there's a recent article by joseph baldassarre somewhere in
cyber-space... on the various methods used to play with plectrum. i
haven't read it yet but visual evidence would seem to suggest (through
the various ways in which small, lute-like instruments and plectrum
were held) that arpeggios or rolling (i'm not sure about the
difference) constituted the main style of playing in the medieval and
early renaissance periods. i've tried to hold my charango (for
purposes of illustration, it's a "latin guitar") and plectrum in the
way it was held then and the only way to make a decent sound is to drag
the plectrum slowly over the strings in a prolonged, repetitive strum -
tremolo is very difficult, especially with the long, thin plectrum that
is sometimes illustrated.
i'm told that (according to the article) style of play with plectrum
gradually evolved during the renaissance to that of a mandolin and
instruments began to be held under the right elbow as opposed to being
cradled on top of the arm over the crook of the elbow (increased volume
but very uncomfortable.)
i don't know when plectrum ceased to be used generally with the lute
but i think it's a 'darn shame.
- bill
On Giovedì, mag 27, 2004, at 10:42 Europe/Rome, Thomas Schall wrote:
> Hi Stephan,
>
> thanks for your compliments. You are speaking german very well!
>
> I think Stewart (McCoy by the way) and I would agree. I guess he was
> thinking in terms of continuo where the "important" note would always
> be
> the bass. There is no problem with rolling a chord for instance to
> spread the duration of the hearable sound ("booooooooom dadeldum" or
> something similar). This are liberties you have in forming your
> continup
> part. But the bass notes need to come together in the comlete continuo
> section (otherwise the listener would hear a bass voice sounding rather
> like a machine gun "tacktacktack"). This of course applies for baroque
> continuo in general.
> In the baroque solo music as Ed pointed out there were much more
> liberties which (I have to admit) lead in my case to use much more
> rolling in renaissance music, too.
> Actually this isn't wrong if you bear in mind that it's a grace. You
> can
> use graces often or seldom - as you wish and as the music suggests.
>
> I attended a masterclass by Dolores a while ago and she stressed much
> the use of arpeggios (she meant rolling) especially as grace. She
> suggested to use it in the slow vihuela pieces I was introducing as
> well
> as in Toccatas by Kapsberger (here one may listen to Hoppy's recording
> -
> he took very much liberties when performing these pieces).
> I also would like to forward her opinion one should listen to the vocal
> models before working on an intabulation - the example of the "Cancion"
> by Narvaez and the vocal model lead to a different approach (thinking
> in
> double time, the runs rather graces than "important" notes).
>
> A different discussion is BTW the term "in time". One of my teachers
> told me there would be "notes more on the right side of a bar and
> others
> to be more on the left side" meaning not every note should be played
> exactly as it's position in a bar would suggest. One example would be a
> "Wiener Walzer" which is played dotted but written straight.
>
> Best wishes
> Thomas
>
>
> Am Don, 2004-05-27 um 02.56 schrieb Stephen Arndt:
>
>> My thanks to both Stewart Craig and to Thomas Schall for responding
>> to =
>> my inquiry. Stewart and Thomas, I am wondering whether you two agree
>> on =
>> the proper way to roll a chord, though you both seem to agree that
>> the =
>> use of such rolls should be very sparing. Stewart, you wrote:
>>
>> "The important thing is to start rolling on the beat, not before it.
>> The =
>> bass note should fall on the beat with the other notes following. =
>> Unfortunately lots of players roll in such a way that the treble note
>> =
>> falls on the beat, which means they have to start rolling before the =
>> beat."
>>
>> If I understand you correctly, there are no exceptions to beginning
>> the =
>> roll on the beat. Thomas, you wrote:
>>
>> "Another question is which note to play on the beat. If you play a =
>> melody, most times the melody note should be on the beat. In an =
>> accompaniment, the bass note (or the most significant tone) should
>> make =
>> it on the beat."=20
>>
>> It seems that you, Thomas, are recognizing two distinct cases--one in
>> =
>> which the high note of the chord forms part of the melody line and =
>> another in which it does not, which determines which note is to be =
>> played on the beat.=20
>>
>> So, I am wondering whether you two really disagree or whether the =
>> disagreement is not real but merely apparent.
>>
>> Actually, I started thinking about this issue when I was listening to
>> a =
>> CD entitled "The Art of the Lute in Renaissance France. Volume 1:
>> Early =
>> to Mid 16th Century" performed by Edward Martin to accompany the Lyre
>> =
>> tablature publication by the same title. Edward, in the brief time
>> that =
>> I have been a member of this e-mail group, I have noticed that you
>> have =
>> contributed to the discussions. I have greatly enjoyed your playing
>> on =
>> this CD and have listened to it repeatedly, paying particular
>> attention =
>> to your style. It seems to me that you make a fairly liberal use of =
>> rolled chords on this CD, and I would be very interested in any
>> comments =
>> you might have about your use of them.
>>
>> Best regards to all,
>>
>> Stephen Arndt
>>
>> P. S. an Thomas: Ich m=F6chte diese Gelegenheit nehmen, Ihnen zu
>> sagen, =
>> wie viel Ihre Internetseite mir gefallen hat-besonders die Fotos, die
>> =
>> Tonaufnahmen und, vor allem, die Tablaturen, einige von welchen
>> w=E4ren =
>> anderswo nicht so leicht zu finden. Vielen Dank f=FCr die gute Arbeit!
>> --
>
> --
> Thomas Schall
> Niederhofheimer Weg 3
> D-65843 Sulzbach
> 06196/74519
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> www.lautenist.de / www.tslaute.de/weiss
>
> --
>
