I can agree whole heartedly with what Martyn says about a barre. When I
started to learn the guitar at the advanced age of 30 I was astonished
(being a violinist) that such a thing was possible and found it difficult to
do. Now I can do it easily.
It is simply a matter of practice. Anyone who is not willing to make the
effort shouldn't be playing the guitar.
In any case this argument that because stable boys and other amateurs could
only play chords with open courses is the reason why the 5-course guitar
didn't acquire a sixth course much sooner isn't very convincing.
Bartolotti, Corbetta, De Visee and co were not stable boys.
Monica
----- Original Message -----
From: "Martyn Hodgson" <hodgsonmar...@yahoo.co.uk>
To: "Vihuelalist" <vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu>; "Lex Eisenhardt"
<eisenha...@planet.nl>
Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2010 8:26 AM
Subject: [VIHUELA] Re: stringing and performance
Dear Lex,
You write below that 'I can assure you that many pupils hate them
('barre' chords) intensely.'
Well some beginners may find them a trouble at first but experience
tells us that practice soon renders them relatively easy: chords like N
P K G are very comfortable under the fingers; perhaps M S & are a
little trickier but we've only 5 courses to span not the 6 on the
'modern' guitar. And bear in mind that M is not a million miles from
the ubiquitous D major chord shape on a g lute which some lute players
nowadays seem to struggle with but which the Old Ones used with
abandon.
Martyn
M
--- On Wed, 1/9/10, Lex Eisenhardt <eisenha...@planet.nl> wrote:
From: Lex Eisenhardt <eisenha...@planet.nl>
Subject: [VIHUELA] Re: stringing and performance
To: "Vihuelalist" <vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Date: Wednesday, 1 September, 2010, 20:49
>> But Amat is rather pedantic about his
>> invention, and eager to prove his right.
> I don't know what you mean by that.
I was thinking of his report of his meeting with the singers in the
pub. Seems to have been a self-satisfied exraordinary narrow pedantic
guitarist.
> What he says is quite simple and
> straightforward and works perfectly well in practice. Using a barre
is not that difficult!
I can assure you that many pupils hate them intensely. It is probably
not for nothing that the first seven chords of alfabeto, which are used
the most, have no barre.
>> Indeed. But if we consider the keys the dances are in, they are
almost all
>> in G major, G minor, D major, D minor and C major. That seems to
reflect
>> daily practice.
>
> So..........if you are just dancing it doesn't matter what key you
are in.
I thought we were discussing the practice of amateur guitarists. Easy
keys without many barre's make the five-course guitar much more
practical in self-accompaniment than a six-course instrument
[the rest of this message can only be followed with 'The Lute' 47
before you, sorry]
>
> As far as Pedrual is concerned I think that you are mistaken in
assuming that in your second example all four chords are to be strummed
in full. It is a very early example of a passage which is intended to
be in mixed style. The fact that there are stroke marks does not mean
that the second and third chords are to be strummed including all open
courses.
I know that the transcription is based on a number of assumptions. As
would be any transcription.
But why on earth would it have to be mixed style? Most chords in ex 3
have unfingered courses. Should we suppose that they should all be
plucked?
> There is in fact a dot after the stroke symbol above the first chord
which you have ignored. It should probably be a dotted crotchet
followed by a quaver.
All played with downstrokes. Interesting...
In the end, for the harmony it does not make a difference.
> In a situation like this where there are no bar lines and no note
values the stroke marks have a dual function. They indicate the
duration of the notes and make the music easier to read. A suitable
notation was not invented overnight. It evolved - and that is true of
notation as a whole not just baroque guitar notation. You are simply
working on the assumption that what the signs mean in later sources
should be interpreted in the same way 20-30 years earlier.
So, in some occasions the stroke signs are not there to indicate
strokes at all ??
Lex
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