finger, because the strength of these two fingers is inherently insufficient. Begin to insist on playing from a slow pace, requiring each exercise piece to be played by the big finger and the other four fingers in turn, until the strength and sensitivity of the little finger, ring finger, and middle finger reach the strength and speed of the index finger.

Second, the sound of each finger should be balanced and uniform, with strong granularity. During the practice of wheel fingers, we should always check the pronunciation of each finger, and listen to whether the sound of each finger is round, full, and translucent, and whether the particle sound of the wheel fingers is clean and coherent. For fingers with dull pronunciation, hoarseness or touching strings inside and outside, it is necessary to strengthen the individual training of the ability of these fingers, and further enhance the strength and picking ability of weak fingers. If the power of the five fingers is balanced, then the sound of the round will be uniform and even.

The third is to correctly use the wheel finger angle. The angle is determined by the direction of the index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger of the right hand. The direction of the finger is different, and the sound is different. This is due to the difference in peaks used for fingernails. The nails we wear have three peaks, namely the upper peak, the lower peak and the middle peak. The upper and lower peaks are partial peaks, and the middle peak is the front of the nail. This peak triggers the string to sound round and bright, full and transparent, while the other two peaks sound stiff and sharp. Therefore, it is necessary to use the middle peak wheel finger more, in order to obtain the good effect of full sound, roundness and clear grain. The middle peak of the ring finger is used, the wrist should be assisted by the movement of the fingers and slightly turned upward, and the back of the right hand should be kept at an angle perpendicular to the face of the pipa, which is conducive to adjusting the angle of the little finger and the ring finger. Then, the shallower the depth of the fingernails when touching the strings, the better. The best depth of the fingernails should account for one-third of the fingernail tip to the edge of the tape, so that the sound is clean, concentrated, unified, and rich in strong particles. sex.

Improve the purity of the wheel fingers and solve the problem of disorder

The reason why some Pipa students often make messy and rough noises when they rotate their fingers is due to the inaccurate position of the left fingers and the irregular flexion and extension of the right fingers. So how to avoid the noise of the wheel fingers? I think

First, the position of the left finger to press the strings should be appropriate. If the fingertips are pressed on the large upper ends of the phase and frets, the distance between the phase and frets is far away, the contact between the string body and the phase and frets is not solid, and the strings vibrate and sway and rub against the phase and frets after playing the strings, and a squeaking sound will be emitted. Noise; if the finger is pressed on the top of the phase and fret, which hinders the vibration of the string body, it will produce a hoarse sound. The correct pressing position should be at the upper end that is very close to the phase and fret, and the lower side of the finger is close to the upper edge of the fret. When the right hand is turning the finger, the left hand must press firmly, so that there is no contact between the string body and the phase fret. There is no room for the strings on the upper end of the phase and frets to vibrate, so that a clean, bright and full-grained sound will be emitted.

The second is to have the correct wheel finger gestures. The main reason why the fingers touch the strings left and right is that the small joints of the fingers are stiff and mechanical, lack of elasticity, unnatural in retraction, inflexible movements, the fingers are not retracted in time, but continue to straighten and operate and the movement is too large to touch other strings. noise made. The correct ring finger gesture is that the right finger will return to the half-fist ready state immediately after playing the string. When playing the string, the small joints should have a feeling of pressing the string, which can better use the elasticity of the string to rebound the fingers, so that the fingers naturally Return to half fist position. The wrist should be rotated slightly up and down with the wheel fingers, and its strength should be balanced with the force of the fingers. If the strength of the wrist is greater than the strength of the fingers, it will cause the fingers to expand the range of motion and make noise when hitting the strings. After the big finger picks the string, the middle joint should be bent immediately, not always straight. The specific operation of the big finger is to lower the head when preparing to pick the string, and raise the head when picking the string. Eliminate the chance of hitting strings.

The third is that the fingers of the left hand should be tightly combined with the strings. It is necessary to develop a good habit of pressing the strings with the fingertips. The advantages of pressing the strings with the fingertips are that the strength is concentrated and soft, and the striking area is small, which can give full play to the elasticity of the middle and small joints of the left finger. The relationship between the two is tight and solid, and the string body is controlled in a stable state, and the ring finger will emit a clean, transparent, full-grained sound of gold and stone. Fourth, the position of the right hand wheel finger touching the string should be appropriate. When the fingers are round, the strike points of the five fingers should be concentrated in the half between the 32nd fret of the pipa and the double hand. In this way, the sound of the fingers will be firm, uniform, and bright.

To sum up, it is difficult to master the pipa ring finger techniques and skills proficiently, which requires confidence and perseverance to practice hard. It is necessary to patiently go through the three stages, that is, the three stages of not being able to meet, from unskilled to proficient, and from dissatisfaction to satisfaction. Continuously consolidate, develop, re-consolidate, and re-develop the ability of the wheel fingers until the When both hands reach the level of softness on the outside and firmness on the inside, the pipa ring finger technique will receive a consummate playing skill.