[TPIN] Auxiliary / Backward fingering

[Jeff Helgesen]

I had the experience of chatting with Diz briefly before a concert in
the late 1980s.  The "backward fingering" term is just another way to
refer to alternate fingerings.  And it's not solely for stuff up above
high C.

Diz (and later, Freddie) would use an alternate fingering to slot up
or down to the next partial without rearticulating.  For example,
playing a G above the staff and snapping quickly to the E below
without tonguing (in the middle of a fast line) is a little hairy, but
if you finger the E as 1-2, it slots a little easier.

So, as a simple test, try G E F F# G E F F# ... over and over with
regular fingerings, then as though you were playing an octave down.

Here are some notes on this technique for jazz players:

http://www.shout.net/~jmh/clinic/alt-fingerings.htm

-- 
Jeff Helgesen
http://cdbaby.com/cd/jazzmayhem
http://www.myspace.com/jeffhelgesen
http://listening-blog.blogspot.com/