Well said, Monica. There's no doubt that it's easy to change the
stringing, and many, if not most, contemporary baroque guitarists do
just that. It has no effect one way or the other on the construction
of the instrument, indeed.
I just wanted to point out that there's no intrinsic limit to the
musicality you can pull out of the instrument if you do opt for a full
re-entrant tuning. In the process I thought I'd try for a little
levity (as opposed to gravity) -- well, I can't vouch for any success
on that front. And of course, I botched up the history... Thanks for
the clarification.
cud
__________________________________________________________________
From: Monica Hall <mjlh...@tiscali.co.uk>
To: Chris Despopoulos <despopoulos_chr...@yahoo.com>
Cc: Vihuelalist <vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Thu, January 20, 2011 3:51:30 PM
Subject: Re: [VIHUELA] Re: Baroque guitar, where to start?
Well - it is a serious mis-nomer to call the re-entrant tuning
"Spanish".
The Spanish would turn in their graves.
What dear old Sanz says is
In stringing there is variety, because in Rome musicians string the
guitar only with thin strings, without a bourdon on either the fourth
or fifth course. In Spain the opposite is the case since some use two
bourdons on the fourth course and another two on the fifth and at
least, as is usual, one on each course.
In other words in Spain stringing with octaves on the 4th and 5th
course is the norm. It is in Italy, and other places that the
re-entrant tuning is more common. Amat and Ribayaz also describe the
tuning with octaves on the 4th and 5th courses and Guerau also implies
that this is the method suitable for his music. Santiago de Murcia
keeps his own counsel on the matter.
Added to which Sanz doesn't actually say that the re-entrant tuning
must be used for his music or the skies will fall on you.
So if you want to, I would say feel free to use octave stringing even
if you want to play Sanz. But it is not difficult to change the
stringing on your instrument and it has no bearing on how it is
constructed or fretted so you could try different methods as you wish.
Hope you are not thoroughly confused by now.
Monica
----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Despopoulos"
<[1]despopoulos_chr...@yahoo.com>
To: "Harlan Glotzer" <[2]hargloresea...@gmail.com>;
<[3]vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2011 8:09 PM
Subject: [VIHUELA] Re: Baroque guitar, where to start?
> 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 <[4]hargloresea...@gmail.com>
> To: "[5]vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu" <[6]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
> To get on or off this list see list information at
> [1][7]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
>
> --
>
> References
>
> 1. [8]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html
>
--
References
1. mailto:despopoulos_chr...@yahoo.com
2. mailto:hargloresea...@gmail.com
3. mailto:vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu
4. mailto:hargloresea...@gmail.com
5. mailto:vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu
6. mailto:vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu
7. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html
8. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html
