Fingerboard Technique

An ancient technique of fingerboard playing is used to play the traditional Cretan Lyra. The strings are stopped by pressing the fingernails of the player's left hand against the side of the string, rather than by pressing the string against the fingerboard. That makes the placement of the strings to be higher off the fingerboard, forcing the fingers to be in constant saltation over the strings. 

NAIL & FINGER POSITIONS

Due to his classical education and training, Yiorgos changed the posture and the position of the wrist, from the classical interpretation of the cello. He uses plenty of different positions of touching the string, for accurate tuning and performing chords, a few of which he discovered himself.   

FINGERBOARD TECHNIQUE

He expanded the instrument's tonal range in 5 active octaves and enriched the phraseology of the new Classical Cretan Lyra with adding one more finger, the thumb, (a special technique borrowed from the cello), plus the following techniques:

• Articulation

• Placement 

• Slurs

• Embellishments

• Trill

• Appoggiatura

• Turn

• Vibrato

• Double Stops

• Chords

• Pizzicato

• Harmonics

• Scordatura

• Thumb technique

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For the above techniques he extracted information from the following bibliography:

Michel Corrette: “Thèorique et Pratique Pour Apprendre en peu de temps le Violoncelle dans sa Perfection”, (Paris 1741)

Francesco Gemini: The Art of Playing the Violin” (London 1751)

Johann Joachim Quants: “Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversiere zu spielen” (Berlin 1752)

Leopold Mozart: “Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule” (Augsburg 1756)

Giuseppe Tartini: “Traité des agréments de la musique” (Published in French translation in 1771)

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