Slide hand grip

[timothy42b]

I've been videoing myself with a cellphone on the stand. It's not great for tone but it's merciless about sloppiness and tuning.

But I noticed my slide hand grip had the back of the hand at an angle to the forearm. That looks tense. I've googled and some players do have that bend, others are almost flat from forearm across back of the hand.

I tried playing with the flat angle (back of the hand bones in line with forearm bone) rather than "uncurled" (forearm bone aligned with contact point) this morning. It might be more relaxed, but it also demands more manipulation of wrist and shoulder to stay straight line.

I haven't seen this discussed that I can recall. thoughts? I'd look at youtube but it doesn't work here.

[pompatus]

James Markey did a masterclass a few years ago, in which he discussed the angle of the wrist on the slide hand. The gist of his message was that angle will change as the slide travels outward. I believe he demonstrated with his wrist parallel to the slide tubes in 1st position, and the angle transitioned to a perpendicular position out toward 7th.

I'll see if I can find a link to a video somewhere.

Edit:
The masterclass was at ATW 2018. Here's a link to the video that I referenced: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6ZqM9wJxBo&t=320s

[timothy42b]

Yes, I was at that masterclass, and what he said made sense. I've adjusted my slide technique slightly to use his thinking.

However I'm talking about a different angle. Hold your hand flat with palm vertical. You can cock your hand up and down through a small angle, and you can bend it sideways through a much larger angle. Since your thumb and fingers are different lengths, to grip the slide can be done two ways: with the thumb in line with the forearm bone, which requires the back of the hand be bent outwards; or the back of the hand in line with the forearm, which means the fingers are at a right angle to the forearm.

[baileyman]

A pic would really help.