guy_and_liz Smith
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:27:25 -0700
No, I don't see that parallel as valid at all. "Modern" classical music, at least as it is currently practiced, is indeed strictly about notes on a page. However, what I'm talking about is a classically trained musician (which I am, mainly as a low brass player) tackling early music. For early music, a certain amount of improvisation is normal and expected. For example, although we know that lute pieces were usually ornamented, it is often not explicitly written in the tablature, and when it is, the ornamentation signs provide only a general indication of what to do, not the exact notes. With continuo, all you have is a bass line and (if you are lucky) some figures to give you some clues as to the expected harmony. The rest is largely improvised. When you get into something like playing Playford tunes on cittern (as I occasionally do with the dance band), you are pretty much on your own. There's not only no cittern part, there's no accompaniment at all, just the melody. Note that even in relatively "modern" music, improvisation was expected in at least some circumstances, cadenzas for example. IIRC, both JS Bach and Beethoven were well regarded for their ability to improvise at the keyboard. That's something that's been largely lost with modern performers. When's the last time you heard Midori (or insert your favorite big-name soloist) improvise a cadenza? FWIW, I imagine that there was a great deal of improvisation with Shakespeare's plays; there's a lot more to theatrical performance than the text, and plenty of room for actors to improvise other aspects of the play. To address your other point, I can only assume that you have little familiarity with lute (or cittern) tablature. Renaissance tab is not the same as modern guitar tab. It gives the duration as well as the order, much like staff notation. The main difference is that you often don't know the exact duration of the interior and bass notes, but it's usually not that difficult to figure out from context. To some extent, that's another aspect of improvisation. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kevin Lawton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "guy_and_liz Smith" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "cittern list" <cittern@cs.dartmouth.edu>; "Andrew Hartig" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, April 07, 2008 10:46 AM Subject: Re: [CITTERN] Re: Memorization... > Sorry if I sound a little argumentative on this point, > but isn't describing a classical musician as 'much too > denendant on notes on a page' a little like describing > a Shakespearian actor as 'much too dependant upon the > written script' ? > Kevin. > -------------------- > --- guy_and_liz Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > And I fully agree that most classically trained > > musicians (myself included) > > tend to be much too dependent on notes on a page. I > > consider it one of my > > biggest limitations, especially with cittern, which > > I use mostly for > > relatively informal music. > > > > I suspect one good way to learn is to get involved > > with some sort of folk > > group that cittern could function in, where you have > > little choice but to > > improvise based on chord progressions or what have > > you. IIRC, Jim Stimson > > mentioned to me once that he played his cittern in > > an Irish band on > > occasion, which would probably be a great way to > > learn. If I just had a bit > > more time... > > > > Guy > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Andrew Hartig" > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: "cittern list" <cittern@cs.dartmouth.edu> > > Sent: Friday, April 04, 2008 12:00 PM > > Subject: [CITTERN] Re: Memorization... > > > > > > > > > > Hi all, > > > > > > One thing I forgot to add in my previous message > > is that the other > > > thing I have tried to do of late is to play music > > away from the page > > > as much as possible. Since I have two small > > children running around > > > the house now (one is 3 years old, the other just > > turned 1), I don't > > > have a lot of opportunity to sit down with music > > in front of me (and > > > not have it snatched, ripped, or pages turned when > > I'm not ready!). > > > Instead (since they are still too small to reach > > the instrument if I > > > play while standing!) I spend time playing tunes > > out of my head, or > > > at least trying to "hear" a tune I'm familiar with > > aurally and > > > recreate it on my instrument. > > > > > > I have found that this has greatly assisted my > > memorization skills in > > > that I am now equating "sounds" with "locations" > > without regard for > > > notes on a page. It becomes the synthesis of body > > and mind! This is, > > > of course, what all good musicians do > > (instinctively or otherwise) > > > and is also the basis of improvisation. I use this > > technique along > > > with the hearing/visualizing I mentioned earlier. > > > > > > Of late I have been sight reading the tablature to > > get a sense of > > > what the piece is supposed to sound like. Once I > > have the "piece" > > > committed to memory as "sound," I spend the rest > > of the time seeing > > > if I can figure out how to recreate that sound on > > the instrument > > > until it is memorized. In some instances this has > > resulted in me > > > fingering phrases differently than the notation > > (which, once I've > > > discovered this, allows me to look back and see > > *why* it may have > > > been written the way it was) or playing runs or > > other phrases in the > > > spirit of the piece rather than what is written > > (the "making music" > > > not "making early music" that Kevin referred to > > earlier). > > > > > > I could not agree with Guy more about the > > importance of sight reading > > > skills. Tablature is a near-perfect medium for > > sight reading; > > > unfortunately, I feel too many (myself, for one!) > > have probably > > > fallen into the trap of not being able to escape > > the reading! > > > > > > Two more cents for a total of four from me, > > > Andrew > > > > > > > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > > > > > > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > > > > > > > > >