Dear Tom, I have been away from home, so I'm afraid I come late to this discussion.
The SPES facsimile of Kapsberger's _Libro Quarto_ is very misleading with regard to arpeggiation, because the dots have not come out clearly. I mentioned this in a posting to this list on 14th March 2000. Kapsberger's dotting is not the same as the modern convention. He uses one dot for the right-hand thumb, two dots for the index finger, and three dots for the middle finger. By and large Kapsberger plays the last note of an arpeggiated chord with his index finger on the 3rd course, so that the notes are heard (more or less) in ascending order of pitch (pimi, ppimi, or pppimi). However, where chords do not involve the first course, he still maintains the pimi order, presumably to help keep the music bouncing along. It is easier to keep the right-hand finger pattern the same, particularly at speed. The fact that finger-pattern takes precedence over pitch seems to suggest that his arpeggiated chords are to be played quite quickly. Three-note chords are to be played imp. By the way, it is perfectly acceptable to say that "someone" told you something. Maybe you have forgotten who that person was; maybe you want to preserve their anonymity; maybe you don't want to name them, because you have forgotten or misunderstood exactly what they said. None of that matters. The important thing is to make clear where one's information comes from (e.g. having seen it in a modern edition, facsimile or original print, or having heard about it from someone) which is what you have done. According to Kapsberger your "t4 i2 m1 t3" should be "t4 i2 m1 i3". Arpeggiation with Kapsberger's music is similar to playing campanellas on the baroque guitar or bluegrass music (Scruggs style) on the five-string banjo: avoid using the same digit twice in succession. Best wishes, Stewart McCoy. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Leoni" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 7:30 PM Subject: Theorbo arpeggio patterns > I have recently acquired some theorbo music (Kapsberger & Piccinini mostly, in facsimile edition). In two of the books, the authors explain their preferred way to execute 4-note arpeggios - but they are extremely unclear, even to someone used to their language and style. > > Someone told me that Kapsberger's preferred 4-note arpeggio pattern was: t4 i2 m1 t3 :||: (using the first 4 strings as an example). I find this rather straightforward in spite of the jump of the thumb as it strikes the fourth and first notes of the pattern - but I got used to it pretty quickly. It becomes a little harder when the first note of the pattern is one of the lower orders, although it is still manageable. > > Does anyone know whether I got this right - especially as pertains the music of Kapsberger? > > Thank you for your help! > > Tom > > > > > --------------------------------- > Do you Yahoo!? > New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage! > --
