Agreed. Also if I may, my experience (of course I own itspeeplj wrote:If there are no objections, I'll take a stab at answering this:please explain the reason(s) why classical grip is more agile and nimble, other than thru mere belief and and secondhand opinion
--it's the only approach I am aware of which frees up the left hand thumb to work the B-flat touch (specifically, the Rockstro grip);
--it's the only grip which is suitable to the Boehm-system flute, as use of piper's grip will force the mechanism out of alignment and may even cause mechanical damage to the instrument.
That said, there are many fine players of simple system flutes who use various other grips, and they play quite well.
Every person is different; each flute player at some point has to find an approach to holding the instrument that works best for him.
--James
limitations) isn't 'mere belief.' Nor is the teaching of a widely
respected and recorded teacher mere 'opinion,' unless
we wish to beg the question. In addition I've talked with orthopaedic
hand specialists who work with the symphony here in St. Louis,
who said the same thing, relating it to how fingers work,
tendons, etc.
For these reasons I believe classical is a little more agile,
but I certainly don't claim to know it.
As to Grey, he recommends classical over pipers. He began
using pipers than shifted to classical so he could use the
Bb key on his flute. He found it had other advantages, he writes.
He says 'it seems to him' that classical better distributes the
weight of the flute on the left hand, which in pipers is borne
largely by the left thumb, which can be placed in a hyper-extended
position and become sore.' He says it's his opinion.
One certainly can disagree with him about this (I've never had
that difficulty with piper's grip), but calling this 'quite dismissive'
seems inaccurate, unless expressing a definite opinion that
there are reasons to favor one grip over another is 'quite
dismissive.'