[VIHUELA] Re: Foscarini again -

[Stuart Walsh]

Thanks for taking the trouble, Rob. I'm sure you're right that 
professional guitarists of the time could do all sorts of amazing things 
with this music.

I hope you'll be putting up some theorbo recordings soon enough.

Stuart


Well, I've had a look, guitar in hand, and these are my thoughts. What I
came up with wasn't worth recording.


  
Rob, while you have your guitar in one hand and the Edirol in the other, 
        
try playing line one, second half of bar 4. The single note (a) on the 
first course is marked with a strum sign. Can you physically play the 
preceding chord and add the a?<<<

Yes, but I need to move my first finger from the fourth to second course.
While this is possible, I doubt it was meant. 


  
And even if you could, does it sound 
        
remotely plausible as chord?<<<

As a passing dissonance, I've heard worse. CF Passacaglia in Dm for guitar
by Robert de Visee, first couplet.

My view is that this is a single note, but one could still strum it upwards
if the other strings are muffled somewhat. Unfortunately, the more you
analyse it, the slower you play it, the less plausible it seems. It's all in
the general flow of the left hand in anticipation of approaching chords. 


  
And again the last two bars of line two, 
        
especially the penultimate bar. Can you strum them?<<<

I play the 7th fret on the 1st course as a preparatory hinge-barre, with the
flesh of the finger near the knuckle at the base of the finger stopping the
first string, the remainder of the finger muffling the strings somewhat,
into the next bar. 

The X on the second course is probably single, but it is possible to play
the P chord at the eighth fret with one finger free for the X - so it could
be strummed. 

The last note on that line, an 8 on the first course could easily be
strummed if the little finger 'collapses' from the second course to cover
two courses. Either that or re-finger it in anticipation of the next bar,
singly or strumming with muffled open strings. 


  
Could you make a 
        
recording of a bit more of this piece?<<<

For a thousand pounds I would do ANYTHING!


  
Finally , line 9, bar 4. how  do you add a top g to a full barre Bb 
        
chord?<<<

Again by collapsing the little finger to cover two strings.


  
And the penultimate note of the penultimate bar: how do you add, 
        
physically, add an a to a C minor chord? Surely this must be single note 
(but it's got a strum sign).<<<


I find this quite easy - by playing the two notes on fret 5, courses three
and four with one finger.

  
I think Monica must be right in saying that some of Foscarini's strum 
        
signs aren't actually strum signs. And there are strum signs all over 
the place in Foscarini.<<<


Yes, she might well be right. The thing is, all the techniques I mentioned
above - muffling and collapsing, two courses with one finger - I'm pretty
sure that they are not discussed by any authors, but they are not difficult
for a professional-standard guitarist. I do heartily believe that advanced
players found ways of doing things which never found their way into book
prefaces. Foscarini does seem a little slapdash in places, so maybe a little
creative thinking could make up for his inability to put on the page exactly
what he was thinking. I guess we'll never know. 

I sympathise with your attempts to understand this notation and style - I
find it difficult myself. Interesting stuff - I'm full-on with Robert de
Visee these days on guitar and lute, and on my theorbo when it arrives next
month. One day I'll look at Foscarini. Hasn't anyone recorded this material?

Rob




  



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