I'm not sure if we are same the same wavelength here! As far as I know, most of the 16th century printed tablatures for 4-course guitar give no indication of how the instrument was strung, or to what exact pitch it was tuned.
Various people have suggested various pitches on the basis of other documentary evidence - principally, it seems, Bermudo. Everyone seems to assume that the 4th course had a low octave. As far as re-entrant stringing is concerned, the point I was trying to make is that Mudarra does actually say at the beginning of his 4-course pieces that there must be a bordon - i.e. low octave string - on the 4th course. If the instrument was never strung without one he surely wouldn't have thought it necessary to mention it. He does also say that it must have ten frets which again implies that it didn't always. The bordon and the ten frets are necessary to ensure an adequate range of notes for his more complex music. For a more popular repertoire a re-entrant tuning may have been used. Monica ----- Original Message ----- From: bill kilpatrick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Monica Hall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: vihuela <vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu> Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 10:33 AM Subject: Re: re-entrant tuning, las sirenas, jarana > as best i could, i answered my own question - couldn't > find any reference to early music written in the > re-entrant tuning of g-c-e-a. not long ago i found > some bach tabs for ukulele. > > --- Monica Hall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > Mudarra's tuning would be Gg cc ee aa when c= c > > below middle c. That is > > if the pitches which Bermudo gives are taken > > literally - which they are not > > intended to be. > > > > With a re-entrant tuning that would be gg cc ee > > aa. > > > > The 4th course was sometimes tuned a 5th below the > > 3rd (rather than a 4th), > > but that doesn't affect the octave or re-entrant > > stringing. > > > > Monica > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: bill kilpatrick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: Monica Hall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Cc: vihuela <vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu> > > Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2005 1:42 PM > > Subject: Re: re-entrant tuning, las sirenas, jarana > > > > > > > would that be something like a ukulele tuning with > > an > > > octive "g" in the fourth course - GgCEA? > > > > > > - bill > > > > > > --- Monica Hall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > wrote: > > > > Actually the 4-course guitar was probably often > > > > tuned re-entrant. Mudarra > > > > says "Ha de tener bordon en la quarta" - it must > > > > have a bourdon on the > > > > fourth course. If it always had one would he > > have > > > > thought it necessary to > > > > mention it? > > > > > > > > Monica > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > > From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; > > > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; > > > > <vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu> > > > > Sent: Monday, May 16, 2005 6:22 PM > > > > Subject: re-entrant tuning, las sirenas, jarana > > > > > > > > > > > > > If we could somehow show Mudarra, Milan, > > > > Narvaez. etc. a charango, I > > > > doubt > > > > > if they would call it a vihuela. There was a > > > > very small plucked > > > > instrument > > > > > that they wrote for which had some > > similarities > > > > though. The charango is a > > > > > wonderful instrument in its own right, there's > > no > > > > need to show direct > > > > lineage from > > > > > some European ancestor to get respect for it. > > I'm > > > > sorry I can't quite > > > > agree > > > > > with you (yet) on this one, Bill; I always > > enjoy > > > > your posts, and you > > > > > definitely bring some fresh air to the > > atmosphere > > > > of the list. > > > > > Since the charango uses a re-entrant tuning, > > it > > > > might be a descendant of > > > > > the baroque guitar, but if it was derived from > > an > > > > instrument brought to > > > > the > > > > > South America in the 16th cent., then maybe > > not. > > > > This makes me wonder if > > > > there's > > > > > a record of when re-entrant (not scordatura) > > > > tuning began to be used. Are > > > > > there any pieces from the 16th cent. > > literature > > > > that use it? > > > > > There is an instrument in Mexico called the > > > > jarana which seems to be a > > > > > modern day baroque guitar in terms of > > stringing > > > > and tuning; I think you > > > > could just > > > > > pick it up and play Sanz, etc. on it. I > > believe > > > > someone on this list has > > > > > one; does it use a re-entrant tuning? > > > > > > > > > > James > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list > > information at > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Send instant messages to your online friends > > http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ___________________________________________________________ > How much free photo storage do you get? Store your holiday > snaps for FREE with Yahoo! Photos http://uk.photos.yahoo.com > To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
