Ways to Play a Scale

[pauln]

Despite one of the more introspective folks here regarding technique and mechanics I can't make sense of this thread yet regarding the words "shift", "stretch", and "slide"...

My guesses...
shift - whole hand position and thumb moves?
stretch - first and fourth fingers move and thumb stays relative to position?
slide - some combination of fingers and thumb move (except not either)?

Slide and shift are both being used with identification to a finger to describe something (pinky shift, slides with the index or third)- the language so far does not distinguish the mechanics or what's going on. How is slide different from shift? Do slides involve sounded pitches and shifts not?

It must be possible to make clear which represent a change in hand position, which indicate a relative finger movement with respect to a position, and which include the sounding of pitches vs just changing location in advance of subsequent pitches.

[Mick-7]

Despite one of the more introspective folks here regarding technique and mechanics I can't make sense of this thread yet regarding the words "shift", "stretch", and "slide"... Do slides involve sounded pitches and shifts not?

The thread is so long that I'm reluctant to go back and try to decipher it, but I presume the terms shift and slide are being used interchangeably - you know what a slide is, pressing down on a string, sounding the note and then sliding up or down a fret to sound the next note. I was going to say that slide = slur but I think they are technically somewhat different. A stretch would be as you described earlier: stretching or widening the fingers of the hand to reach a note.

[AllanAllen]

I think shift and slide mean the same thing. You’re silently transitioning fingering positions.

A slur would be an audible transition.

[Mick-7]

I think shift and slide mean the same thing. You’re silently transitioning fingering positions.

A slur would be an audible transition.

As you suggested, a shift is moving from one position to another without sounding a note.

Slurs and slides are similar but the difference is this: a slur is picking a note and then sliding to another note - without picking the second note.

A slide is picking a note and then sliding up or down through a series of notes, i.e., multiple notes vs a single note note like the slur, and the final note in the series may be picked or not, if it's not picked, it's called a "legato slide."

Here's an essay on slides: Slides Part 1 | StudyBass

[rpjazzguitar]

As you suggested, a shift is moving from one position to another without sounding a note.

Slurs and slides are similar but the difference is this: a slur is picking a note and then sliding to another note - without picking the second note.

A slide is picking a note and then sliding up or down through a series of notes, i.e., multiple notes vs a single note note like the slur, and the final note in the series may be picked or not, if it's not picked, it's called a "legato slide."

Here's an essay on slides: Slides Part 1 | StudyBass

This sounds right to me.

The only thing I'd add is that there is a way of doing a kind of quick, partial shift. Your hand moves just enough to make a stretch easier. The hand can shift surprisingly quickly. It's a kind of intermediate solution to the four fingers for five frets problem.