Dear Andrew,
My view is that an occasional spread chord is a useful device, and should
certainly be in one's expressive armoury. However, spreading chords feels good
to a player, and there is a danger that it is overdone. It is actually easier
to play a spread chord than to play all the notes together, which is
ultimately, I think, why people do it so much. I find myself starting to spread
chords when I am unsure of the music, or a bit nervous, and I realise that I am
feeling my way. In the past we know that notes were not always played together:
there are separe marks in French baroque music, and notes with more than 4
notes have to be spread in some way. Composers like Dowland often finish a
piece with a 6-note chord of G major, which has to be spread. This makes the
last chord special, and it is too late in the piece to cause any damage to the
rhythm. Perhaps one should save up spread chords for places like that, where
the composer clearly wants a spread chord.
The blind lutenist, Matthew Wadsworth, once took part in one of Julian Bream's
master classes for the Lute Society. Bream was trying to get him to stop
rolling so many chords. At one point Bream stopped him, and told him not to
roll a particular chord. "But Mr Bream," said Wadsworth, "the chord has six
notes." Bream thought for a moment, smiled, and then said, "Alright, we'll let
you have that one."
The advantage of a spread chord is that it gives fullness of sound, and thus
helps to distinguish it from other chords - to make it special. One
disadvantage is that it obscures the beat. This is normally not desirable, but
it can be extremely useful when playing with a beginner, who is struggling to
keep up or stay in time. By rolling chords, it sounds as if you're playing well
together, even though the poor chap's rhythm is all over the place. Another
disadvantage is that a spread chord tends to obscure polyphonic lines,
emphasising the vertical rather than the horizontal. When playing lute duets
and trios with competent players, one should make an effort to avoid spreading
chords, or the overall sound will be a mess. When playing alone, I think they
should only be used very sparingly, like vibrato.
Best wishes,
Stewart.
----- Original Message -----
From: Andrew Gibbs
To: Stewart McCoy
Cc: Lute Net
Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2008 9:39 AM
Subject: Re: [LUTE] Playing in time (olim Polish, anyone?)
I like these quotes.
...but do you think the occasional (and tasteful) spreading of chords is a
bad or non-HIP thing?
Andrew
On 30 Jan 2008, at 17:17, Stewart McCoy wrote:
In the last few years, Julian Bream has given master classes at Lute Society
meetings in London. He stressed two things: the need to play notes together,
(i.e. not to roll and spread chords); and to play in time. He said, "I may
be old-fashioned, but I like music to be played in time."
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