Hi Harlan... Some comments from an amateur...
I believe I have seen some references to graduating the fret gut as you
move up the neck, but I can't remember where. Nonetheless, my guitar
uses the same size gut for all the frets, and it was made by a very
reputable person who not only builds instruments, but teaches, realizes
ancient instruments, and realizes ancient building techniques.
If by the so-called Spanish tuning you mean stringing your instrument
in the manner some people argue may or may not have been supported (or
not) by the writings of Spanish (and other) composers, including Gaspar
Sanz, then I would guess you mean fully re-entrant tuning with no bass
strings on the A and D courses. (If you want to entertain yourself,
look through the archives of this list to see how inflamed that topic
can be. It's almost as howling as the question of playing with
fingernails was in Tarrega's day.)
I can say the following:
1 I currently have my instrumnet strung in a fully re-entrant manner.
2 I find there is no limitation in the range, power, or musicality of
the
pieces I'm playing at the moment. I'm mostly focussed on Gaspar
Sanz.
3 I also find zero limitations where modern composition is concerned.
In fact,
I was asked to compose ap piece -- an attempt at minimalism (sadly,
it approaches New Age
much more than I would have liked) and I can tell you that the only
limitations were my own.
If you want to hear it, let me know and I'll post it to my web site.
4 Counter to intuition, I find the voicings and patterns to be
liberating -- for now at least.
5 I'm still learning -- that's a good thing.
Coming fresh to this instrument may be a great advantage to you. You
will not be prejudiced by having played the same pieces on a modern
guitar. Also, Spanish tablature is "upside down" for modern musicians,
which makes it harder to deal with, the more experience you have with
the modern instrument. But make no mistake, the baroque guitar is an
instrument of its own, and you can't successfully treat is as
yet-another-variation on the modern guitar. That would be like saying
the electric guitar and the classical guitar are the same instrument.
On the other hand, your disadvantages will largely be with yuor right
hand, in my opinion. I happen to believe that's the more important
hand. The left hand is what drives the harmony and text, but the right
hand is what turns it into music. As you listen to baroque playing,
you should close your eyes and try to *feel* how it is to make your
right hand do all that.
I wish you the best of luck with your plans to build the guitar. As
you get to specific issues, I'm sure people on this list can offer much
information -- historical and practical.
Cheers cud
__________________________________________________________________
From: Harlan Glotzer <hargloresea...@gmail.com>
To: "vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu" <vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Thu, January 20, 2011 1:59:05 PM
Subject: [VIHUELA] Baroque guitar, where to start?
Hello all,
I have recently joined this list and it is great. I am gearing up to
build my first baroque guitar and am getting more and more excited by
the day waiting for the plan (Ashmolean 1642 Rene Voboam). I have built
instruments before so I am no stranger to working with wood (and a
friend of mine is a luthier so I should be able to get some of my
questions fielded).
Two questions, however, that seem to elude me concern frets and
strings. Do I need to gauge my frets as I move up the neck? Or can I
just use a fixed gauge of gut/nylon/etc?
The other is a more performance oriented question. What
stringing/tuning scheme would you suggest for a beginner? I seem go be
most drawn to the Spanish music, but am a complete beginner on the
guitar, and I'm also afraid the Spanish tuning will limit what I can
play (I'd like to experiment with new/modern music as well). What
tuning/stringing do you prefer and why?
Any advice on building, fretting, tuning, and the playing of the
baroque guitar would be most helpful.
Thanks!
Harlan
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