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?
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).
Well - after just a very quick look it seems to me that the harmony is so
simple (especially in the first one) that it would be easy to fit standard
alfabeto chords to them. You
don't have to play one chord on every bass note and in any case the standard
chords are so simple that quick chord changes wouldn't be a problem. (cf.
Foscarini). If
accompanied by a cittern - which is played with a plectrum - strummed chords
would be the only option.
Monica
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
To get on or off this list see list information at
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
