Why would you use D4 instead of A0?

Tom C. asked this at a recent office hours session.

It depends on the context of the tune or piece.
If you’re playing something fast which is mostly on the D string, it would make sense to play D4 instead of A0. For example, it was be easier to play D4-3-2-4-3-2-1-3 at fast tempo as opposed to A0-3-2-0-3-2-1-3.
In other cases, it would be more logical to use 4th finger instead of the open string above that. Like in this bit of Hobart’s transformation: E0-3-3-4-3-L2 | E0-A3-E0-1-L2-1-L2-1. Because you are coming from the open E string, it would be awkward to play it: E0-3-3-4-3-L2 | A4-A3-4-1-L2-1-L2-1.
Of course, this is just a suggestion. You can always experiment and see which way you prefer.
A reason you might choose 4th finger is that it has a rich, warm tone. If you’re playing on a slow tune, you might prefer the warm sound of the 4th finger.
Also, if you can play vibrato, then it’s another reason you might want to use 4th finger.
By the way, classical players favor using the 4th finger.

This micro-lesson is an excerpt from an office hours webinar I gave on September 16, 2020. View the entire live-stream with indexed questions here.

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