Frank,
First of all, thank you for sharing the Ms pages and writing posting
the background information on instruments and suggestiion that the
Ms. could be viewed as part of the "Danish" or "German" tradition.
Secondly, you guys are a tough audience! !
I started this post a few days ago so I may be behind the discussion
by now.
I have uploaded a revised PDF of the cittern pieces at:
http://earlyguitar.ning.com/profile/RockyMjos
I have reset the tab in the 5-line form of the original and decided
to alter more bass notes to better please my ear. I have also added
numbers to help keep track of pieces. The transcriptions offer one
possibility for the ornaments.
Does anyone have other thoughts about the ornaments? Farstad's
examples didn't seem completely same to me (they always followed the
note to be ornamented). In Storm these signs are on staff between the
upper note(s) and bass note. The two vertical lines in Storm are
rather short strokes and might be almost viewed as two long dots. The
Storm cross is a longer vertical stroke with a shorter horizontal
stroke (t-like).
Regarding number of courses, I wonder why the writer would bother
with writing his fretting examples on page 3 with seven definite
entries and two distinct notations (after the fifth course) if the
6th and 7th course were tuned the same.
I think the tablature definitely shows seven courses, as each
fretting example on page 3 has tablature letters on each of the 5
staff lines (starting at the first course) then next a tablature
letter with a slash, followed by a tablature letter without a slash.
This happens for each fret -- 7 for the open strings, 7 for the first
fret, etc.
The two page 3 tuning charts only indicate tuning for six courses.
What does this mean? The seventh was variably tuned? (If one believes
this music is for a 7-c instrument.)
I would agree that in many places in the music where the indicated
7th note would sound the pitch for the 6th would sound better. You
will see that I have gone further in my new version in altering bass
notes to a better (to my ear) choice.
Overall, a C still makes more harmonic sense (to me), as it is often
in a place where I would expect a dominant harmony). There are also
passage (6 and 14) where the baseline seems to be displaced an octave
(if the 7th is read as a C).
There are many pieces which do not use a seventh course: 1, 2, 3, 7,
8, 9, and 15.
In the rest of the pieces I always thought a C was better than an F
(except for 10, and the second half of 12 where F would be better --
I viewed them as a possible mistake).
I also tried a G and that also seemed to work OK, but I still think C
better.
Anon Egeland's suggestion of a 7th tuned to B-flat doesn't work to my
ears. He's a fiddle/violin player so may have relied on information
from a plucked string player.
-- Rocky
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