sounds good to me. placement of the borḍn in the middle would suggest that rasgueo was the intended method of play and not plectrum - correct?
interesting note about Vasco de Quiroga setting up luthier work shops for the natives - i wonder if the instruments were intended for export back to europe? if any of these instruments get mentioned by name, please let me know. i understand that speculation on the origins of the charango in south america can become heated and get clouded in national overtones. bolivia seems to be its accepted birthplace. i think it's just an indigenous word for either of the figure "8" shaped, plucky little cordophones introduced by the europeans and i think it - whatever "it" was; vihuela or guitar - received little, if any modification over the succeeding years. this idea, you may have noted, pleases no one. regards - bill --- Monica Hall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: bill kilpatrick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: vihuela list <vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu> > Sent: Saturday, May 28, 2005 6:36 PM > Subject: 4c. guitar structure > > > > a friend of mine on the charango site has > suggested > > that structural differences (light bracing, > thinner > > sound board) may account for the borḍn being > placed > > in the center instead of off to the side as on a > 4c. > > guitar. > > > > were there any structural features of the > renaissance > > or baroque, 4c. guitar designed to support this > uneven > > distribution of tension on the 4th (bass) course? > > I think it has more to do with the way the thumb and > finger work in opposite > directions. If you are playing a single line using > thumb and finger > alternately there are some (a few) advantages to > having the lowest string > inside. I regularly practice scales like this on > the baroque guitar - and > you can actually play Narvaez' variation "contra > haziendo la guitarra" with > each note on a different course, including the > repeated notes which work > particularly well like this. It doesn't work on the > vihuela of course. > Once you start playing in two parts the thumb > naturally moves to the lower > part. > > Re-entrant tunings are used on the Mexican jarana - > some of which are quite > odd with the lowest course in the middle and the 1st > a tone lower than the > 2nd. There is a this idea that such instruments are > descended from the > baroque guitar, but there is no doubt that the > Conquistadores took plucked > string instruments to the New World very early on > and the various > instruments may have developed along side. I'm just > reading an interesting > book about Vasco de Quiroga who tried to set up > "Utopian" communes for the > Indians to live free of the Spanish. One of the > crafts which the Indians > were encouraged to pursue was instrument making. > > Cheers > > Monica > > > > "and thus i made...a small vihuela from the shell > of a creepy crawly..." - > Don Gonzalo de Guerrero (1512), "Historias de la > Conquista del Mayab" by Fra > Joseph of San Buenaventura. go to: > http://www.charango.cl/paginas/quieninvento.htm > > > > > > > > > ___________________________________________________________ > > How much free photo storage do you get? Store your > holiday > > snaps for FREE with Yahoo! Photos > http://uk.photos.yahoo.com > > > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > > > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > > > > > > ___________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Messenger - NEW crystal clear PC to PC calling worldwide with voicemail http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
