Stephan,
--- Stephan Olbertz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Am 16 Jun 2007 um 8:31 hat [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> geschrieben:
>
> > I just met the
> > other day with a highly competent classical
> guitarist
> > who could not remember for the life of her how to
> > finger a B minor chord.
>
> Excuse me, but isn't that a contradiction in itself?
> How can someone be highly
> competent without having insight into harmony and
> without recognizing (and using)
> common shapes?
>
No, not a contradiction. This person was competent (I
didn't say professional). She could play well most
any kind of standard repertoire classical guitar
piece. Put a piece of mensural notation sheet music
in front of her and she was ready to go to town. She
did know harmony and could figure out the B minor
chord, but the fact that she could not pull it out of
the air illustrates the simularities between this
modern performer and renaissance players - she did not
have a concrete "name" (in the form of a standard
shape) for this construct on the fingerboard. In her
playing experience a B minor chord is always provided
by the notes on the page.
That's how she can be highly competant without
using stock shapes. To be fair, note that I also
called her a highly competent _classical_guitarist_ -
not a highly competent musician. She had the skills
to hang in the classical world, but not much
experience pickin' and grinnin'.
This could apply to many folks who only play
classical - its just unusual for a guitarist not to
have experience in pop music. I know of a number of
fine classical pianists who would be absolutely
terrified at the prospect of merely filling in chords
in no particular voicing from a lead sheet. And I can
think of very few flutists or violinists that I know
personally who could pull off ANY amount of
improvisation. All these folks know their harmony in
theory - they just don't have any practical experience
using it outside of the textbook.
Actually, come to think of it, the same applies to
me personally. I'm quite comfortable realizing
continuo/improvising on theorbo but ask me to do it at
sight in d-minor tuning and beads of sweat break out
on my forehead! Yet, though others may disagree, I'm
at least competent playing Bach and Weiss on the
baroque lute...
Chris
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