Rolling starts with the bass note on the beat. I try to keep rolling chords to a minimum in playing renaissance music, reserving it for the moments of tension or emphasis: the dissonant chord in a cadens or the highest point in a melody. In both cases I can strech time a little on a rolled chord, giving an accent of length rather than of volume. In polyphony I find rolled chord very distracting; rolled chords break the horizontal aspect of the music and reduce it to a succession of chords in stead of a combination of melodies. And, a word of warning that is not understood by all lute players: a rolled chords of two notes is simply not together and 'wrong', if is there is such a thing as 'wrong' in music interpretation at all.
David ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Arndt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2004 2:56 AM Subject: Rolled Chords > My thanks to both Stewart Craig and to Thomas Schall for responding to = > my inquiry. Stewart and Thomas, I am wondering whether you two agree on = > the proper way to roll a chord, though you both seem to agree that the = > use of such rolls should be very sparing. Stewart, you wrote: > > "The important thing is to start rolling on the beat, not before it. The = > bass note should fall on the beat with the other notes following. = > Unfortunately lots of players roll in such a way that the treble note = > falls on the beat, which means they have to start rolling before the = > beat." > > If I understand you correctly, there are no exceptions to beginning the = > roll on the beat. Thomas, you wrote: > > "Another question is which note to play on the beat. If you play a = > melody, most times the melody note should be on the beat. In an = > accompaniment, the bass note (or the most significant tone) should make = > it on the beat."=20 > > It seems that you, Thomas, are recognizing two distinct cases--one in = > which the high note of the chord forms part of the melody line and = > another in which it does not, which determines which note is to be = > played on the beat.=20 > > So, I am wondering whether you two really disagree or whether the = > disagreement is not real but merely apparent. > > Actually, I started thinking about this issue when I was listening to a = > CD entitled "The Art of the Lute in Renaissance France. Volume 1: Early = > to Mid 16th Century" performed by Edward Martin to accompany the Lyre = > tablature publication by the same title. Edward, in the brief time that = > I have been a member of this e-mail group, I have noticed that you have = > contributed to the discussions. I have greatly enjoyed your playing on = > this CD and have listened to it repeatedly, paying particular attention = > to your style. It seems to me that you make a fairly liberal use of = > rolled chords on this CD, and I would be very interested in any comments = > you might have about your use of them. > > Best regards to all, > > Stephen Arndt > > P. S. an Thomas: Ich m=F6chte diese Gelegenheit nehmen, Ihnen zu sagen, = > wie viel Ihre Internetseite mir gefallen hat-besonders die Fotos, die = > Tonaufnahmen und, vor allem, die Tablaturen, einige von welchen w=E4ren = > anderswo nicht so leicht zu finden. Vielen Dank f=FCr die gute Arbeit! > -- > > ================================================================ > Deze e-mail is door E-mail VirusScanner van Planet Internet gecontroleerd op virussen. > Op http://www.planet.nl/evs staat een verwijzing naar de actuele lijst waar op wordt gecontroleerd.
