RichardTomBeck wrote: >I'm playing some pieces by Francesco da Milano, which are technically not too >demanding. The problem I find is in recognising all the imitations in the >various voices. In staff notation these would be obvious, but I find myself >initially going plink-plonk-plonk-plink till my ear tells me there's actually >something going on in there that needs to be brought out. > >Clearly this affects the fingering, so it would be nice to know if there is a >more 'sure-fire' way of seeing the counterpoint before I've played the music >through a few times just to get the notes. Coming from staff notation, I'm >used to seeing the whole picture at one go, and find it a bit disconcerting to >realise after about half an hour that's I've not actually been playing what Mr >da Milano intended. Are there any tricks, things to look for, that can save me >from going down the wrong road, and enable me to learn the correct fingering >as I learn the piece, which would come from being able to see straight away >what's going on? All suggestions gratefully received. Cheers
A few suggestions, some may be simplistic (sorry): Try to locate the Ness edition. It has parallel staff notation under the tablature. Sometimes the ones that look easy turn out to be the hardest to perfect. I think it takes many more times than a few times to get the notes of even a 'not too technically demanding' FdaM ricercar. As you noticed, fingering ultimately needs to be worked out. However, I would urge you to think more linearly and concentrate on the phrasing of the lines and getting the lines into your ears before you lock yourself into fingerings. Try reading one part at a time. For example, take whatever voice starts first and take it as far as you can. There may be some ambiguous places, but that's okay. Voices come in and out. It's not like a Bach choral. When I say voice, I mean, where it appears that there are several chords of three notes each, think of them as three people singing and play each one separately: bottom, middle, top. Be careful not to arppegiate all the chords, three people singing wouldn't do that! Most Francesco ricercars are very imitative, so when he presents a melodic idea, you can just about count on it appearing soon after in another voice. There will almost always be stretto sections where motives start before another has ended cascading one after the other. Most of his pieces are predominantly in two or three parts, occasionally a 4th voice appears. Take one section at a time and determine what the main motif is and look for it in every voice. The line will go on with counterpoint against new entrances of the themes when a motif is over. Notice how he mutates themes and morphs them into new themes. Be careful in the bass voice not to hold notes when it actually leaps about (all voices really). Try singing the parts. If you imagine fretting with your left hand while you sight sing tablature, you'll be surprised how easy it is. Once you get used to reading tab, it's almost the same as reading music. Try singing one part and playing another. One of the joys of FdaM is discovering another little motive or augmented version of a theme somewhere that you didn't notice before. Which ones are you playing, btw? cheers, -- Ed Durbrow Saitama, Japan http://www9.plala.or.jp/edurbrow/
