Dear All, I'm afraid I accidentally sent my reply to Ed's e-mail direct to him yesterday, instead of via the List, so what he and I sent to the List today will not make much sense to everyone else. Sorry about that. Here is the missing message:
Dear Ed, That E flat chord _a_ _b_ _b_ _c_ _d_ ___ has been discussed before. I know some people have difficulty with it, but it is one of my favourite chords. It is not difficult, unless the ends of your fingers are particularly thin. Robert Dowland's _Varietie_ (London, 1610) is very clear on how to finger it: __a_ _1b_ _1b_ _2c_ _3d_ ____ You must play both notes at the first fret with your first finger. You cannot play a barr�, because that would interfere with the 1st string. Instead you aim between the 2nd and 3rd courses, with your 1st finger curved normally, as it would be if you were holding down just one pair of strings. It doesn't matter, if, at first, you don't manage to hold down all four strings. As long as you can hold down the higher string of the 3rd course and the lower string of the 2nd course, while damping the other two strings, that is enough. With time your finger will find a way of holding down all four strings. Turning your fingers slightly so that they are more parallel with the strings (like violinists stop strings) may help, although I don't find that necessary myself. I have been looking recently at Narvaez's setting of Mille Regretz, and there are a couple of places where the ability to play E flat chords properly is very useful. One obvious place is towards the end of the piece: |\ | | ____a____a__a____ _a__b__|_b__b__|_ _______|_b__b__|_ _c__c__|_______|_ ____d__|_d__d__|_ _______|_______|_ where the fingering should be |\ | | ______a____a___a___ __a__1b_|_1b__1b_|_ ________|_1b__1b_|_ _2c__2c_|________|_ _____3d_|_3d__3d_|_ ________|________|_ Less obvious is this passage: |\ |\ |\ |\ |\ |\ | |\ | |\ | |\ | | | | | | ____________________________f___f_ _d__b_a_|_d____|_d_____|_b____|_b_ _f______|_d____|___b___|_d____|___ ________|____e_|_e_____|______|___ _c__d___|_f____|_f_d_c_|_a____|_a_ ________|______|_______|______|___ It might be possible to hold b2 and d3 at the start of bar 4, but I prefer to let it go for the sake of a good f1 at the start of bar 5. This means that, apart from the first and last chord of this extract, I use that E flat chord fingering, i.e. no barr�, but with the 1st finger covering the 2nd and 3rd courses at the same fret. This is particularly useful linking the E flat chord at the end of bar 3 to the C minor chord at the start of bar 4. My 1st finger stays put between the 2nd and 3rd courses throughout, and doesn't need to move. No doubt players who cannot manage my E flat chord fingering, would move their 1st finger sideways here, from the 3rd course to the 2nd. Here is the same passage with all my fingering put in. See how I keep my 1st finger in exactly the same place, including the join from bar 4 to bar 5: |\ |\ |\ |\ |\ |\ | |\ | |\ | |\ | | | | | | __________________________________4f___f_ _d__1b_a_|_1d____|_1d_1_____|__1b____|_b_ _f__1____|_1d____|_1__1b____|_13d____|___ _________|____2e_|_2e_______|________|___ _c__3d___|_3f____|_3f_3d_2c_|___a____|_a_ _________|_______|__________|________|___ By the way, the left-hand fingerings in _Varietie_ do not involve fancy barr�s with fingers other than the 1st finger. For example, _Varietie_ gives __1b_________2d___ __3c_________4f___ __2c_________3f___ __________________ __4e___and___1c___ __________________ not __1b_________2d___ __2c_________4f___ __2c_________4f___ __________________ __4e___and___1c___ __________________ As far as that last chord is concerned, if you get your 3rd and 4th fingers down first, it is possible to reach back for the other two. If you try doing it the other way round, i.e. put down the 1st and 2nd fingers first, you'll never reach the 5th fret with the other two fingers. Success with the left hand is largely determined by knowing the correct order in which fingers should hold down the strings of any particular chord. Best wishes, Stewart McCoy. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ed Durbrow" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "lute list" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 11:08 AM Subject: hard chords: was Songs by A.Schlick? > > Schlick > >was very rude about Virdung, saying that Virdung had written an > >impossible chord for the lute: L.c.4.kk, which looks like this in > >French tablature: > > > >_h_ > >_a_ > >_b_ > >___ > >___ > >_d_ > > I can just play that on my A lute, but I doubt I'd be able to 'land' > on it in any musical context. Shame on him. He could have easily > written: > _h_ > _a_ > ___ > _f_ > ___ > _d_ > > Personally I dislike > _a_ > _b_ > _b_ > _r_ > _d_ > ___ > > and > _d_ > _f_ > _f_ > _r_ > ___ > ___ > > -- > Ed Durbrow To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
