:
I think they're doable on lute plucked as usual although a ren guitar or a
cittern would be more suitable for strumming, IMHO.
Sean
Thanks Sean and Benny. I actually meant ren guitar or cittern (I don't
have either!). I was wondering exactly which chords would be strummed -
for example in the two tunes
http://www.pluckedturkeys.co.uk/Gervaise/
If you put a chord to each note on the bass line (easy to do) you sometimes
would have to make extremely quick chord changes (which would be very difficult
to do). Anyway, maybe this idea of putting a chord to a bass note is a continuo
concept and not applicable to the 1550s?
When Leroy made arrangements of some of these Gervaise tunes he got rid of the
four-part harmony. The late James Tyler claimed that you could play the Leroy
arrangements along with the four-part arrangements. But you would have to be
making adjustments to the guitar part all the time.
So I still wonder what chords an average strummer (four-course guitar or
cittern)would actually play - for example on the tunes I uploaded. I could
imagine that a modern folk guitarist would just look at the tune or just listen
to it and come up with some chords which are both playable and more or less fit
the melody (but not fit as closely as four-part harmony).
But that would be what a modern folk player might do, and I wonder what a
chordal instrument player might have done then.
Stuart
On Oct 31, 2011, at 3:56 PM, Stuart Walsh<s.wa...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
How would a strummer strum chords to these tunes composed (arranged?) by
Gervaise in the 1550s?
http://www.pluckedturkeys.co.uk/Gervaise/
They are strong melodies (Poulenc arranged some Gervaise dances for piano - but
not these particular tunes). Maybe you just strum a chord according to the bass
line. It's easy enough to work out what each chord would be. But playing at
speed it would be formidably difficult to actually play them unless you were a
Freddy Green-type professional. These Gervaise arrangements are in four parts
and, as it stands, the bass is very easy to play as a single note. But really
not so easy at all when the chords are changing very quickly.
But it's often said that strummers strummed in these, and even earlier, times.
And, if so, surely they would have strummed to accompany tunes like this. Would
they have strummed a chord for each note as dictated by the rules of four part
harmony? Or something simpler - but potentially more rhythmic?
Stuart
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