Hallo Rob you have been in Michaelstein 2002, where the connection between English Guittar and Guitarra Portuguesa was deducted as result of the merchants relations concerning portwine.
Hallo all of you The Portuguese were so keen to play the "Inglese" thing, because they had a cittern tradition back to the renaissance, according to Pedro Caldeira Cabral, mainly in the south of portugal, where the former court instrument got fashionable with folk songs. Cabral says, that therefore the GP is NOT only a result of the English connection. The two roots (merchants in the north) and singing peasants in the south may be an explanation for the two main styles nowadays. Coimbra style and Porto style. The problem is, that the Guitarra Portuguesa is a kind of national treasure and it is very difficult to get contact to the main scholars of the topic. Here is the only one who edited a modern tutor for the coimbra guitarra, milestone in the history of a tradition WITHOUT sheet music: The music was traditionally passed from father to son without anything written down. http://paulosoaresjojo.no.sapo.pt/ This should be the link to Pedro Caldeira Cabral, who does the utmost research work I read an article by him on this link two years ago, but it doesn't work on my computer now. http://www.terravista.pt/ancora/2047/_private/pedro%20c%20cabral.htm And here you can see some interesting variations of the instrument, which is very much alive in this country http://www.azeituna.pt/indexazeituna.htm I am very interested in the Guitarra Portuguesa, because it survived and made the developement to a modern instrument without the break of the 19th century. Has any of you connections to invite Soares and Cabral to this forum? The only one I know, who will share his knowledge is indeed Ron Fernandez www.fernandezmusic.com By the way: the "Portugiesische Gitarre" was a common instrument in Germany until World War 1st in the open tuning CC EE GG cc ee gg and all accessories were available in Markneukirchen, Saxony. There is a tutor by Wobersin for the "Portugiesische Gitarre" (1912perhaps) but this is a very "German" adaptation of the instrument and has nothing to do with the artful arpeggios of the original. After the World War 1st there is no more trace and no more connection to Portuguese instruments. Enough for today, I had some difficulties to follow the discussion the last weeks because I was too busy to read. This is my first "free" sunday for weeks.... Martina -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
