Fundamental Tricks
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The Fundamental Tricks are collections of tricks considered to be the baseline for pen spinning. In the past they were used as a teaching aid to point new spinners in the right direction for learning the hobby, but analysis and later discussions in the field of notation led to new definitions of 'fundamental' tricks and thoughts about how they are used in the construction of harder tricks and linkages.
Classical Fundamentals
Thumbaround
- See also: Around#Thumbaround
An around trick wherein the pen is held with the thumb on one side and two other fingers, usually index and middle, on the other. The pen is held such that the center of gravity is towards the inside of the hand, and the pen is pushed to perform a single rotation around the thumb, before being caught.
Sonic
- See also: Sonic
A trick derived from fingerswitches where the pen is held between two fingers, usually middle and ring, and is switched first to an intermediary fingerslot, then a destination fingerslot. The most basic sonic starts between middle and ring, switches to index and ring, then finally switches to index and middle. A charge is almost always implied, with one full conical charge spin occurring from start to finish when the sonic is performed, but the trick can be performed without any charge motion at all.
Charge
- See also: Charge
A conical spin trick where the pen is held between two fingers, usually index and middle, then is flicked forwards and backwards, up and down between the two fingers to make the ends rotate in circles. Often combined with other tricks such as the sonic to provide a circular spinning effect.
Fingerpass
- See also: Pass#Fingerpass
A mini-combo and not a trick like the others, the fingerpass is constructed of four separate pass tricks. These are performed to traverse the pen down the hand on the palm side and then back up the hand on the back side of the hand.