Why do so many players splay the fingers slightly in a relaxed "open-fist," lightly brushing the fingers, etc?
Observe the florid movements of orchestral harpists, or for that matter others in the orchestra including percussionists, horn players, et al. Something I found (through playing the harp) is that these florid movements may not be all "show," but occur naturally at least to some extent. Exaggerating movements assists not only in timing but in other musical dynamics as well. What we are doing is using more of our body - integrated with our hands. This provides a greater platform from which to extenuate fine motor movement. I find that the same thing occurs wrt to mandolin playing (relative to opening the hand slightly, rather than always maintaining a "balled" fist). Splaying the fingers provides counterbalance, an effective guide or even support especially for techniques as tremolo, "duo-style," etc.
As opposed to the harpist/harper, mandolin player is very limited in what we can do with our picking hand. Using a variety of hand positions and technical approaches helps me to achieve greater control and range of expression. I find that, not only the balled-fist, but the looser-fist is efficacious and provides greater control - depending on circumstances. Fyi, in harping sometimes we float and sometimes we lightly touch our wrists against the edge of the soundboard to serve as a guide for our hands/fingers. I do both with the mandolin as well.
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