Subject: Re: [VIHUELA] Re: alternative tunings for Baroque guitar - and
campanella!
The thing that slightly puzzles me about these guitar variant tunings is why
some (not all of course) were bothered with. Some chords (usually the
tonic) are, of course, made easier but others in the same piece not. As you
say Murcia transcribed back......... Rather like him, by and large, I often
wish the others hadn't bothered. Was it: lute envy, showing off or simply
'doodling' do you think?
I really don't know. Campion seems to suggest that they make the music
easier to play - there are no awkward chords for the left hand.
I have to say that when I did try some of the pieces I didn't find this was
the case. the chord shapes are different from the basic ones which is a
bit disconcerting since so much baroque guitar music consists of standard
chords interspersed with three part writing. I found I was trying to read
the French tab as if it was Italian.....
The scordatura which Campion uses most is
a c# f# b e
3 4 4 4
but there are several others.
Monica
--- On Sun, 17/8/08, Monica Hall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
From: Monica Hall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [VIHUELA] Re: alternative tunings for Baroque guitar - and
campanella!
To: "Stuart Walsh" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: "Vihuelalist" <[email protected]>
Date: Sunday, 17 August, 2008, 3:26 PM
Subject: Re: [VIHUELA] Re: alternative tunings for Baroque
guitar - and
campanella!
> Thanks for saying it's an interesting topic! There
is a lot more (oh no!)
> ...with pictures wherever too.
Well - I couldn't find any more.....
The nice thing about the Internet is that
> it would be quite a coup in itself if absolutely no
one was interested.
Anything to do with the baroque guitar is so fascinating
that I have just
spent an hour working out the scordaturae in Corbetta and
Granata which are
as follows...if they don't get mangled in transmission
Corbetta 1643 4 4 3 3
a d g bflat d
Corbetta 1648 3 4 4 4
a c# f# b e
Granata 1659
p.82 4 3- 3 4
D minor
a d f a
d
p.86 3 3- 4 3
A major
a c# e a
c#
p.88 3 4 3 3-
F major
a c f a
c
p.93 3 4 4 4
a c# f# b
e
p.95 4 3 3- 4
a d f# a
d D major
They seem to re-arrange the intervals within the basic
compass on the
whole.
> I was hoping there might be similar alternative
tunings to Foscarini's. On
> the other hand there is yet another fascinating issue:
why guitarists
> wanted to play in strange keys? It's not what
plucked instruments
> typically do.
I haven't had time to do Campion in detail but his
scordaturae are similar
to Granata. The Gallot ones have always defeated me
because they are so
difficult to read. One possible explanation is that it
enables one to use
more open course but also simplifies the left-hand
fingering. In Foscarini
a lot of the chords consist just of a barre across all five
courses.
>
> I'm not sure that I do. But I uploaded a photocopy
of a painting of some
> children with an English guitar a while ago. I
can't find it anywhere
> though.
I've put it on my guitar.ning site if anyone is
inteested.
>
> Going back to Foscarini and his alternative tuning: he
writes campanella
> passages. Now it's probably possible to do
campanellas in just about any
> tuning but it's a lot easier in some than others.
One easier way is
> (Foscarini's) tuning in thirds (taken up in a
sophisticated way by the
> much later Russian guitar). Another way is re-entrant
tuning. Foscarini is
> writing campanellas around 1632. Is anyone else
writing campanellas at
> his time or before? Old Fosco couldn't have been
setting a trend could he?
Well - his book is the first to have appeared in print (as
far as we know)
but things have usually been round a while before anyone
gets to printing
them. There are dozens of Italian mss. most of which I
haven't seen and at
least one of them has mixed chords with lute style
counterpoint. There are
no campanella's in Corbetta's 1639 book but by 1643
they begin to be a
feature.
They are also associated with the theorbo so may have been
used by lutenists
earlier.
Monica
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stuart
Walsh" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> To: "Vihuelalist"
<[email protected]>
>> Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 9:04 PM
>> Subject: [VIHUELA] alternative tunings for Baroque
guitar
>>
>>
>>> I have been looking at some Foscarini pieces
in an alternative tuning
>>> and,
>>> just for the hell of it, I'm trying to do
a little website about them.
>>> My
>>> idea is to do the website as a sort of blog -
a bit at at a time.
>>> But blog software (I'm using WordPress)
only lets you put postings in
>>> reverse chronology - the latest post is first
- whereas I'm wanting to
>>> build up the thing the normal way around.
>>>
>>> I've given it the title,
"Foscarini's 'la cordatura diferente',
Russian
>>> guitars and erotic dance" (!) Anyway it
amuses me... No part of it is
>>> quite ready yet but there are a few
provisional posts already: here:
>>>
>>> http://www.tuningsinthirds.com/Foscarini/
>>>
>>> (anyone who's interested in these things
will no doubt see where it's
>>> going)
>>>
>>> Anyway what I'm after is information about
alternative guitar tunings
>>> (for
>>> Baroque guitar). I've never tried any
other than Foscarini's but I know
>>> there are lots. It would be especially
interesting if there were other
>>> guitar pieces that use Foscarini's
alternative tuning - lowest course
>>> raised a tone and top course lowered a tone
B-d-g-b-d' .
>>>
>>> The online pdf thesis of Julian Navarro
Gonzalez discusses alternative
>>> tunings on pp344-345 but I can't follow it
and I can't even see
>>> Foscarini's alternative tuning.
>>>
>>> Any advice or sources of information on
alternative tunings and any
>>> comments, fatal flaws etc would be welcomed (
I think).
>>>
>>>
>>> Stuart
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> To get on or off this list see list
information at
>>>
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
>>
>>
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>
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