Christopher parkening

[brucefulton]

Originally Posted by mc1

i'm not really sure what that gushy bit of prosthelytizing had to do with this thread,

The part of the the thread where it was contended that he burned out his right hand, whatever that means...

[Crowyote]

His suggestions on sitting posture and hand position can be disastrous for the developing player unless the player is quite tall and gangly. The overall effect seems to give undue dominance to the positioning of the left arm and hand, whereas in reality it is the positioning and attitude of the right hand that must be catered to.

I know because starting out this was the only book I had readily available with photos of how to sit and play, and eventually, I messed up my back and tendons of the right arm using his method. By the time I developed into a mature player it was almost too late to fix.

Luckily I finally looked into Abel Carlevaro's "School of Guitar" as my former instructor, Robert Guthrie, suggested and that helped to clear things up quite a bit for me. However, I'm presently encountering new difficulties as my current main guitar is much thicker than a classical and a different body shape. It may be time for me to finally find one of those guitar props that works for me.

[brucefulton]

Originally Posted by Crowyote

His suggestions on sitting posture and hand position can be disastrous for the developing player unless the player is quite tall and gangly. The overall effect seems to give undue dominance to the positioning of the left arm and hand, whereas in reality it is the positioning and attitude of the right hand that must be catered to.

I wouldn't agree with either of those two statements. It's difficult to look at a couple of photographs and a verbal comments and discern proper technique without assistance from a qualified teacher. And, one hand or arm is not preferenced over the other. A qualified teacher will work with the student to assure that the position is balanced and efficient for the individual student since everyone is built differently. The Parkening method is Ok; the main problem with it is that it is not as rigorous as the Shearer method and leaves the student hanging without fully preparing them for the later intermediate and advanced works. But it's not bad.

[sausgirl]

Hey there,The #1 Parkening book is good.I would suggest a teacher if you are just starting out.They help you to NOT start bad habits,
Regards,
Jan